Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Really nice work Greg:)

I may not have mentioned but all my tubs will sit on racks made from metal frames salvaged from bulk shipping containers. The white plastic sheets and nuts and bolts (20mm gal) used for the feet are also from those containers. Kindly dontaed by my dad, saving me $$$$$ in steel and lots of welding in the end. The racks were the right width, so we cut them to length and mitre jointed the ends. Add some legs and a bit of plate for the feet and you get this:

Test fit - enough room as I planned.

Awesome job Greg. Impressive welding skills too.

It might not look like much, but there's 2 day's work in putting these 40 bolts on.

What you can't see is the lengths of right angle steel that I cut, removed mill scale from and drilled. These then held the bolts in place and I tacked them, broke some off, swore a lot ground the weld off and re-tacked, welded some right angle to the frames by mistake (very small gap as thick as a 20mm bolt head I was aiming the mig through) and had to cut the tack a little...... well you get the point. And that's only one tank frame fully welded ready for prep & paint.

The aim of all this is to attach long pieces of right angle that the decking will screw into (without drilling into the frame allowing water to get in) Those bits of right angle can then be unbolted and repainted down the track while I'm re-oiling the decking. However this will require numbering or careful laying out of all the deck pieces.

A trapdoor is planned for the center with an in-tank light for casual inspection. Full servicing or inspection will require lifting of this increasingly heavy contraption. The greenhouse one will be tricky. I'm not sure of where my plumbing will run yet.

Awesome work Greg but yeah it does look heavy. If you're not sure how to number the decking planks, number them on the inside so you can see the numbering when they're off but not when they're on.

Thanks MartinC, I'll probably use a soldering iron or some sort of lettered punch set as I'll need to number all the metal right angle pieces too.

Looks good!

But just curious, if you've got the skill to make the frames already, why didn't you just use the shipping containers steel and make the beds out of it? You can custom fit them that way, get maximum grow space out of the area?

That did dawn on me later in the project (after I'd shortened the frames) Once I bought all those tubs I was pretty much committed to using them anyway. In the end I only shortened the frames by 300mm or so. Hopefully the depth of the tubs makes up for the loss of potential grow space.

Unfortunately there's no frames left so any expansions will probably use good ole IBC beds.

Hi guys, long time no updates. I've been distracted with other home/yard mods. Amongst other things I DIY installed a slow combustion fire and hearth in time for winter, chopped and moved several tons of firewood, fabbed a metal frame/fence paling firewood shed in the back yard (you'll see it in the background in one of the pics below) and currently working on some wine barrel furniture for the mancave including firewood storage (indoors)

So since my last update AP-project wise I mulched the pool yard (now faded and covered in gum leaves) and painted the tank cover frames.
In the last few days I decked over the outdoor frame 95% (side skirts to come with holes for AP plumbing) with many a broken drill-bit and four lettter word.


Whilst the metal frames are a good idea for longevity, give me an all-wood project any day
The decking is Western Australian "Karri" hardwood, extra wide and thick. I haven't weighed the tank cover as a unit but it's a struggle for one fit man to handle. The greenhouse one requires planning in advance or construction in situ.
Any way, here's the photos:

No flies on you buddy!

Good work.

Good stuff . . . but Karri (as an Australian Hardwood, and one of the most beautiful exposed timbers!) will leach and transfer tannins etc into the tank underneath if exposed to rainwater or any form of water run-off. If I'm reading your photos correctly. Could be wrong, but be careful with any "surface sealing" as it may be worse than the hardwood run-offs. i.e. oils, decking "stains" or clear finishes.
I have solved the run-off problem(?) by using any of the composite timber products for lids and covers etc. i.e., Modwood (hardwood and plastic), ecodek (bamboo and plastic) and the like.

Cheers IanK

Thanks Ian, I tried to research timbers a bit before settling on Karri for its beautiful straight grain and colour. I considered Merbau (notorius leacher) Blackbutt and Spotted Gum but the timber yards say they actually leaches more than Karri. I was going to have a shade cloth cover under the deck to catch debris and keep fish in, I may just make a solid plastic secondary instead.

Hmm I reckon and a couple of poly roof sheets would probably do it.

Two years on and still no AP activity!

Change of plans again.
I'm going dual ibc CHIFT-PIST with the outdoor system and mixed NFT/beds in the greenhouse. That'll make the tank/sump storage 3600-3800L for my outdoor system, depending if I top the tanks with ibc beds or go full height. I'm thinking beds for aesthetics and more grow space. I might pick some brains for plumbing setup though.

So I bought a couple of used-once food safe IBC's. (I've got the contact if anyone wants almost new IBC's in Sydney for $50 each) But I had to clean over 20L of caramel syrup out of both of them and the smell put me off caramel for months!

The plan is to go dual ibc CHIFT-PIST with the outdoor system and mixed NFT/beds in the greenhouse.



You win Colum Black-Byron I actually threw in the towel with the tubs and sold them all. Turns out there were 2 spare full length frames so I've got more welding to do for the upper frames and fibreglassed plywood for the inner tub liners.