Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey gang,

Thought I'd give some background and show a few pics of this little project I'm doing for my partner.

The background is that she has a small goldfish pond in her courtyard (photos to come) that I put together for her a year or so ago. It’s an old fibreglass indoor planter of about 80-90L. Right now it has 2 goldfish (there was 4) but it always gets algal blooms and a bit stagnant. So I have been trying to think of how I can add a small filter to it. Just something to physically filter the water so I’ve been looking at things such as internal sponge filter, external canister filter, etc, etc.

Heck knows why, but I only put 2&2 together last weekend....

So I've built a small aquapoincs system (well the hydroponics part of it given the pond is already there) that will mount on the fence above the pond, provide all the filtration the pond needs, add enough filtration that Kel can stock more than 2 goldfish (aiming for about 6) and will also provide some basic veg's like a few herbs and lettuce.

Here's the pics of it built, but not painted or installed (that's next weekend):





The 2x growbeds are 1m long 150mm PVC with matching ends caps.
The openings take up 1/3 of the overall circumference and the capacity of each GB will be about 16-17L for a total capacity of about 32-34L.
Water will be pumped to the GB through the 12mm poly and there will be 6x 2mm nozzles in each GB delivering water to the expanded clay media. The 12mm poly forms a full loop as to lessen any pressure differences.
Water drains from the GB via the 19mm poly.

I’ve tried to keep this unit REALLY simple so there is no flooding as such. It should be free-draining and I’ll start with the pump on/off at 15/45min and see how that goes.

That’s about it. It’s really simple and will be fully painted in the same colour as the fence to help it blend in.

AJ.

That is gorgeous! welcome and I look forward to some more developments!

Hi Aaron

Nice work, you may want to put a filter inline if possible that can be cleaned out or alternatively run the pump through a half barrel of media for a week. Ponds tend to get a lot of crap in them and it will end up in those gb's initially.

Welcome aboard!

Nice looking system, but I can't help remembering my various floods and replumbing as reality trumped theory. Looks like you are planning flood/drain (a darned good way to go, many have concluded after trying some other methods): do you mind a couple thoughts?

1) Fishtank to growbed plumbing: solids always clog little holes and tubes. Flushing with a hose can help keep things working, but bigger pipes are nicer and less trouble.

2) flood/drain works if pump fills faster than growbed bottom drain, but it looks as if you only have a single drain: you will either flood out onto the ground or never fill your growbeds. The typical solution is to have an overflow and a bottom drain, normally in one "standtube", but there are other options. I really like your media fence to keep the media from clogging your drain: nice idea.

Sweet idea. I hope someone can come up with something that homeowners will enjoy for herb gardens etc: something that looks good, sounds good, tastes good, and does not cost too much.

Tthanks for the welcome, but I've been here for a little while already and this is the second little system I've posted!

Sleepe:
Will be retaining the small sponge filter on the pump which will suffice for the initial start-up. Reduced flow out of the nozzles will signal the sponge needs rinsing. Once things have been up and running for a few weeks the sponge filter will come off allows small amounts of solids to make it to the GB... I though this was actually a good thing to achieve???

Also, this pond is in a courtyard, so there will be no solids entering it other than fish food/waste. Large amounts of solids will not be the issue and it’s the nutrients I am hoping this new system will deal with, therefore reducing algal blooms.

Hydro:
I always welcome thoughts....

1) As I mentioned to Sleepe, large amounts of solids should not be an issue. ‘IF’ the 2mm nozzles block a small piece of 1mm wire I'll that I'll have on a small hook hidden in behind the GBs for easy access will suffice to dislodge anything that does reduce flow out of a nozzle.

2) It’s not flood/drain. It is even more simple and… flow-through, or just drain! The pump will be 15min on 45min off to start with and the nozzles exit on top of the GB media. I have a couple of vertical GBs on my Yabby system that work about the same. However, they are constant flow, so I am just copying that but making the GBs horizontal, increasing flow and making it intermittent to accommodate the increased flow.

Does that make sense? No flood, just drain and placing the pump on a timer in order to control wet/dry.

AJ

Sorry. Overlooked your joining date.

Won't be my last mistake....unless...is that a meteor coming this way.....!?!

(note to self: read posts before replying)

The issue I have heard mentioned here with flow-through is anaerobic spots and dry spots and root rot. Flood/drain has the effect of causing the growbed to inhale/exhale for good wetting and oxygenation.

Yes I know that is a possible issue and in a bigger system that’s what I’d be aiming to achieve. However, I guess in this case:

* The placement of the GB drain means no more than a few mm of water will be at the base of the GB at any given time.
* The size of the GB (i.e. very small) means air should circulate sufficiently.
* I'll add as many nozzles as need to get fairly even and full coverage over the media.
*The pump cycled 15/45min on/off should be enough to maintain moisture levels yet not have it all too wet.

Well... I'm hoping all that will be the case

AJ

Stripped, painted and ready for the install next weekend:



Pump on order and sparky coming this week to install and exterior power point and will do the plumbing once the unit is installed in place.

AJ

They came up pretty good Aaron...

Keep us posted on how this all works out in the long run. Since you are talking a really tiny set up, it might be ok but 2mm drip holes tend to clog up easily (the main question is how long till one gets sick of unclogging them all the time, as I recall in my hydroponic days, it is a daily chore.) Since it is just a little goldfish tub the minimal amount of bio filter you will get by the trickle method might be enough, just don't overfeed the goldies. Since you are talking a trickle, you might be even better off running the pump almost all the time. Perhaps only having it shut off a couple of times a day so it can perhaps clear some of it's own clogs.

Good points TCL.

I am hoping the very small sponge filter that will be retained on the pump inlet will stop any individual particle big enough to block the 2mm nozzles yet hold very little filtrate overall. Any build-up after that should be gradual and easily dealt with via the little 1mm wire cleaner I made for the unit, which is kept in easy access for Kel behind the GBs on its own wee little hook



Re the trickle filter… I’d have said it was a very large trickle filter compared to the size of the pond. Would be close to 3:1 which is pretty decent compared to most ponds and aquariums. Good way of looking at it though as I was thinking I had a small GB compared to the pond, but really its just a large trickle filter that just happens to have some plants growing in it!

But you’re a right… I may be able to get away with longer pump run times. I just figured better starting on the dry side and see how it goes from there. Maybe I'll start running it 24/7 and see if any wet feet issues arise. If not then I guess it can just stay that way (like my verticle GBs work on the yabby system).

AJ

What kind of paint did you use.

Low Sheen Acrylic Exterior.

Not sure how it will go with the water. How much is in contact with the media. It looked like you painted the inside of the GB.