Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello All,
I was hoping I could get some input from you guys on ways to improve a system I’m designing. I plan on building it out of epoxy painted plywood and 4x4 posts My plans are to design a combination flood and drain system with auto siphons on the 6 large grow beds and continuous flow for the small overhead beds and the vertical grow columns

Some of my requirements are?
- The use of only one pump (and nothing else if possible)
- Grow a minimum of 60 fish from start to finish with a many veggies as possible
- Easily covered as a greenhouse when needed (I live in Florida)
- As self-sustaining as possible in regards to feed & power supply (that’s a whole other set of questions I’ll make another post for if I don’t get run out of town for this one .)
- Fit in a approx 12’x12’ space

THE TANK
The tank size is 96”x48”x30” (24’ at water line) (478 gal.)
Has a overflow hole in the side and the drain line that goes to the pump has a valve that can be used to empty the tank

THE PUMP
Can I get away with this set up?
The pump has one inlet and is split into 3 outlets
Outlet 1 - Supplies the sump which has a float valve
Outlet 2 – Supplies the continuous flow grow beds
Outlet 3 – redirect back into the tank to create a constant current (not shown in pictures)

Do any of you foresee a problem with me doing this: Setting up the inlet with an extended hose inside the tank so I can use it to vacuum solids if need be and putting a disconnect on the Outlet 2 so I can use it as a hose for whatever maybe needed?

THE SUMP
I’m planning on adjusting the sump size after determining the volume needed for the grow beds filled with media

On the sump, should I design it with 2 levels on the bottom. The higher level has the float valve drain used to flood the beds and the lower level used to collect solids has just a ball valve drain I can use to drain them. Or should I pump the water with enough force to agitate the solids and mix them evenly into the water before draining?

THE BEDS
The 6 large grow beds (flood & drain) are 60”x18”x12” filled with gravel
Small grow beds (continuous flow) are 60”x 6”x.6” filled with perlite
Vertical columns (continuous flow) are 6” x 48” filled with perlite
The water supply to each bed is controlled by a valve hopefully allowing me to adjust. shut down or add beds as needed. (note: continuous flow plumbing will be simpler then shown)

In the grow beds would a false bottom allowing a 1 inch space for any surplus solids to sink into and then exit back into the tank aid in cleaning the gravel, drain time or anything else, or is it a bad idea?

A few other questions
- Will this set up work?
- How many fish can I humanely keep in this size tank and 2 pounds each?
- Do I need more or fewer grow beds for this size tank at full fish capacity?
- If all the beds & columns are running (and draining back into the tank) will this provide enough oxygen or will I need an air stone? If I don’t need a air stone will there be enough oxygen in the water from a day of running that I can turn the system off at night and still not need an air stone (at full fish capacity)?

Thanks in advance for your time and knowledge.

Chris

Hi Milk,
I'm a bit brain dead this afternoon, so can you tell me what the total volume of growbeds is please?

With regards the air stone, it is best to have extra aeration, especially if you intend to not pump overnight. The fish will need air all the time.

You should probably get a back-up air system to in case of power outages.

what are you intending to grow in the big beds? tomatoes and capsicums will need more head room.

um, need to go out and look at fish now, I'll think on this some more

welcome to the forum

Assuming your FTs are to the rear (away from the sun), you may still have problems with plants shading each other. Is it an option to bury the FT and let the GBs have more room for light to get in?

The F&D bed volume is 56 gal each when empty. I was planning to try different media in some of the beds to suit the plants needs (sand, perlite, gravel of different sizes etc…) so judging fill volume will be difficult.

Let’s just say I lose 50%, then bed volume will be 28 gal: 6 beds x 28 gal = 168 gal total F&D bed volume.

The continuous flow bed volume when empty is 9 gal: 4.5 with media 4 beds x 4.5 gal =18 gal total

Vertical columns are 7 gal empty, 3.5 with media 2 columns x 3.5 gal = 7 gal total

As far has head space goes. The structure is 7.5 feet tall (I can go higher) and there is about 30 inches from the top of the big bed to the bottom of the overhead bed (I was planning to grow short growing plants in the beds under the overhead beds and taller growing plants on the single beds at the rear of he system. I want to plant mostly vegetables, and I’ll try to chose plants to fit the system

The rear of the system is set against my house (with a little clearance) it’s a NW wall but it seems to get strong light most of the day with a little shadow before evening. I can see how the columns may need more light so I was planning on trying some low light plants on them as well as swivels so I can turn them ever other day so all the plants get even light.

Thanks again

Milk, you calculate the growbed volume on the total space, not the amount of water it will hold.

Fish Tank: 64 cubic feet
Total bed space: 52 cubic feet

F&D grow beds: 7.5 cubic feet each: (6 beds) (45 cubic feet total)
NFT Over head beds: 1.5 cubic feet each: (4 beds) (5 cubic feet total)
NFT Columns: 1 cubic foot each: (2 columns) (2 cubic feet total)

In order to get closer to the 2 to 1 ratio I could:
Make the fish tank one foot narrower to 96x36x24 Widen the F&D beds 6 inches and add 2 beds more measuring 48x24x12 as end caps.

this would be
Fish Tank: 48 cubic feet
Total bed space:83 cubic feet

My goal is to raise 60 edible fish (not sure which one yet) so i was looking to go with the larger tank and if 60 isn't pushing it for that size tank i figured the lesser bed volume would be able to handle it and i could always add extra beds if i move the system to a larger spot.

dont make the fish tank norrower juyst stock it a bit less the larger the water volume the more stable it becombes