A quick and efficient way to fasten the pond liner to the plant tank MDF box is to use duct tape:

It’s not pretty but the liner is secured. I’ll have to attach a couple of wooden sheets on the outside of the tank to cover up the duct tape and uneven edges. After all, the system is set up in the corner of our living room so a clean look is needed.

On the inside of the tank walls the liner is folded, almost like wrapping a Christmas present, just on the inside (man this is an annoying task. It’s hard enough to wrap a gift but this worse):

(Notice the 50 cm (20″) plank pressing the liner up against the walls). I think it has an okay look, but a cut up along the corner would look even better, but then you would have to depend on lots of glue to be sure that the plant tank was watertight. That would probably work too, but I prefer to take the safe route in this first project

Glue is needed for the pond liner / bulkhead assembly – it reminds me of an engine gasket:

I have no idea if this is the correct way to apply the glue (the instructions were in German ) but I’ll find out soon enough :-/

This next one shows a layer of glue on top of the liner after pressing the liner down on top of the bulkhead:

And finally the plastic flange is fastened to the bulkhead with screws:

Yes! The aquaponic plant tank is ready for test:

This is truly an Ultimate Aquaponics Home System I’m building, like the title of the guide says, right on the dinner table :

This the MDF box being prepared with pond liner to hold water and function as plant tank in the aquaponic system. The thickness of the liner is 0.5 mm.

In order to keep the liner in place before it can be secured I’m using three planks resting on the bottom to make sure the liner is pressed up against the side walls. It would actually be better to use one large board that would cover the entire bottom of the tank, but this will do.

Once the liner goes up over the edges it’s held in place with rubber coated clothespins.

Now I need to come up with a way to fasten the liner for good (duct tape?…), and a way to fold the liner in the corners so that the plant tank will still hold 20 cm (8″) of water.