Tony works this weekend, so I won't be able to sit down and get this project set up until Monday. I'm hoping to get lots of photos of the process, and hopefully I can get it all set up, running, and planted in one day.
A note - most aquaponics systems need to be running for at least 3-4 weeks before planting any seeds because you need to get a proper nitrogen cycle going in your fish tank. However, I'm using a well established tank that already has all of the good bacteria in there and ready to work for me. Of course the big question here being if using the turtle tank will work like all the videos and such showing fish tanks. We shall see.
On the plus side, while I was wandering through the mostly-abandoned garden center at Menards, I came upon an organic soil called Pro-Mix Ultimate Organic Mix, $6.44 for 1 cubic foot. I do believe this is what I will be using this year for my winter sowing containers. The back suggests to add Vermiculite for slower-growing seeds, and since the containers will be sitting out all winter and spring, I plan to add that as well ($15 for a big bag). That will be my next big project, but probably not until January or February. This aquaponics tank, and Christmas will be taking up all of my time and attention this month.