Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Im trying to start an aquaponics system. I've been doing a lot of reading but cant seem to figure out if my flood and drain system will work. My main goal is to provide some vegetables for my family but I would also like a decent size fish tank. I will not be harvesting my fish for consumption.

Will it be too hard to balance plants, fish and water with my design?

Tank: 6'x3x2' ~36 cubic feet,~270 gal
Made from 2x6

Grow Bed: 8'x2'x1' with bell siphon? or timer? ~120 gal w/o media

Lava Rock. Cheapest in Hawaii. Not sure how much water it displaces

Pump size?

Both will have a liner.

Any advice is appreciated.

That's about what you would have in a standard chop and flip. That's about what I run. Yes, yes you can.

Stock density there are a few ways and all sorts of rules on the web. Keep it simple so I suggest keeping it light.
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/guide ... -stocking/

For stocking I suggest the link above. You can really turn that into rocket science but keep it simple. Remember to look up your fish before you stock them. Ornamental fish like Koi and Goldfish and those fancy Cat fishes.... they wont stay small. Stock them as if they were their max adult size.

For pump size, you want to cycle your entire tank volume a minimum of once an hour. Always give yourself some leeway because your plumbing, solids, and bio film are going to slow your flow. So a 500 to 600 gph pump would be good.

Other thoughts, I would definitely add a sump tank that's almost a necessity. Easily tuck that under the grow bed. Solids filter are nice but not a necessary. I like to keep my stumps and tanks clean and having a central place to clean it out is nice. Go with the bell siphon.

For media, you want something smooth. Pea gravel or Hydroton is perfect. Look for an average of .25 inch diameter. Remember you are going to be digging in that. You go with pumice your going to have the best exfoliated hands on the block. Look up craigslist and whole sale suppliers for gravel. Make sure you inspect the gravel and take a cup of vinegar with you. Test the rocks for a reaction. You want a neutral media. Pumice would be great to add to a filter though. Lots of surface area for filtration. You could add a few inches of a base layer with pumice then fill with pea gravel. I could see getting the roots out of it being a pain.

Other thoughts. I would be concerned with the outdoors breaking down the wood. So make sure its treated to prevent degradation. I personally use cinder blocks to support my plywood grow bed. Wood is water sealed and the bottom is painted with Flex Seal to protect it from splash back. Its protect from the elements though on my porch. A pressure treat 2×6 will rot through in two years. I know because that's what supported the old grow bed.

Maybe try and a tank then wrap it in wood. So if it does deteriorate and fall apart your tank is good.

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Just to confirm what Rcmaveric said about your rock. I went out a couple of days ago and collected some scoria (lava rock). I had only picked up about 15L and I could feel the wear on my fingers so I grabbed my gloves and continued until I had about 50L of rock to put right in the bottom of my grow bed. I'm trying to reduce the amount of expanded clay that I need.

Anyway the result is that for the moment I can not use the finger print scanner on my phone. No food and fuel for a week or so until my finger prints grow back



I'm just setting up my system as well. I've found that the drain from my growbed has to have a continuous fall. I started out with the drain pipe dropping down and then up a bit so that it held water. The siphon didn't start and stop reliably until I got a continuous fall on that pipe. Mine has to travel 6m back to the pond but yours just has to drop so you shouldn't have the same problem.