Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What is the meaning of NTF?

its NFT which is Nutrient Film technique basically non media based growing systems

It's a hydroponic technique that employs a constant flow of low volume... (a thin film).. of nutrients...

Usually employed in hydroponic channels...

It is a system I have seen and often thought about, however, I am still hung up on in ground ponds. I will probably read up on a set up like that later. I really would like to learn about all of the possible ways to do AP. Thank you, John

If you're going to incorporate NFT into an AP system... or even as an add-on to your ponds...

You must filter the water first to remove solids... otherwise they will just cling to the roots... and cause root rot, or dry spots from channeling...

And NFT pipes collect a lot of heat in my little growhouse, to the point where the air temperature and water temperature are nearly the same.

This was good in winter, but depending on what happens on really hot days (I haven't seen any days around 45c yet) I might be in trouble now that it's summer.

For some crazy reason I thought I'd just fill them deeper and push more water through to keep them cool, but of course they collect the same amount of heat, it just gets carried away faster if you put more water through, so the actual water temperature in the tube is less, but the fishtank heats up just the same. Less heated water, but more of it.

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

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Since NFT pipes collect heat wouldn't it be better to put them into a shade house or hang sun screen above to reduce the sun/heat? What percent of natural sunlight must the plants get in order to grown well?

Depends on your climate to some extent Johnra... whatever grows in any other medium, under shadecloth... will grow in NFT...

Wow, RupertofOZ, you are fast. I live in Thailand so I guess I live in one of the hottest places on earth or near to it. LOL. Feels that way sometimes. We have a large Koi pond and my AP pond both have a bio-filter to remove solids. That is what got me thinking about adding NFT to my present system or go by the Koi pond and set up a separate system. I already have the ponds, fish, fish poo, pumps, filters. I think mostly what I need is to just add in the pipes in a proper area and get with it. And yes, AP and HP is catching. My wife will be running this part of our garden. She even watches the fish every day and wants to know if they are big enough to eat yet. LOL. City girl becomes a farmer - I love it.

Even without direct sun, the NFT tubes will collect whatever heat is around.

I only have a small fish tank, so no doubt that has an effect.

If you live in the tropics, your water is probably nearly the same temperature as the air any way. We see quite large swings from max day to min night temperatures, but if Papua New Guinea was anything to go by, it never got hotter than 33c, but never got much cooler either

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My system

120 THINGS IN 20 YEARS - My blog about my learning adventure

My skills include being able to move slowly forward in time, and if I really concentrate, I can sometimes tell what I'm thinking.