Hello kr3t3n,
First off if you truly want the least amount of work and headaches don't use aquaponics to start with. Especially when trying to use
aeroponics as the watering method. There are tons of small particles in aquaponic systems that can very easily clog mister/sprinkler heads. You would need a seatmate filtration system to get it out. And the learning curve trying to get the
nutrient balance right and maintaining it takes a lot of trial and error as well as experience.
Also I'm not sure what you mean by clean, but aquaponics is far from clean. In fact you have to be very careful not to spread things like salmonella and e-coli. Anything that touches the water and the plants can spread it. Even tiny droplets of water that land on the plant, your hands, and even gardening tools etc.. Animal waste including fish poop carry it and the water is full of it.
As for your three separate sections. All aquaponic systems have those same three sections. However most people don't create a separate reservoir for the bio filter. Most of the time the grow beds contain enough
grow media to act as the bio filter. If not and'or they wanted to create more, they generally just build an inline filter to increase the bio filter mass. Something like a 4 inch piece of tubing filled with coco fiber that the water passes through on it's way to the plants.
You stated "
It would be great if the bacteria can be in a "secondary" container/tank, not in every growbed container.." But you won't be able to confine the microbes to the "Microbial/secondary tank" While the microbes will thrive best in some type of growing media/bio filter they will be in every drop of water. That is unless you kill them with a UV light as you
pump the water through it into another section. I wasn't suggesting you do, I was pointing out that trying to confine the microbes to a certain area is impossible otherwise since that seemed like what you were trying to accomplish. But the microbes will be in every drop of water. So when you say a secondary tank for the microbes so their not in the grow beds, that's incorrect since the microbes will be in the entire volume of water.
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So, do I need a microbial tank or would the root containers act as the microbial environment? My concern is that if I truly use predominantly high & low pressure aeroponics, the container inside surface won't be constantly in contact with water and the bio-filter might dry out and die.
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Think of a bio filter like a sponge. A sponge has lots of surface area because it's porous, but it doesn't have to be completely submerged to remain moist. Microorganisms grow all over the surface area inside and outside of the sponge because it's moist. While a kitchen sponge will grow harmful microorganisms, the bio filter that's inoculated with beneficial microbes will continue growing and breading beneficial microbes. While the bio filter just needs to be wet, the bio filter can be completely submerged as well. As I mentioned most people just build a inline filter, hence the name "bio filter." The inline filter is encased and remains constantly filled with water.