portable farms® aquaponics systems (pfas) assembly manual© · home-grown fish to help supplement...

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©2008 – 2015 Colle Davis – ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This information is protected Intellectual Property. A utility patent application was filed December 23, 2013. All content in this course is copyrighted under United States Copyright Laws and is intended for use only by assigned subscriber. Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain is investigated by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and is punishable by up to five years in federal prison and financial penalties.

Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems (PFAS) Assembly Manual©

©2008-2015 – Colle Davis, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED – Utility Patent Application Filed December 24, 2013.

Section B - Introduction Let’s do a quick ‘fly-over’ of the basic information you will be learning in this section of the Assembly Manual©. You’ll learn more, in detail, as we go along, so go slowly, be patient, read carefully, look at the pictures, smile a lot and learn as you go. You can always go back again and again for reminders and references so relax and enjoy the lessons. Yes, there is a lot of know and learn now, but after your installation is complete, your upkeep for your (one Module) farm is less than ten minutes per DAY and you’ll grow health vegetables and fish.

Become more self-sufficient and self-reliant by raising fresh pesticide free table vegetables and home-grown fish to help supplement your purchase of food, year round, by owning your own Portable Farms® Aquaponics System. Food shortages, natural and man-made disasters, or transportation disruptions will have less impact on you and your family and Portable Farms® only requires 5 MINUTES of daily maintenance: feed the fish, plant and harvest. Repeat the next day.

Photo 1: Colle Davis, Inventor A single head of lettuce – Only 40 days. WOW

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Yearly Production from the Portable Farms® Aquaponics System

A 10' x 20' unit (building footprint) produces 1,100 vegetables and 400 pounds of fish

A 10' x 12' unit (building footprint) produces 500 vegetables and 200 pounds of fish

A 5’ x 40’ Module (single Grow Table ) produces 2,592 vegetables and 680 pounds of fish per year.

A 4’ x 8’ Unit/Module produces 400 vegetables and 140 pounds of fish per year.

Photo 3: Phyllis Davis harvesting a dozen heads of bok choy. Average weight is 18 pounds per head.

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The Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems is Fully Automated (Well, you do have to plant, harvest and feed the fish)

No need to water your plants because a Portable Farms® automatically circulates the water throughout the system so the plants receive a fresh supply of nutrient-laden water on a regular basis.

Photo 4: (above) – The interior of a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System

No soil is necessary. Your plants grow in trays filled with crushed gravel.

No weeding is necessary.

No pesticides are necessary. Occasionally an organic nutrient may be needed (this organic nutrient recipe supplied in this course in Section Z) for soft-bodied arthropods such as whiteflies, aphids or mealy bugs.

Plus, Portable Farms® can be solar or alternative-energy powered and completely automated.

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One Portable Farms® Aquaponics System Module can feed 8 adults.

Photo 5:- Greens in foreground ready in only 40 days. Photo 6: Phyllis with one head of Bok Choy

A Quick Definition about the Portable Farms® Aquaponics System Technology The Portable Farms® Aquaponics System technology is based on proven patent-pending technology that moves the water from the Fish Tank (Section N) and through a Clarifier (Section P) to remove all the solid wastes from the Fish Tank (Section G) to keep the fish healthy. From there, the water flows through the Grow Table (Section R) containing gravel as the support media where the vegetables are planted, and then the water flows back to the Fish Tank (Section G). This pumping system keeps the Fish Tank (Section N) free of sediment (fish poop) while providing nutrients to the plants. It’s a perfectly efficient system to provide a process to clean the water and grow healthy food. Instead of buying produce that has been shipped and stored in your local store, simply walk to your own Portable Farms® with a bowl, select your own fresh vegetables and home-grown fish to serve your family for dinner. And not only is it fresh, but the food tastes like it did at your grandparents table, and it’s only steps away from your kitchen.

1. Portable Farms® Aquaponics System are affordable, require only minimal upkeep (five minutes a day per module), and can be a family project that everyone of all ages can enjoy as they learn the values of living green, the beauty of nature, and the security of being self-sufficient from growing and harvesting from the cycle of life.

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2. The Portable Farms® Aquaponics System Course© is designed to assist in the process necessary for installing and operating Portable Farms® successfully for year round growing.

3. Preparing the site for the installation of the Portable Farms® includes having water and electricity available. Accessibility to water and electricity means that you can reach the installation with a garden hose or have some other method of bringing water to your new farm occasionally. The electrical system can easily be solar powered. Please address these requirements before beginning to assemble the Portable Farms® Aquaponics System.

4. This Assembly Manual has helpful hints and suggestions for preparing the space where

your Portable Farms® will be installed in order to transform that space into an aquaponics system.

PLEASE NOTE: We are making the assumption that whoever is constructing the Portable Farms® Aquaponics System has construction experience using power tools, hand tools and common building materials. Even though the construction to build this farm is very straightforward and uses common building tools and materials, a high level of precision finish work is required for your Portable Farms® Aquaponics System to function correctly. A handy man or a hobbyist without construction experience is very seldom capable of building the Portable Farms® Aquaponics System without a great deal of help and support. We recommend interviewing people to install your system to determine if they have the skill level for building and installing a cabinet. Ask them this question, “Can you build and install a kitchen cabinet?” And wait for their answer to determine if you think they’re qualified.

5. The instructions in the Assembly Manual© of this Course are specifically written for the

installation of a Portable Farms® Aquaponics Systems ranging in size from 5 x 20’, a 6’ x 32’ or 5’ x 40’ commercial size Grow Table. The installations require some modifications to the general layout and construction. The Portable Farms® Kit you receive is a commercial Kit and will operate any size Grow Table/Module. The differences are covered in the Operation Section on Timing.

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Photo 7: 400 Fish Tank in a Portable Farms® Aquaponics System

6. The correct sizing of the Fish Tank, the number of fish in the tank and the Grow Table

surface are critical to your success with the Portable Farms® Aquaponics System. Use the formula covered in Section A to insure you have the proper ratio of Grow Table space : water : fish. (Yes, this was covered before, and it is really important, so here it is again – below): Start from the size of your Grow Table and determine the number of square feet of growing area you have to work with. For example: a Grow Table that is 4' x 8' has 32 sq ft of growing space area. Then, using this formula to figure out both the number of gallons for your Fish Tank size AND the number of fish your can safely carry in the tank at any given time. You need two gallons of water for each square foot of Grow Table space and only put in the Fish Tank the number fish equal twice the number of Grow Table square footage. Example: Using the above example for size, 32 sq ft, you would place 64 fish in the tank, NO MATTER THE SIZE OF THE FISH TANK. You must have a fish tank that holds enough water to never exceed the one fish per gallon of water restriction. We recommend using a larger than minimum tank in most instances. The formula looks like this: 32 sq ft of {growing space}: 64 gallons {of water}: 64 fish or 100 sq ft of grow space: 100 fish and 200 gallons of water.

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Important Note about Shade for Portable Farms® (arrow indicates shade cloth)

Photo 8: Note sunshade fabric installed in interior of this Portable Farm. This shade cloth allows 70% of the available sunlight into the farm. In brighter climates (Las Vegas for example) you may require 50%.

Photo 9: Installing interior sunshade in a Portable Farm before installing gravel.

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Important Note about keeping the Fish Warm in your Portable Farms® Aquaponics System

Photo 10 – Fish Tank is enclosed in insulated box with Styrofoam Board and packing peanuts

in an outdoor greenhouse in a cool climate (when air temperatures drop below 50 degrees F). (Covered in Section G – Photos 6 and 7)

Photo 11: Another example of a Fish Tank enclosed in an insulated box with Styrofoam Board and packing peanuts in an outdoor greenhouse in a cool climate (when air temperatures drop

below 40 degrees F). (Covered in Section G – Photos 6 and 7)

Insulated box to keep the water in the Fish Tank warm (78 to 80°F).

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When you have your climatically adapted structure built, make sure there is at LEAST 10’ (3m) between the TOP OF THE Grow Table TO THE LOWEST PART OF THE ROOF. We are not kidding on this requirement. The space is needed to cool the gravel correctly by allowing air circulation in the greenhouse structure.

Photo 12: Four green bean plants in a Portable Farm produced two full rounds

of production (blossoms to beans) in 55 days.

Photo 13: Kale ready to harvest after 55 days.

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Photo 14: Tomatoes harvested (from 4 tomato vines behind Colle Davis)

In most locations, you will need shade cloth to protect your plants especially when they are young. The blocking or density of shade clothe ranges from 22% to 90% and in most cases you will be using a 30 to 40% density which means that 60 to 70% of the light will pass through the shade cloth. This is incredibly confusing because some manufacturers list the blocking number and others use the passing number. Home Depot and Lowes both have 70% shade cloth, it lets 70% of the light pass through which is perfect for most areas and it is what we have used successfully for many years. Make absolutely sure the shade cloth is installed BEFORE you set any plants into the gravel. You risk losing the seedlings by sun burning them if you are not very careful. The gravel can get very hot in direct sunlight. (Review Section A – Photos 9 and 10.)

portable farms® aquaponics systems (pfas) assembly manual© · home-grown fish to help supplement...

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