Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My google foo is suffering lately so if there is a thread out there, please tell me where and I will go there for the information I seek.

I want to add a pvc tube growbed on the fence surrounding my tank. The plan is to plant more strawberries so we get more fruit on a regular basis.

I am using 4" pvc with 3" net pots filled with hydroton and I have a couple questions.

Does my outlet size need to be larger than my inlet size to prevent overflowing?

What water depth am I aiming for when I set this up?

I went ahead and put it together and hung it on the side of the fence around my aquaponics setup. Flows well. Went with 1/2" input and 1" output. For the water I removed one of my diverted spray bars and am sending that water to the tubes. Will plant some strawberries, watercress and lettuce. May even put in some broccoli and cauliflower to see how it grows compared to what is in the bed.

Keep us updated with progress and pics. I'd like to do the same kinda setup.

Does anyone know how deep I want the water in the pipe?

Should it be a little from overflowing or should it be down and just touching the bottom of the pots. My thought process is that it is essentially the same as a constant flood bed and therefore the point is to keep the top of the media dry to reduce algae and keep nutrient water flowing through the media as the netpots sit in the pipe.

Hello there, I have made the water height in my PVC pipe set up adjustable by using a threaded 90 degree elbow fitting. when I turn the fitting downwards it reduces the water level. Then to raise the level I just turn it up again. I also use a cheap tap system to control the flow rate through the pipe.

I find being able to control the water height very helpful, when I put new seedlings into the pots I start out with the water level up high and reduce it as the roots start to grow out the bottom of the pots. Hopefully the photos below tell the whole story.

Here's a couple more picks you'll notice one end of my pipe is quite higher than the other end, so I generally put the fully rooted plants up the higher / shallower end. I very happy with this set up and hope to expand it with a few more pipes soon.

I also have a couple of locally caught fresh water crayfish living in the pipe they seem to keep the roots trimmed without doing to much damage (so far)

you little beaudy!
Just what i needed thanks

Thanks for the tips. Will read when I get home. What a tricking brilliant idea using the elbow on the outside. I put the elbow in the inside and I have to take the end cap off to adjust. It's a threaded cap so its not the end of the world, but your idea sure would make it easier.

Nice! My raft is starting to get full... Perhaps I need to find a way to add some NFT to start getting some strawberries. Is there too much flow for NFT?

good to see its working well for you. nice and simple and does the trick for sure

I like the hole to make adjustment easier. I will have to do something similar as my 90 is inside like yours though I mounted my pipe in the middle of the tube.

I noticed you painted yours black. Was the white pipe allowing too much algae to grow or did you do that to promote heat transfer into the water?

yes mate painted black just to add some extra heating, I've put a bit more info on page 7 of my IBC AP thread below.

Thanks for the tips. I like the heights different. Mine is adjustable so as I get things rooted I will have to look at how it is set up. It sounds like it works well when the water level is lower and faster moving for the bigger plants. My big fear is overflow so I will be watching and trimming roots accordingly.

I went with 3" netpots drilling a 3" holes in the 4" drain pipe. I need some more netpots and will get some 3 1/2" to see if they fit a little tighter in the hole. I also like the idea of some crawdads in there and think I will find a few to add in there. I really like the tube idea and on the first day saw root growth from the transplanted plants. I am already thinking of adding a second one to the system a few feet higher than the first one as mine are hanging on a fence.

I might cut the hole this weekend to make it easier to adjust. I was also thinking of removing the elbow inside and putting one on the outside as the adjustment would work the same. How do you cover the adjustment hole as I would imagine crawfish would easily escape? The third option is to put a little extension on the elbow inside and moving it closer to the already cut hole so I can simply pull the plant, make the change and put the plant back in.

Painting mine will have to wait, but I think it is a good idea. I would like to see how my water temps fare in the summer since we spend a large part of the summer over 100F. I may not want the added heat going into the system.

[quote="Silverbullet555
How do you cover the adjustment hole as I would imagine crawfish would easily escape?

I have cut a short length of 100mm pipe the cut it in half up the centre and one half clips nicely over the hole.


Painting mine will have to wait, but I think it is a good idea. I would like to see how my water temps fare in the summer since we spend a large part of the summer over 100F. I may not want the added heat going into the system.[/quote]

I'll probably cover my pipe with builders foil in summer, last summer I disconnected it through our warmest months as it certainly does warm the water up, a cheap digital thermometer came in very handy to test every outlet Etc.

These setups are cool be because you can see root growth, etc. it's neat to take a pot out and see roots growing all over the place after only a few days. All the transplants look pretty good. None of the seeds have sprouted yet but I expect them too by the end of the weekend.