Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,

Looking good Matt! Love the wood and colour!

Where did you get your grow bed from. I believe you said they were dog baths?

Cheers,

Mon

Yup, dog baths...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120817669589? ... 1439.l2649

I wanted something that wasn't too wide so it was easy to reach across the whole bed from the front. I'm going to end up with all 3 of them side by side along the wall. Maybe.

I'm loving the updated pics
Looks like a nice space down your side fence for growth expansion.

Spent the afternoon in the garden again.

I now have a working aquaponics system!

2 x 8mm holes at the bottom of the standpipe...


Standpipe in bed...


Standpipe with media guard...


110mm drain to sump tank with a hole cut in it ready to accept a grow bed drain. The hole is slightly larger (50mm) than the grow bed drain pipe (40mm) so the the drain doesn't syphon the grow bed...


Pipework for grow bed drain...


Growbed drain fitted...


Drain to sump tank and 40mm pipe from pump to fish tank...


Return to fish tank...


SLO outlet to grow bed...


Just need a few more bags of hydroton and we are ready to plant!

Next question, how many fish should I start off with (only 150L of grow bed at the moment but I do have an external bio filter that I could add in).

And the first test results...


Kinda funky!

Do a high range pH test...

High range pH test...

Your tap water looks like mine - no ammonia/nitrites, 8.3pH (after it's left to sit overnight), and around 40ppm nitrates.

Are you planning to cycle with fish or fishlessly?

I decided to fishless cycle but it's been taking a long time, well over a month now and it's still not there yet. i think I added too much ammonia. Hoping it'll speed up a bit now with the weather taking a turn for the better.

You're thinking of european perch right? What influenced your choice? If you haven't seen it, there's a massive thread on them (mainly from the Aus perspective, of course) here:
viewtopic.php?f=25&t=4028&start=30

150L is going to be your limiting factor for the number of fish. Any chance you can bring the next growbed on-line? Is the idea to use the rescued goldfish in the system somewhere?

I'm going to cycle with the goldfish that were rescued. I have 9 in there at the moment all looking happy. 2 are about 6" long the others are between 2-3".

I'm not 100% sure on fish yet. I would love to have some Trout as I have plenty of air and plan to insulate the tank to keep the water temp a bit more stable but may go down the Carp/Perch route. I would prefer it to be a native UK species rather than something like Tilapia so I can avoid heating the water.

I don't think I'll be able to get another 150L bed up for about 6 weeks but I do have a 130L bio filter that I could add as a temporary measure.

Replaced the pond pump for a Rule 1100 GPH 12v pump. I'm running it in a 15/45 on/off cycle so we will see how long it lasts...


Return to fish tank using 40mm solvent weld pipe...


SLO outlet to grow bed. I've now added a 90 degree elbow so the water exits below the media...


Grow bed outlet and standpipe...


Added some peas, sweetcorn and a tomato plant to the grow bed...

Nice looking system Matt. Keep us updated.

Added a 90 deg bend to the SLO outlet so that the water gets delivered below the surface of the media...


Planted some more peas and sweetcorn. All of the plants in the system are heirloom seeds that have been sprouted in my greenhouse...


Todays test results...

Hi Matt,

I would personally worry about putting the outlets under the media. I would worry it getting blocked with solids and causing too much back pressure, possibly causing a problem with the SLO.


I hope it works out for you.

Cheers,

Mon

Good point. Ill keep an eye on it and see how it runs.

Roots will also try to grow up into it if you have an aggressive rooted plant.