Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey. After lurking for awhile, and posting here and their, i finally built and started my system.

Its still not perfect but heres a general overview:

Location: Makeshift Greenhouse in Washington (USA)
Type: Chift Pist.
Cycle:The pump is turned on for 20mins, every hour.
Fish Tank: 1x (90)Gallons [constant height, it gets up to 120G at the peak of the cycle] Fish tank also has 2 5" diameter airstones on opposite ends of the tank running 24/7.
Grow Beds: 8x(25)= 200 Gallons. Filled with Lava, and River Rock.
Sumps: 3x(50)= 150 Gallons
Plants: Strawberrys, Lettuce, Corn, Pumpkins, Dill, Orgageno, Sage, Jupiter Peppers, Bell Peppers, Beans, Tomatoes, Swiss Char, Califlower, Brussel Sprouts, Acorn Squash. Water Lettuce, and Faerie Moss.
Fish: 22 [6"] Rainbow Trout ( roughly .125lbs each atm).

The systems been running pretty well overall. But I'm having issues with my ammonia (<.5ppm), and nitrites (<.25ppm) being a bit high, I've done water changes daily, and fed the trout very little, I guess all i can do is wait for the bacteria in the growbeds to catch up.
I've also been having issues with Garder Snakes preying on my trout (i lost 7 in 2 days), they are unable to eat them, but drag them out and leave them in the dirt. I've placed mesh over the top of the FT, and i think the issue has been solved for now.

More Pictures:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/ ... G_2747.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/ ... G_2751.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a236/ ... G_2740.jpg

noticed that your input to your grow beds is splashing alot over the top of the media.... that can cause problems.. might want to get the output down into the gravel a bit

What is your water temp and pH? Just ask because you might get quicker cycling if you can minimize the water changes but only if the water temp and pH don't cause your ammonia to become too dangerous to your fish. Salt can help minimize the danger from the Nitrites 1 ppt of salt should take care of that but make sure it is not table salt as the anticaking additives and iodine could be bad for the system and slow down the bacteria even more. Most of us use solar pool salt or solar water softener salt (wind and sun dried sea water no additives or pelletizing agents.)

Great start, bummer about the snakes.

The Ph has been around 7.4 the last couple of weeks. And the water temps have ranged from 55-68 deg F (Its been a weird week of weather, with highs of 80 and sun one day, and highs of 58 and rain the next...)

Oh, and I've already salted to a little less than 1ppt.

Update:
Recent
Water Quality,
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 10
DO: 5.6-6
PH: 7.5
Temp 70-78

Good News: Plants are growing like crazy. (I'll post a pic later)

Bad News:
I only have 11 Rainbow trout left , most have been killed by diseases/parasites from stress associated with the high water temps.

I never though my tank temps would reach that high, but we're having an unusually warm June in Washington.

I've looked into getting bass/yellow perch for my system to replace the trout but the Game department is making purchasing them to much of a hassle, and the nearest hatchery for those species is several hundred milees away.

Solution?:

I was thinking about purchasing 3-4" koi and raising them until they are 12-15" and re selling them for hopefully a small profit .

Questions:

Has any one tried to raise koi for resale in an Aquaponics system?

And should I have any issues with the koi if water temps rangefrom 40ishF-80F throughout the year?

Hi, Swandazi!

Sorry to hear about your trout deaths. Have you thought about having a fan blow on your fishtank all night to lower temperatures?

Koi should work out with those temperatures, but you might need a bigger space. Channel catfish might be good, too, if they are legal up there.

Your tanks and grow beds are above ground ..... may i ak the temperature of your soil in a normally shaded area < North of a fence ( opposite to Aus) test a foot or so down

Flood and drain gravel does tend to make the water temps move more than just a fish tank would do. Sorry about it getting too warm for the trout, perhaps you can try them again in the fall/over winter. Channel catfish can handle a wider range of temps. Koi are also hardy and I believe some people probably do grow out koi for re-sale. If you have a specialized koi place around, see if they have any smaller fish they need to be grown out somewhere. Koi are what many people call dirty fish (as it it doesn't seem to take as many of them to provide enough poo for the grow beds as with some other types of fish.)