Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thats why i opted for flex hose for part of my inlet system.

Thanks for the heads up, I'm not sure if my wife will let me do that with this build, as it would require me to buy more PVC, or hose to mediate this problem. The next build though I do plan on using hose (be it to improve the flow of this system eventually, or some future build). So for now, it will need to stay the way it is.

Happy wife = future projects

That is true doctrine there!

Today I got the media guards drilled up, got the bell siphons cut to how I want them, and got the stand pipes shortened enough so the water level will be about an inch or so below the media surface. I have to say, having a band saw and drill press makes building things MUCH easier than doing it all by hand like I did with my small system.

And here is the process of what I did:













And that is my system in all its assembled glory! I'm needing to use the bricks for now until I can get the media put in. The reason: this particular pipe I'm using has the bad habit of floating if not supported, or weighed down. Next week hopefully I will be able to get my media, but I need to wait and see what the wife will say. Until then, I'll let the system run for a bit to help even out the current water pH levels and such.

What I've learned thus far;1) the 3 legged siphon is very picky about the current going in, and as such I will be replacing it with a 2 leg siphon. 2) I may need a sump tank to help keep the water level in the fish tank at an adequate level.

Until next week, all questions and comments are welcome.

Enjoy!:)

Hi thsdragon. That's a nice looking system you've got there. I can't wait to see some big healthy plants doing their thing!

About the water level and sump tank. Keep in mind that the media will take up roughly 60% of the space in your GB's. So while you are running your system with your GB's empty you will need quite a bit more water than when your system runs normally.

I forgot about that when I was setting up my system and so I ended up getting a bigger ST than I really needed.

Also, just a quick question about your first post: what's a Blue Spruce pine tree?

What he said doubt that you will need a ST.

Remember to update us on yoru media selection and such. I will be calling a few landscaping companies to see if they know the details of what I need from there supplies.

Thanks for the heads up! I had forgotten about that little detail..... and I'm super excited about the plants! My mom keeps thinking that she will take it over... As for the blue spruce question; this link should provide everything you would want to know. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_spruce but just a quick summary; it is an evergreen tree with needles rather than leaves, it is native to the western rocky mountains of the US, and it is also the official state tree of Utah, USA.

Nautiboi, I do plan on posting my "official" comparison of pea gravel vs whatever else it is I choose to use (though red lava is looking very promising right now....). So keep watch for that sometime next week when I can buy the media (or if you end up buying before I do, I can read about yours! )
Because as we know, it is often the case of the wife determining when, and how money is spent

Haha I'm sorry thsdragoon, I was just having a little fun . I know a little about the Blue Spruce as we briefly looked at it in class this past year (we learned it as the Colorado Blue Spruce). I was just commenting on your combination of spruce and pine, two different genera of the Pinaceae family

No worries HoneyBadger, I was tired when I read your post, so it slipped by me. What are you studying (studied)?

Also, does anyone know why plants would taste bad after not even 3 week of growth? I harvested one of the leaves from my peppermint chard plant in my small system, and it tasted bitter like it had bolted, but there is no sign of bolting (the Bok Choy on the other hand......). My one and only guess is the mold growing in the system is possibly poisoning the plants, but they show no signs of deficiency anywhere.

The mold took "root" in the small system during its time inside..... And I didn't catch it until I moved it out.... And my wife and I would rather spend the money to replace it all, on grow media for the system I finished building. Which by the way works wonderfully now that I have figured out exactly where the inlet flow valves need to be set to.

Regards,

Will Adams

I just finished my first of two years in a Forestry program at a college in the north of British Columbia, Canada. But for the summer I'm working as a field assistant doing block layout, which is basically deciding where the boundaries and roads of a cut block should go and then also determining what type of streams/wetlands and ecotypes exist within the proposed block and which ones need to be protected. It's a lot of fun, but the bugs and tough hiking in the bush with a lot of weight in the vest can be tough some days

I bet. Though that sounds like it's pretty rewarding, especially with all the natural vistas and such you get to see. So are you done with school, or do you still have more to go?

I love this little setup, so easy it seems. Think I might make something similar for people to try.
Idea on how much media you ended up using?
Also what fish were you looking into? Not a whole lot or room there.

Thanks, its going to be a very nice upgrade to what I have on my back porch. I'm going to shoot for 104 L of media per grow bed, and I'm thinking of using red lava rock (just with my preliminary research I've done), but I still need to look around and see what else I can find. With regards to fish, I'm going to be using goldfish, or koi.

I tried the lava rock in my area and it didn't pass at all... Limestone was mixed or covered in it to much for me to consider using. I did find however this quickrite I think is how you spell it rock... anyway it's red bought it at lowes think for under $4.00 tested very clean just had to wash it a bit and sift out the broken pieses more, but I used it as a base. And planing on using it in a nft hybrid style gutter. It wasn't as heavy as stone and really seems clean.

Just to help your searches lava rock is also known as "scoria". If you search for that you might get some results you did not see before.

Regards, Martin.