Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just put this up about 2 days ago so it is FAR from complete. Reworked a system that was 4" pipe and am now using 3". So far just two tiers tall but should be 3 soon. The lettuce in the dixie cups on top were transfers from the 4" pipe and don't fit obviously. Have more germinating now that will go into netpots on the top teir. I am really digging the HO T5 fixture added recently. Other fixtures are T8s at 6,500K. I have being doing a lot of research on LEDs being able to provide a much more diverse spectrum ranging from 2,100K to 6,500K but they are serious $. I am going to try to build one of my own after a bit so we can grow more diverse crops. We tried adding a solid filter comprised of a simple whole house filter but it added too much restriction for the pump. Pump feeds at 3/4" to the two manifolds so we will need to add some solid breakdown method very soon as it is starting to muck up the tubes and I don't want the roots to rot. The electrical needs to be neatly taken care of but like I said we only built it about 2 days ago. PH is good at about 7.2 and nitrate and ammonia are good. Only have three fish in there now but will have some tilapia on the way once the system gets completed.

Ya might want a deeper tank or some serious safety barrier to keep tilapia from jumping out.

Keep up the good work. If you can manage some sort of media filled grow bed to filter the water before it gets pumped up to the tubes you will probably be very happy you did it.

We had a filter where you can see the 90s on the bottome tier but it was too restrictive. We will have to add something else to make it work. I have a screen lid for the resivoir as I am used to my Koi jumping out of the pond in the backyard. The 4" pipe system we had before was doing great but it seemed overkill for our needs. I would love a bigger resivoir but here in Chicago they are hard to find for a decent price. The 70gal in the picture was $140. I plan on building five more of the tower style pictured and I will need a much larger resivoir.

If getting a tank of sufficient size is too cost prohibitive, you can probably build one with some wood and pond liner that would fit very nicely under the pipe system there. I just built a 240 + gallon grow bed for all of about $120, no reason that same construction method wouldn't work for a fish tank, just make it slightly taller and a little narrower. Then again, I'm using a tank that exact same depth as a duckweed tank but I have 12 tilapia in it breeding like crazy right now.
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2640&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=1245

If you were to build a tank like that, you could then let it overflow into the other tank (and fill the other tank with gravel except for a basket where you put the pump) and you have a filter/growbed all in one

Building my own definately sounds the way to go. When I built this one it was out of necessity. My previous resivoir sprung a leak out of no where and since I was forced to make a change, that's when I decided to rebuild the whole thing. I look forward to posting more pics as it progresses and learning more as I go along.

I like how *neat* it all is..

you cant get into my shed :-)

Ah but he said there was a leak, everything has been cleared out for the clean up and picture Now if the camera aimed the other way we might see the truth

That garage is very tidy

Actually no damage from the leak it was slow and due to a river pebble underneath the 40gal plastic tank, wore through after a while. The garage is a 4 car which is why I would love to expand and multiply the existing system. I am trying to maximize yiels for what I can grow well indoors. We donate much of what we grow to local chruches and missions since we already grow more than we can eat. As I mentioned in a post a while back, the ultimate goal is to start a not for profit and build a lot of these. Chicago has a real need for fresh healthy produce for those less fortunate.

Nicely done Elston... welcome..

Added different solids filtration. Haven't seen anyone use something like this before so it is an experiment in the works. Seems to be doing a pretty good job so far. Having somewhat of an issue balancing thr manifolds but getting there. Lettuce and basil doing great.

hey jon, great pictures of the system.

maybe we need to tell everyone that the original pump was a hi-volume low pressure pump. and the pump was causing the problem because it did not have the pressure to move water through the filter.

the new pump is a high pressure high volume so that the pump can now deliver enough pressure to system that the filter is a moot point.

also we would like ideas on the manifold... the limitations we had on this manifold was cash $$$$ and the design was based on budget. i have several solutions designed in my head already, but i am open to ideas from BYAP members as well.

the filter is just a GE solid filter for removing solids from the city water supply. there is no carbon in this filter at all.

Two weeks later things going well. I planted each a few days or weeks apart to guage growth patterns depending on water levels in the tubes. Aphids still a problem with the mature lettuce.

very cool