Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Southwest AP on the rise. Here we have a few systems made from found objects as well as some made from IBC totes. Dealing with extraordinary heat for months on end, these systems were built with the fish tank as a sump, buried in the ground, and partially covered by the the grow beds for shade. Great lengths were taken to scrounge, recycle, reduce, and reuse. Systems run on continuous flow with shrouded standpipe in a modified CHIFT PIST design.

The first two weeks of growth look good! These plants were the runt's of the dirt garden but now having been transplanted they are growing at incredible speed.

I know everyone loves photos so here are some close ups of the lettuce varieties.

Good Luck gbock, do you think you will have trouble getting to your fish at harvest time or if there is a pump problem?
Very neat looking system you have there.

I have also built a mid sized system in my backyard. It began as a single IBC tote with modified CHIFT PIST design. The first years growth was amazing.

The fish are easy enough to get to with a net on a short pole. And the pump is easily maintained by pulling it out of the pond by its flexible black vinyl tubing.

Here is a concept/prototype micro AP system that I have built for a water solutions design contest. Purely recycled materials: pallets, billboard vinyl, cooler pump.

I will keep y'all posted on the all-in-one rabbit hutch / aquaponic grow bed / worm composter / BSFL nursery. So far so good. The four rabbits and six young bunnies are happy as ever and had an excellent Easter Sunday. No chocolate eggs though! The grow bed floor joists and worm bin / BSFL nursery drawers have been placed. Now I need an actual floor bottom, pond liner, and stand pipe to finish this thing off. Also in the works is a spirulina tank and shrimpery synergy with the chicken coops so I can get closer to closing the loop and feed these fishies a diet with variety.

Ok so I have posted a bunch of pics but I will admit I am still a novice. Last week around my roomates birthday, we had a bit of catastrophe in the mid sized system. I unknowingly increased the feeding rate by dangerous leaps and bounds as spring temps rose. The bio filter bloomed and the water turned cloudy white. This resulted in a crash of the nitrogen levels in the water, which in turn, led to a mass death of the beneficial bacteria. Leading to a very non-beneficial drop in dissolved O2 (DO) as the decay process ran its course. I thought that by slowing the feeding rate down the tank would clear up on its own. So I crossed my fingers, turned the flow rate up and monitored water quality while I waited a few days. On the roommates birthday party night DO reached a critical level and three of my precious fish went belly up. Of the three Koi one fish was my very favorite so I placed the fish into the micro AP system fish tank and had my wonderfully helpful roommate Elianna (birthday girl) gently hold it and splash water across its mouth and gills. She did so for about 40 minutes chanting the maha-mantra until the beautiful koi fish miraculously regained consciousness. During the time of gentle resuscitation, I added three air stones to increase the water turn over and DO in the fish tank, and prepared an emergency auxiliary tank for further fish saving action. With the addition of the airstones the tank cleared literally over night! No more fish deaths occurred and my favorite koi of all survived! Today that same fish was the first to respond to feeding, rewarding me once again with a sight of its beautiful patterns and a splash of its strong tail. Remember to read through these threads when you have a problem and for fish's sake aerate your water. Stop fish deaths and learn from all of our mistakes here on the BYAP forum!!!

Glad to hear it worked out.

Transplanted a tomato and out of necessity a shade structure followed.

The rabbit hutch grow bed is coming along nicely. Finished framing and a bulkhead fitting has been placed. Next is to finish plumbing and fill with grow media.

Last year the Tucson AP community held a tour of homemade backyard AP systems. Our system location was not a stop on the tour so we got to go out and take a peek at all the other systems in town. The tour was a huge success and many pics were taken and friends were made. Most of the systems on the tour and pictured below were designed by AP enthusiasts and entrepreneurs Local Roots Aquaponics.

Some of the schools of TUSD were granted funds for AP systems. Drachman, Davis, and Manzo Elementary Schools are the ones that I am most familiar with. Recently the system at Manzo has been placed in a glass greenhouse (super nice). Here is a pic of the recently relocated system to be stocked with tilapia.

The Earth Day festival at Reid Park was a great event and many people came out to celebrate conservation and responsible management of the Earths resources. A water solutions design contest was hosted as part of the event here in the desert setting of Tucson. I had been planning a small aquaponics system entry for over a month now and finally got all the kinks worked out. I went with a 7.5V solar panel to power a small DC submersible pump. This pump ran water from the bottom fish tank up to the small grow bed seeded with worms bacteria and herbs. The mint and marigold grew outrageously a week or so before the event so I was very pleased to say the least. The fish tank is host to duck weed (Lemna minor) and water velvet (Azolla caroliniana) which are grown as fish food. The tank is stocked with 6 sarasa comets, resembling the kohaku color pattern in koi, and one black comet. The wooden housing for the system was made entirely from recycled materials including pallet wood, pallet nails, billboard vinyl, and one leaky brass spigot. The curved bonnet or stage coach style shade structure is made from table saw milling scraps. The system is run during the day as continuous flow with a shrouded standpipe. During the set up for the event on Sunday morning, I quickly realized that I was the only person in the water solutions design contest area. By the end of the event it was confirmed that my small aquaponic system was in fact the only entry. I won first place in the design contest by default. Im still happy with the win but a little competition would have been nice. I guess its true what they say, showing up is half the battle.