Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all,

I've been researching aquaponics for about 5 years and finally decided to pul the trigger this past January. The wife and I put together material lists, researched different products and got to it. We had originally thought we could get the job done in about 6 weeks working only weekends... Well 5 months of back breaking labor later the water is finally flowing. We have a couple of weeks worth of odds and ends until the basic system is complete, but it operational now.

The system is roughly 2000 gallons and is currently setup for continous flow. It has 10 grow beds made from IBC totes, 4 fish tanks and a large sump consisting of 2 IBC totes. It's powered by a 5600 GPH submersible pump and uses a large air pump and stones at the FT's.

Here's some photos of the build. All questions, comments and suggestions welcome!!


Our dirt is unbelievably hard, sparks actually come off the shovel when trying to dig. So had to get some help digging the sumps.



The rear sump tank wont be accessible and was just to add volume to the sump in the event I go to flood and drain.


Fish tanks placed and water/power ran to sump area.



My wife Brooke works at a lumber yard, so we got quite a bit of "Do not inventory lumber" on the cheap. Trailer full was a little over $20.

These were 2' cutoffs that worked perfect for the growbed skirts.


Attempting to level out the ground and place timber the growbeds will set on.


Building skirts for the growbeds. They are visible from the back patio so we built boxes to keep the sunlight out and make them a little easier on the eyes.

Boxes finished and painted.



Covering fish tanks






Plumbing








Rock







And that brings us to now. Planted some more today and will grab some photos soon. Will continue a grow journal going forward. Thanks and any comments appreciated.

Thanks,
Mak

wow, that's impressive! Love the look of the GB's, the color will contrast nicely with the greenery to come.

Well done good use of space

With Aquaponics ive found if you think the project will take 1 hr allow 6

Looks great, although that is a lot of treated wood, if that's what it is, above the fish water. What type of fish did you guys choose?

I hadn't thought about the treated wood contaminating the water. I think I'm going to replace the lids with something lighter anyway, or seal and paint them. The fish are tilapia, had them in a tank in the garage for awhile, there's about 8 of them.

Waiting a couple of weeks for the cycle to finish, then planning to put about 25 tilapia fingerlings per tank.

Thanks everyone.

Awesome news. Again the system looks about as pretty as any I've seen here. Thanks for posting and welcome to BYAP.
Brian

Nice work on the layout and install, looks really good. Will be nice to see it producing after it has seasoned.



+1 on the concern for the pressure treated above the fish tank. I did use pressure treated above the fish tank on my first build (It is powered by koi and I planned to only grow ornamentals-it still is powered by koi and grows ornamentals, but is also used as an experiment grow bed to see how different plants will grow in an aquaponic environment), I made sure not to on the second build that has tilapia and grows edibles.

That's a work of art - looking forward to seeing how it progresses!

Great job . Might want to get yourself a hose timer if you don't already have one, it's pretty easy to turn the water on and forget about it when you start doing something else.

Thanks Scotty. Yeah either this weekend or next I will have the auto top off setup. But I know what your saying, I flooded the tank that was in my garage like that!

Thanks
Mak

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Update 5/22/18

Well haven't posted in a few weeks but have been busy trying to get the system finished. Finished for now anyway, do have several things planned like solar heater and some bio-filtration. Have tested the water a few times and the ammonia is about gone now. Added Seaweed extract twice, a bit of chelated iron and a small handful of worm castings to each bed. Not much other than that, here's some photos.

Started work on a trellis system that might also double as support for a greenhouse in the winter, haven't quite worked that out yet. I've done quite a bit of carpentry on this project and I must say I'm not a big fan of dead tree carcasses, metal working is where it's at for me!



New TIG machine, still trying to get the hang of it. I dipped the tungsten no less than 50 times while building these. Quite a bit more difficult than my old MIG machine.


Caps on posts


Painted, drilled and installed. I used 3/32" coated wire and swagged the ends.



Rock finished. I'm really glad to be done moving rock. For the time being anyway.




And here are some pictures of the beds and new plants. Growth has been great so far, most everything looks pretty great and tomatos are jumping up, beefsteak in particular.

A few weeks ago


Today


Japanese cucumber has grown a lot since I planted it last week.


More cucumbers from seed and other seedlings that have been under a layer of shade cloth.


Squash. The one in the back left is getting eaten by something, but appears to be pulling through and sprouting a bunch of healthy leaves.


Corn looks a little pale compared to some of the other plants, but seems to be growing very well. Some of these seeds were thrown right into the bed and they popped up no problem.


Garlic my mom sent me from her garden in Maine. I thought these were about dead a couple of days after I planted them, but they seem to be coming back. Not sure how well they will do.


Jalapenos, bells, serrano and a runt habenero that doesnt look too good. Jalapenos are going at a pretty good pace.


Tarragon, random tomato('s?), oregano, cilantro, onion and garlic chives that popped up this spring from last years soil garden. Also added some mint, dill and basil.



That's about it for now. I still need to hook up the auto topoff, build the top's for the rest of the bed's and figure out what to plant next. Any feedback or suggestions more than welcome.

Thanks,
Mak

Would it be a Caterpillar eating holes in the basil and squash? I've looked at night but can't find anything. I have seen a few small black ants on some of the plants, but read that shouldn't be a problem.

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Looks amazing. With all that gravel I really don't think you need to add any bio filter. I you are looking to do additional filtering you should look into some sort of mechanical or solids filter. You will have a ton of space for BB to grow in the beds.

Haha trying to get the hang of that new Tig Welder... haha! Wow man, you are a fine craftsman.