Actually these were really cheap and I've found anything I need on Ebay. Now if I was doing the media method I'd prefer the hydroton over gravel but that stuff is not cheap!
I prefer the raft culture as there's no tedious cleaning of the media and it's a safety net for the fish as you add a lot of surface area for nitrifying bacteria on the raft tank walls and roots. A 60 watt pump runs the whole system and I could add a 100 feet and still use the one pump.
What's really cool is the iron in the water which is a unsightly in plain aquaculture is needed for the plants and a plus in aquaponics. Additionally the hard water has lots of minerals the plants use too.
I do have to use some muriatic acid to bring the Ph down to about 7.0, but that's a plus to as it reduces the amount of unionized ammonia.
Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 09/08/13 05:43 AM.
