Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Lowes, it is a Ruff tote, buy the concrete, ask for a concrete mixing tub

i am filtering about 25gallons of water at a time, but you can have(at max)30gallons of water filtering....

there nice, at about $13, great price

there 3'x2'x8" so just deep enuff to be ideal...but thell work...i am going to use more of them

yea and i like the sideways looks to...

ill check the landscape place near...theres abunch.

but for some reason hydrotron seem to make up the price difference in quality...great stuff...i wonder when i go big if i could become a dealer and like get half off of the stuff...

ok i have a dilemma,

i have an indoor patio that i can have a AP set up.

i want to use a IBC tote for my fish tank, but the pretty tall(4' i think)
and i can not half sink them into the ground because of my concrete patio...

so unless i have 5 foot high grow beds, i am going to have to have a sump

i am not to happy with that...
so how do i do this?


oo and the only problem with a outdoor set up is high winds and sand blasting, a wind block is required...

So... have a sump, one pump... and fed the growbeds by gravity...

We call it "Chift Pist" ....

thank you rupe, ive read chift pist around the board, what is it?
or a better question; is there a system thred that best shows a smiple set up?

and if gravity feed from the FT, how do you get the soilds off the bottom?

this is probly the way to go...

The answer to the last part... is probably the best thread(s) to follow....

A "Solids Lifting Overflow".... or SLO....

Basically it's an upright standpipe in the tank.... with a tee piece outlet that feeds the growbeds...

There are slots cut into the bottom of the pipe... that allow the solids to be lifted up the standpipe by the water returning from the sump and flowing up the pipe...

Do a search on "SLO" or "solids lifting overflow"...

Here's some basic pics...

lol wow i just read TC's Useful Aquaponics Diagrams thred.lol

ok so now i know what CHIFT PIST is and that it needs to be in CAP's(lol)

and what a SLO is, i am almost up to date with the new stuff on the forum now(it has been years sence ive been on)

now the only thing i need to figure out is how big does my sump need to be?

what is the equation for how many gallons a media filled GB will take?

rupe you are soo much help and a blessing to us on the forum.

ok i did s test with hydrotron.

i filled a 2gallon bucket up with hydrotron, and took 1gal of water, and pored the water into the bucket, it took about 90% of the water to fill the gaps in between the hydrotron.

so for every one gallon of hydrotron, it takes about .5 of water to fill

so if i had a 250gallons of growbed i will need 175 gallon sump?

is that right? if so, that sump is going to be HUGE...any help?

so seence ive had my big dust storm, i dont think i am going to do a system in my indoor patio, out doors all the way for me.

seence i have soil to dig down, no CHIFT PIST

i am going to half burry a IBC then use 55g drums as growbeds. going large! i want to have a 2:1 ratio, so about 10 drums cut in half, with 250g in the IBC, and a Indexin Valve will be real nice.

all thats left is the Media, ive been talking to Utelite to see how much it will cost shipped to me. but on the other hand, i have a guy with some Red Lava rock for $80 a TON(2000lbs)

but its mixed sized, and i would need to spend a couple of hours with the Sluge Hammer

its there a better way to brake up Lava Rock?

HELLO ALL!
I wanted to stop by and see how BYAP it going, and OMG, how you've grown! Over the past 4 years you guys have brought Aquaponics to a world wide phenomenon! Congratulations!

I am in awe of some of you longtime byap'rs HUGE systems, wow, just wow. I would love to see them some time.

I do have to say i am sorry i have been away for these past 4 years, its was a rough time, with know aquaponics in my life. Well things have changed and I need to get it up a going again!!

So; I am still in the same house as before. My biggest problem is Heat/Wind/Dust.

To avoid heat; dig out the ground to bury booth Tanks and Grow beds in the Coachella desert sand out here, & put the Tanks in a covered shaded area.

To avoid wind; I am currently laying out a wind shield with sun shade cloth on the windward side of the yard.

to avoid dust; this is the biggest problem because of one thing, The Pump. If i do a recirculating system, the pump is going to get clogged all the time with DC-10 dust. I am going to have to do a NON-recirculating system, so no EBB & Flow, NFT, the great CHIFT PIST. Even with the SLO, the water would just be to dusty for the fish.

With that said, i need to do a Aquaculture System & Hydroponic System separately.

Basically, every time needed; do a partial water change in the Fish Tank, and put that water in a "bubble-ponic" Grow beds.

List: Fish Tanks: 55g barrels, heavy duty (solar maybe?) Air Pump, Large Air Pump Stone.

Grow Beds: Kiddie Pools (Maybe?), Styrofoam sheets for growing medium (Grow Blocks Maybe?),
Venturi Air Pumps (Solar maybe?).

Extra: Transfer water pump to take water from fish tanks to grow beds.

Fish: Hot Weather Tilapia for grow out, and mosquito fish for the grow beds.

now, this sounds like cheating, I guess it is. but i figure, this is a Low Cost, way easy to build, and will take care of my dust/wind/heat problem if done well.

Please give me thoughts/limits/advise of this system. Pictures of my back yard will be soon.

I am Glad and thrilled to be apart of this community again, and if anyone is near me, message me, ill be interested in chatting.

- Dank Fish