System and method for solar greenhouse aquaponics and black soldier fly composter and auto fish feeder

• US 10,015,940 B2
• Filed: 10/13/2017
• Issued: 07/10/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 02/28/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Carlos R. Villamar
• Original Assignee: Carlos R. Villamar
• Inventors: Villamar, Carlos R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Williams, Monica L
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rodziwicz, Aaron M
• Application Number:
  US15/783,684
• Publication Number:
  US 20180035623A1
• Time in Patent Office: 270 Days
• Field of Search: 119226, 47 62 R, 47 14, 47 17
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 31/02 Special apparatus therefor self-acting watering devices A01G27/00
• CPC Class Codes: A01G 9/14 Greenhouses cloches A01G13/04
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 61/10 of fish
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 61/80 Feeding devices
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 63/04 Arrangements for treating water specially adapted to receptacles for live fish
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 63/042 Introducing gases into the water, e.g. aerators, air pumps
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 63/045 Filters for aquaria
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 63/047 Liquid pumps for aquaria air pumps for aquaria A01K63/042
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 63/065 Heating or cooling devices
• CPC Class Codes: A01K 67/033 Rearing or breeding invertebrates; New breeds of invertebrates
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 21/27 using photo-electric detection G01N21/31 takes precedence; circuits for computing concentration logarithmic circuits G06G7/24; photometric circuits in general G01J
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 2201/12 Circuits of general importance; Signal processing
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/004 for CO, CO2
• CPC Class Codes: G01N 33/1886 using probes, e.g. submersible probes, buoys
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/25 Greenhouse technology, e.g. cooling systems therefor
• CPC Class Codes: Y02A 40/81 Aquaculture, e.g. of fish
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 60/21 Dinitrogen oxide [N2O], e.g. using aquaponics, hydroponics or efficiency measures
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 60/52 use of renewable energies
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 60/60 Fishing; Aquaculture; Aquafarming

Abstract

A system, method, and computer program product for an aquaponics, and greenhouse system, includes a solar greenhouse with north, east and west sides insulted and with glazing on a south side angled to maximize winter sunlight, and housing a fish tank with grow beds, and a hard filter filtering water from the fish tank coupled thereto, and including a stilling well inside of a solids collection chamber receiving water from a hard filter geyser pump, and with filter media sections of varying coarseness for providing mechanical filtration therearound, including coarser and finer media section from a bottom to a top of the solids collection chamber, a with air stones on top, and with aquatic plants including algae, and/or Duckweed, providing biological filtration growing on a water surface thereabove. A sponge filter receives overflow water from the aquatic plants and with an output thereof provided to the fish tank.

Claims

1. An aquaponics, and greenhouse system comprising:

a solar greenhouse insulated on north, east and west sides and with glazing on a south side at an angle to maximize winter sunlight, and housing;

a fish tank housed within the solar greenhouse; and

a plurality of grow beds coupled to the fish tank and also housed within the solar greenhouse;

a hard filter coupled to the fish tank through a hard filter geyser pump which filters water from the fish tank, and including;

a stilling well receiving water from the fish tank pumped by the hard filter geyser pump;

a solids collection chamber with the stilling well disposed therewithin;

a plurality of filter media sections of varying coarseness for providing mechanical filtration disposed around the stilling well, including a coarser media section near a bottom of the solids collection chamber, and a finer media section near a top of the solids collection chamber;

one or more air stones disposed on a top portion of the finer media section;

aquatic plants including one or more of algae, and Duckweed, providing biological filtration and growing on a water surface over the air stones; and

a sponge filter receiving overflow water from the aquatic plants and with an output thereof provided to the fish tank.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a rocket mass heater inside the greenhouse to heat the greenhouse and fish tank water, and comprising an L-shaped mass with an interior metal column with metal coils wrapped around the metal column to heat water from the fish tank circulating therethrough.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a rain water collection system for the greenhouse to capture rain water from the greenhouse and to heat fish tank water, and comprising a rain water container inside the greenhouse to hold the rain water and coupled to the fish tank, and a rain gutter made of a reflective material provided around a roof of the greenhouse and coupled to the rain water container to capture rain water, and a water pump coupled to the rain water container to recirculate the rain from the rain water container to the reflective rain gutter to heat fish tank water.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a plurality of hydroponic tanks respectively coupled to the grow beds and also housed within the solar greenhouse; and

each one of the plurality of grow beds is coupled to a fish tank geyser pump internal to the fish tank, and a hydroponic tank geyser pump internal to a respective one of the hydroponic tanks,

wherein the fish tank and hydroponic tank geyser pumps are powered by an external air pump via an air selector switch to pump and aerate water from the hydroponic tank to the grow bed and to pump water from the fish tank to the grow bed and aerate water of the fish tank.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a black soldier fly (BSF) composting and auto fish feeder for converting organic matter into BSF larvae for fish feed, and comprising a BSF container having an internal ramp, and an external ramp, with the internal ramp disposed within the BSF container, and with the external ramp coupled to the internal ramp and disposed over the fish tank so that the BSF larvae can crawl up the internal ramp and drop off from the external ramp into the fish tank as the fish feed.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a spectral analyzer based sensor having a gas probe disposed within the greenhouse to measure air parameters of the greenhouse including temperature, humidity, O2, and CO2 levels in the greenhouse, and a water probe disposed within the fish tank to measure water parameters of the fish tank water including dissolved oxygen, PH, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, and electrical conductivity (EC) levels of the fish tank water, and

a computer coupled to the spectral analyzer based sensor and configured to control one or more of the air and water parameters based on the measured air and water parameters levels.

7. The system of claim 4, wherein each of the grow beds includes a bell siphon external to the grow bed and configured to drain the water from the grow bed back into the fish tank and from the grow bed back into the respective hydroponic tank, and

each bell siphon comprises a bell siphon housing with an open end and closed top, with the open end of the bell siphon housing coupled to a bottom of the grow bed, and a bell siphon standpipe extending within the bell siphon housing and coupled to the fish tank to drain the water from the grow bed back into the fish tank, and to the respective hydroponic tank via respective valves.

8. The system of claim 4, wherein each of the fish tank and hydroponic tank geyser pumps comprises a geyser pump housing with an open bottom and closed top, with an air inlet provided in the geyser pump housing coupled to the air pump, and a geyser pump standpipe extending through the closed top of the geyser pump housing to an inside of the geyser pump housing and coupled to a top of the grow bed to pump and aerate the water from the fish tank or the respective hydroponic tank to the top of the grow bed.