I'm working on a fish tank aerated by a solar powered pump. The winter portion of my experiment went well, so I'm moving into the next phase of the experiment.
This winter, I began this latest experiment. The reports have been posted, that it was an interesting and somewhat prolonged cool season this year, so I feel it's been adequately tested. The greenhouse was heated by the large tank of water, pictured above. I had no electricity to it, nor did I use my standard candle/oil lights. The sunlight in the greenhouse by day, warmed the interior and the water, then at night, as the water and air sought an equilibrium of temperature, the greenhouse remained above freezing.
Once that heat phase of the experiment was proven, and I knew I wouldn't be torturing fish, the second phase began. I went to the pet store and bought a dozen feeder goldfish. I figured even if I wasn't sure what to do next, they wouldn't freeze and I had rescued them from certain death as dinner for a larger species. I couldn't get any of them to participate in the picture. I even tried to catch them at feeding time, but there was no cooperation. There was one glitch, that is now corrected. I needed a way to aerate the water besides "troubling it" with my walking stick. I wanted something either mechanical or gravitational. As it turns out, I was about to head down a rabbit trail.
I already knew there are solar powered water pumps for wells. I hadn't considered the idea on a very small scale version! Here I am with big projects to head off the grid and I overlook the small things. Sometimes I forget it's the small steps that make the big changes! As an extra blessing, the solar powered fountain pumps were on sale and it was a drastic reduction of the regular price, so the picture now shows the set up.
All the plants are in the garden, so I can now focus on getting this ready to be operational on a real sustainable scale. The fish truck will be at the farm store later this month, so I can stock it with real edible fish, and the tank water will be the perfect "plant food" for next years bedding plants.
Who knows, this may work so well, I'll just keep the greenhouse full all year!
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