Light on the subject

I've been pretty busy lately with winterizing outside plant beds and getting firewood so I haven't spent as much time in my new greenhouse as I want. I did want to talk about the lights and barrelponics though a little bit. The above photo shows what type light I settled on. It is a 600 watt High Pressure Sodium lamp with a parabolic reflector. I got two of them and boy, does it ever throw the light out. Here is a close up of the underside.



The reflector is 3 feet across. Should be sufficient. This next photo is taken from the field outside my greenhouse and shows how bright the light is.


Here's another shot. But in this one notice that I have my insulating panels up to show the contrast.


Now back to Barrelponics. The following photo shows a view of the complete system. The bottom tank holds the fish. The top tank is where the water from the fish tank is pumped up to. and the two half barrels, side by side are the grow beds. I have heard that the inventor, Travis Hughey, at http:/www.fastonline.org, is working on a new system that does not need an electric pump and will be bigger. So far this one has been really fun for Hank and I. Thanks Travis!


Here are my fish in the tank (currently they are goldfish, but someday I want Tilapia). Notice the water draining into the fish tank. It is a natural aerator.


This last photo is another look at the fish in the tank.