Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I stream bed could work within the raised bed to the right... The water wall does give a nice focal point


[quote="Fishbits"]May have to see if/how the brick and mortar would affect water chemistry. But beyond that, your wall/your design Could figure a method of having the water return from the pot on top running either from a single point or devising some sort of spreader bar to disburse it across the entire face like a piece of copper pipe with holes drilled every X inches. Maybe cut a small indent an inch from the bottom to allow for a method of catching the water and re-routing to the pond. Would have to be all of 1/4-1/2" deep I'd think. Just deep enough to slide a piece of plexi or something into and then collecting in a small trough. Or you could create something of a "natural" stream bed at the bottom of the wall to run back into the pond.

A quick mock up.

This is at Midday.

and on the alley side

I know that mortar and concrete mess up ph and can take a while to come good.

The wall may get an adobe finish - similar to Japanese garden border walls
Or bamboo screening / tea trew screening to soften it.

That or cascading plants or a climber? Not really sure

I am not crazy about the look of the recycled red bricks for the wall on the interior face in the back yard. It is too stark for a Japanese garden however the same bricks will be used - and exposed in the house perimeter walls.

If I mount a purpose built (or purchased) water wall feature this could be fed from the pot above.

I like the concept of planter pockets - in fact a green wall is something I have always desired... Might have to explore this further.

Channeling water back to the pond could be tricky. I could as you suggest run the base in a trough, or channel. It might also look good if I can have the water dispel directly into the pond surface from the base of the feature wall - providing water movement. The pond should abut the brick wall in the center.

Appreciate your concepts and advice.

Cheers,
Stuart

Clean Canvass

- Old House demolished, concrete blinding pour completed and site scraped clean.

The pond will be in the foreground of the shot.

Hey... that's cheating...

Maybe a little...

I am not sure how to filter and pump this system.

I watched a tutorial here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WHxzDPxQa6I
Showing a simple construction of Swirl and Biofilter.

Seems pretty simple

- Looking at the tutorial the below mock up I made seems to be the gist of it.

Tricky part will be that this seems to be Gravity fed. And my pond will be in ground.
I havent much space for this gear and I am not sure if it could be put in ground (to get the depth for gravity feeding.

What are peoples thoughts on how i should filter / pump this system?
Also how to make the filters below the deck and still accessible for maintenance?

Cheers,
Stuart

You might want to check out "radial flow filters"

They seem pretty easy to make and supposedly work better than swirls. I don't have any experience with them but there's a cool video here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0pTf12wDOQ

Thanks cbrumf2, I watched the video and it is a snazzy option.
Construction looks a tad trickier... will have to research some construction tutorials further.

Anyone else have views on this filter and design?

For the size of your system, a combined swirl/radial filter AND biofilter may be a bit of overkill, although if the wall and container above are the only grow areas the biofilter may be a necessity for bacteria growth. There are two small boulders in your mock up. What about a single larger "faux" boulder to house the filter(s) as opposed to sinking them in the ground for easier access?

As far as filtration itself, I'm thinking it couldbe as easy as a large inverted water jug for solids filtration and/or a small drum for the biofilter. As I have no experience with biofilters and media yet I'm not sure if just a biofilter would be enough to sufficiently break up solids. If it would be, then I think two pumps are going to be necessary if the filter(s) are above ground. One to pump from the pond to the filter(s) and one from the filter(s) to the top of the wall. Otherwise, one pump from the filter to the top of the wall should work assuming a gravity feed from the pond to the filter(s) and flow runs from the wall to the pond to the in-ground filter(s).

I've been toying with making my swirl into a radial lately as well. My problem is one of lack of space inside my swirl and potentially not having enough room to make the 180* bend with the 1" PVC I used to come back up as my inflow is relatively high up on the filter. Otherwise, seems to me that a large plastic cup or beach pail with the bottom cut out and hung in the center of the filter would work. All you're trying to do is get solids to settle out faster with the radial design.

Thanks for your advice Fishbits.

The system will have planter beds recirculating pond water, just not sure how many yet. I could theoretically make enough to entirely cover the outside of the brick wall with plants. This would be a long term plan though.

Also upstairs on the deck will connect to one of these: http://autopot.com.au/default.aspx?Page ... a9d8e4184b

Effectively the deck will be a vegie patch in pots - some 15 - 20 large pots. The only thing is that this system is closed - so the water will not recirculate back to the system once it hits the autopot reservoir. I use this system as it is simple to maintain and I can supplement potassium and fertiliser without fear of contamination.

The long and the short is that I would prefer to over cater for filtration than under as the system will probably expand and evolve over time.

I suspect that the biofilter will not perform as well without first breaking up solids - the media will likely clog with gunk.

I like your suggestion of on pump from pond to filter and one from filter to top of wall also hiding the filter in the rock formation is appealing - this will be easier to access and maintain and will be hidden from view. I will work up some renders of these ideas over the weekend.

Thanks again. I will be keen to see how you go with your radial filter.

Cheers,
Stuart

Design refinement.

Deck is going in so this week, I have Placed the underdeck water tank and am sorting out the final layout.
Thinking of a Radial and a Bio on the deck for easy maintenance.

Joists and Water Tank.

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