Richard bray

Building a Media-Filled Bed System
A basic media-filled bed system has the following components:

• Fish Tank
• Aerator
• Water Pump
• Grow Bed
• Grow Media
• Siphons
• Plumbing

You may also decide to include an extra solids filter and an extra BSA filter. Once you’ve decided on the size of your system, the design is simple to scale up or down.
There are three basic media-filled bed designs:

• 10-gallon fish tank
• Stacked tanks
• IBC totes

Each system is a similar design, but on a larger or smaller scale. A 10- gallon tank design will support a few goldfish and a few heads of
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lettuce or herbs. Stacked totes or tanks will support 10-20 fish and provide 4' x 2.5' of growing area. IBC totes can support 25-50 fish and multiple 4' x 4’ grow beds.
10-Gallon Tank
Pros Cons
• Easy to use indoors • Small growing space
• Easy to observe fish • Does not support harvestable fish
• Easy to set up • Does not support fruiting vegetables
• Educational • Not profitable
Grow bed
Fish tank
Water pump
Drain pipe
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A 10-gallon tank system is best for small, educational purposes. This system is relatively cheap, and will support a few heads of lettuce or a small herb garden.
Materials:

• 10-gallon fish tank $15
• 51bs. Aquarium gravel $10
• Small fountain water pump (20”-35” of lift @50 gallons/hour] $50
• 3' plastic tubing with the same diameter as your water pump $3
• 10-gallon aquarium air pump $20
• 2” air stone $8
• 3’ air pump tubing (must be the same size as air pump outlet & fit air stone) $2
• 8" deep plastic bin that sits on top of fish tank $15
• Vermiculite, clay pebbles, or river rock $15
• Test kit for pH $25
• Test kit for ammonia $15
• Aquarium thermometer $5
• 3-5 goldfish $20
• 2’x 1'Grow light $40
• Grow media