Anyone who has been married as long as Alan and I have (twenty one years in September) can probably relate to how downright freaky the synchronicity of your thoughts and words can be. It ends up that Alan and I have both independently described in exactly the same way our thoughts about what today’s announcement of our new AquaBundance Modular Aquaponics Systems means to our company. We’ve both said that it feels as if we have been a car company without a car – until this point. And now we are not only offering a car, but we are offering the most extensive line of high-quality cars available anywhere in the world.
After nine months of development and testing, we have now added the AquaBundance Modular line to our AquaBundance Aquaponics Systems. The AquaBundance Modular line is a suite of products geared for gardeners looking for serious food production.
The idea behind the AquaBundance SpaceSaver systems is to focus on space efficiency. This lead us to a design with the fish tank located under the grow beds and with no sump tank. It is perfect for both indoor and patio / deck growing because it is designed to fit through a doorway and easily roll from one location to another. Its attractive design and four color choices make it ideal for high-visibility areas of the home. It has been purchased and loved over the past year and a half by schools, apartment dwellers, and beginning aquapons. We have also had steady success with independent retail stores adopting it into their product line.
The AquaBundance Modular line is fundamentally different. It is designed to maximize food production and enable easy expansion whenever you choose and thus is not focused on fitting into very small spaces (although it is still space efficient). We adopted Murray Hallam’s CHOP2 (Constant Height, One Pump) design principles early on. This allows us to take the fish tank out from under the grow beds and to use a fish tank that has optimal dimensions for growing larger, edible fish – at least 200 gallons, round, and 30 feet tall so the fish have space to move up and down within the tank. Water from the grow beds now empties into a sump tank, where it is re-circulated throughout the rest of the system. The addition of a sump tank also increases the water volume moving through the system and this increases both temperature and pH stability. The increased water volume also gives us the flexibility to have a wide range of grow beds while staying within the accepted ratios of fish to fish tank to grow bed volumes. We leveraged this flexibility to create three sub-lines of systems within the AquaBundance Modular line based on grow bed size. Buyers will have the choice to configure each of these grow bed specific sub-lines (Sleek, Easy-Reach, and Bountiful) with anywhere from two to eight beds. And if you decide to start with fewer than eight beds, you can add more at anytime. The modular nature of the systems makes this easy.
How will you decide which system to buy? First you will need to decide where you want to locate your system. If space is a primary concern and your system will be on your patio or deck, or inside your home or school, you should consider AquaBundance SpaceSaver. If your system will be in a greenhouse, garage, basement, or outdoors and your goal is to produce 40 to 60 pounds of fish a year (and to put a serious dent in your family’s produce bill), then you should consider AquaBundance Modular.
If you select AquaBundance Modular, you will next decide which size and style of grow bed works best for your situation. Will you have the space to walk around your grow beds as you might be able to in an outdoor or garage location? If so, your most economical choice in $/sq ft of growing space will be the Bountiful sub-line (the Bountiful grow beds are 48″ square from outer edge to edge). If you need to line the grow beds up against a wall or window and locate them side-by-side, then either the Easy-Reach or Sleek grow beds may be your best choice. It will then come down to how much space you have (Easy-Reach beds are 40″ square from outer edge to edge, while the Sleek beds are 28″ deep and 44″ long) and how important color selection and the more aesthetic nature of the Sleek beds are to you.
Last it will just be a matter of counting how many grow beds your space can accommodate and placing your order! You can also order Hydroton grow media and Grow Bed Stands at the same time. We will deliver everything to your door on a pallet, along with excellent instructions, two pumps (one as a backup), an aerator, Getting Started Kit, and much more.
Are you ready to get started with aquaponics but haven’t been willing to spend the time, frustration, and risk of failure it takes to figure it all out on your own? We are excited to announce that you now have an alternative. Click here – Aquaponics Systems – to learn more, and let us know what you think!
