Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Its so good to see a system being built in the town of my birth - have not been there for MANY years tho
Definately and interesting looking system...
How much direct sunlight do you get in that area?
And what sort of fish will you be stocking (given any thought to a cover for your tank?)

Hi, the direct sunlight is about 3-3.5 hours . The problem is that I have no other space to do aquaponics. This is my firs system and want to learn on this one firs , hopefully one day I can put up my commercial system.

I am going to cover the tank with the same plastic I used for the grow beds and fish tank. I can see that the algea is starting to be a problem.

Currently there is koi and gold fish in my system and 3 tilapia. The other tilapia died due to my ph not being correct. This weekend I am going to a local dam to cath small tilapa with a net and then put in my system.

Hey Jacubus. I grew up in Pretoria. What suburb are you in? Great place... I miss the jacarandas and the warm long summers. It is still cold here in Cape Town Great to have someone else in South Africa getting into aquaponics. Those grow beds are looking good.

Hi Briam. I live in theresapark in pretoria nort. Its also good to se more and more south africans doing aquaponics. I want to put up a commercial system but firs want to see how this system works. Do you have a threat with your system? I would like to see how it looks and works.

It is in the members systems "Brians system so far" I have just started to build it and only have the fish tank and some NFT gutters. I still need to do the grow beds and am in two minds about what to use for them... so many options...

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On Saturday morning i went to a local small dam and caught say +- 30 Tilapia to put in my tank. I have now got the +- 30 Tilapia, 5 Gold fish and 5 Koi (i had them in a small fish tank in the house and moved them to their new home)

I washed all the grow beds gravel and completed the 3 grow beds late the afternoon.

My first grow bed that I planted is one week in now and my , beans, lettuce, tomatoes, spinach and onions are coming up.

I want to grow strawberries now in vertical PVC pipes, but can anyone maybe tell me where i can look for a nice tread that explains how that works please. Is there also a nice thread or info i can read about NFT system with pvc pipes. Sorry if I am asking, I know I must just read , but a am struggling just to find a nice way that explains how the NFT works and how to build your own one at home.

Will keep you posted on how my vegetables are growing.

Howzit Jaco - nice to see another South African into AP - I think your Tilapia are going to enjoy the soft bed you've made them in the fish tank

Looking forward to seeing how your system grows...

Very resourcefull.
I think I would be putting a few diagonal braces and some more support bars under the sheeting.
very creative. I would never have thought of attching the wooden bats to the upturned ends of the sheeting.
Simple and great.

Thanks for the complements , it was hard work when doing most of the stuff alone but I eventually one it.

OB1 where in Johannesburg are you based, do you also have a tread showing your system?

Trevor, hi man, I have done the calculations at work , some of the guys helped me there calculating the weight of the water with the gravel and that small construction will hold, belief it or not. its steady and not showing any problems at the moment , so I belief that I will have no issues with them.

I will post the vegetable pictures soon, they are growing so nicely. Everyday you can see a difference, its amazing!!

Wow , what a great idea.....I will book this thread into my Favourites ......well done and thankyou for the excellent photo's

My vegetables is growing great, and my fish look happy.

Here is an update on the beginning of the plant growth.

they are much bigger now, will post those photo's soon.

more photo's

update on the vegetables growth.

Its going great from the seedling. my water is crystal clean!

Will take a few photos soon of my water and the fish.

The Cabbage i did not plant from seedling in the Aquaponic system. Me and my friend planted 1 hectare of cabbage in the ground, but some of the plants died, so i took 3 of the cabbage plant that was on their whay to go and removed all the soil from their roots and put them in my Aquaponic system to see what will they do.

On the photo showing one ,the leaves stood up and it seems like it is growing.

More photos

I will keep you guys posted on my plant growth and fish growth.