Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,

After six month of reading, learning, then designing & building : here is my first system.
I'm located in the French West Indies (Caribbean).

My system is a CHIFT PIST, has a 1000L IBC as FT, two 500L linked sumps, and two 3 meters x 1 meter GB filled with gravel and expanded clay.

Measured pump output is approx 1500 L/hr, 500 L/hr go in each growbed and the surplus overflows to the sump.

Bell siphons are made with 32mm standpipe (1" 1/4), the beds flow in approx 20' and ebb in 7'.

Right now i've began fishless cycling and i'm in the process of shading the fishtank and the sides of the bed to keep the sumps from sunlight.

Nice!

Neatly done.

Thanks !

I've added the water 5 days ago and began dosing with pure ammonia each day, maintaining bewteen 0.50 and 1 ppm.
Today i've seen first signs of nitrites (0.50 ppm) and also a little nitrate maybe (around 2.5 ppm i would say but it's hard to read).
Seems a little fast after only 5 days. Maybe thanks to the warm climate and also the fact that the media was sitting here for a month receiving rainfall before i added the water. Some bacterias colonies may have settled there earlier ?

My PH is around 8.0. Should i leave it like that for the moment and adjust while fully cycled ?

BTW water temp is 26°C (78 °F) in the morning and 29°C (84 °F) at the end of the day. Hope to lower that a bit when i install the sun shades on the FT & Sumps.

Wow very neat, looking forward to seeing more

My PH is around 8.0. Should i leave it like that for the moment and adjust while fully cycled ?

Yes,its helping you at the at moment,i wouldnt rush to alter when it is cycled either,add your fish and plants and see what your plants do,then if need be bring it down slowly.

Thanks for your answers !

Here are a few pics of design details...

Nice system. Do you have a lot of rainfall and if so do you think the system will be OK without a cover?

I'm located in one of the dryest part of the island, so not much rainfall usually (2 to 4 inches per month).

But could be heavy occasionally in the rainy season.
Which kind of problems could be caused by heavy rainfalls on the growbeds ?
Thanks,

The only problem might be overflowing the sump tanks. It could lower the pH if it rained enough. Pure unpolluted rain water is typically around 5.6 pH.

Also, expanded clay is too light weight to provide much support for top heavy plants. Wind and rain make it even worse.

The system looks great but I would make it a priority to shade the fish tank. Also, I'm not a big fan of running the SLO output to the ground then back up to the grow beds. You find after a year or two, they will clog up especially where you have the shutoff valves. I wouldn't go tearing apart the piping... just make sure to keep an eye on flow rates. Running directly across from the SLO will keep the pipes much cleaner in my experience but of course makes an inconvenient barrier.

Thanks for your answer Chuimanfu.
I have an overflow pipe on the top of my sump so overflowing won't be a problem. Hopefully heavy rains are not too common and usually occur in a short period of the year.

Shading the fish tank is #1 on my to do list ! Just bought the shading cloth today, will post a picture once done.

While designing the system i hesitated to do this circuit from SLO to the beds, but i wanted to be able to walk all around the bed. I must admit that i was a little afraid when i first circulated the water ! I plan to do a high pressure flush of those pipes several times a year, and fortunately the shutoff valves are removable.

Love the carpentry work!

Nice work! What percentage shade cloth did you buy, or did you go with the 12% plastic?

Looks great, how did you line the growbeds? Pond liner? I am struggling with leaks in mine atm....

Sent from my SM-N910G using Tapatalk

Thanks for your comments !

I've just finished shading the fish tank. I've used a shading cloth at 80% i think, and another fabric over it just to look nice. Now i'm a bit worried that my Tilapias will be in a too dark environment. Anyone has feedback on this ? Do Tilapia live well in darkness ?

The grow beds are lined with a second hand swimming pool liner. But a tough one (1.5 millimeters thick). I didn't do any cutting or welding, just folded the angles. For the bell siphon exit, i've used a PCV fitting designed for liners.