Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well I know he has got 150 trout fingerlings swimming around in his main tank now, some nice sized Silvers in one of the other tanks too.

Hello, Its been a while, system is still ticking over and I must admit it was a bit neglected for a while. The Silver Perch have consumed more than 60kg of tucker over summer and have put on some weight. Some are just over the kilo mark. I haven't cleaned my filter at all over summer and it is fully loaded with lots of waste going into my grow beds. So I guess today is the day. I'll get some photos.

I've finished working FIFO and back working locally. So It's the first time since I built my aquaponics system that I'll be home every night to keep an eye on it.

Trout are in, Cheers Gav, and swimming with Silver Perch for the first time, and yes with SP up to 1 kilo. I did have 1 casualty that managed to get out past the net. They are scoffing 3mm pellets and very happy with the water temp at 17deg.

I've added a goat pen adjacent to fish shed so now all the scraps from the system go straight to them and is a lot more manageable. It was a pain before so this should help keep my system in check. Now all I have to do is catch up my turkeys and cut their wings as they are starting to get out and the first stop are my grow beds.

Always something going on..............

When ever suits RocketRod, I'll be around

Cheers Muzza

Uh Ohh watch out , this sounds dangerous .....

It will be good to get regular updates Muzz.

I never got to the brush filter, as I got side tracked cleaning a couple of growbeds. My beds are starting to block up with fine root fibres and are a nightmare to try and unblock. So I went for a look in my shed and found a stainless steel sieve come colander thingy. I used to use them for sifting small mealworms from pollard for my birds. Anyway I tried using it to collect the the small roots and its a winner. I did a 1m long section of one growbred and the same again on another and I had completely filled a ten litre bucket of flow restricting fibre. It only takes a thin film of fibres to block the sieve so its easy to see how it effects flow in the growbeds. I guess each time I harvest an area of the growbeds I'll give it a once over using this method and hopefully keep on top of the rising tide.

this is pretty encouraging to hear that we can get away from a properly setup system for a long while. I think the idea that we were tied inexplicably to our systems had my wife a bit worried. Although my goal is to hedge my wages in the next two years and set up a retirement plan called aquaponics.

I like your tip Muz. Do you have to get down to the bottom of the bed as the fibers sink, or are they suspended?

I just stir the water up as I go and they stay suspended long enough to scoop them up.

I've planted 10 punnet's outs during the week and that's it until I clean more beds out. Will have to wait until the weekend before I plant out again.

In my big aquaponics make over on the weekend I discovered that one of my air pumps wasn't working. Its a Resun LP-100 and has been running 24/7 for nearly three years. My second air pump is a Hailea of similar size and has been running for the same period so I'm guessing that wont be far behind. Both diaphragms in the Resun are shot, parts are on order so hopefully wont be off line to much longer.

good to see they have parts available. A bit pricey on this side though

Hi Muz, I'm wondering if you've looked at the brush filters and their affect on nitrate levels - any difference with the cleaning frequency like UVI sees with cleaning their netting? Seems like even in neglect the system is growing plants pretty well but then you run really high fish loads as I recall. Along with this what's involved in cleaning these and how easy is it to dislodge the solids? I'm wondering how well these would work on suspended solids primarily. Thanks.

Hi Scotty, I originally had bird netting in my filter box and it was a major pain the the ass to clean. The bird netting was some 150m2 by memory and when it was loaded with solids boy was it heavy. Plus when you try and feed the netting into a bin or similar you get covered in fish shit, no matter how hard you try to avoid it. The brushes and the netting both work well in arresting suspended solids, the brushes are more efficient as they are in banks(rows) and easier to remove although they still are heavy but manageable and only weigh about 20kg. I have 5 rows of these brushes, and they sit in my 1m x 1m x 0.6m poly tank, I have a stand pipe in the filer box that drains back to sump and is set at a height that would not overflow with clean brushes. As the the brushes start to block it restricts the flow and causes the water level to raise in the filter box. I can judge how blocked the filters are by looking at the return water to sump from this stand pipe.
To clean the filters I block the 90mm inlet and outlet pipes of the filter box with caps. Connect a drain pipe onto the return end of the overflow standpipe at the sump level which goes to the lawn in the chook pen. I can then remove the standpipe in the filter box and drain the 600L of water with minor wastage of solids as nothing has been disturbed or stirred up at this stage. I have a 90mm overflow pipe on the fish tank setup with the SLO that feeds the filter box, this can handle the pumps flow from sump to tank and return to sump so there is no need to turn the pump off.
Once the filter box is empty I can remove the rows of filters, As they are loaded with solids I give they a good shake which drops heaps and then they are removed and hosed out on my lawn. I'm not concerned with the wastage here and usually try to clean them on a new section of lawn each time. When all the brushes are removed I scoop out the solids from the filter box and usually fill 20-30L into a tub. I use some myself and give heaps away to friends etc for their gardens. I never use it in my system again.
I haven't really kept track of how much I feed out per year but I'm guessing between 150-200kg, probably more. So if I didn't use the brush filter I would have some major problems in my growbeds. The last few months I've been really enjoying my aquaponics and its probably at its best at the moment. I will endeavour to post a few pics over the weekend.

Cheers Muz

Thanks Muz, I really appreciate your taking the time to describe the process for me and look forward to the system pics

+1 on the pics

I didn't mention last night that I haven't tested for nutrients for a bloody long time. I do test PH, especially when feeding out lots as its a constant roller coaster at that stage. I have also battled with nutrient deficiencies in the past but I've recovered from that and is stable at present.

I have removed the olive drums on the trellis and replaced them with bath tubs. The drums are now used with soil, 4 still on the trellis and 5 of to the side. As usual my system is under another stage of construction. I'm in the process of finishing of the last bath on the trellis then will be installing a tank base for a wicking bed. With a couple of raised garden beds to follow after that.

This bath has Broad Beans and some Broccoli at the front



This bath is the only place I will ever grow tomato's in my system now as I always battle with there roots. This was self seeded from another bed.


Kale on right, Cos Lettuce at front and Cauliflower at the rear


Leeks, some Coriander coming up with Radish at back, also young brown onion and Bok Choy next to that not shown in photo.


Broccoli, French dwarf beans at rear, baby Spinach and young strawberries also in this growbed.


Afro Parsley, Garlic Chives, more Kale and a Curry plant and what's left of the Basil behind that.