Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

>> funnily enough a handful of worms which I put back in the grow bed. How long can worms hold their breath for?

they will live under water no problem, likely they are not garden earthworms
red wrigglers go fine.. and tend to live in the lower parts of the gravel provided the beds are well oxygenated

worms establish really well and a good sign of a healthy system.

The days are cooling nicely and the water seems to get up to 15C and down to around 9-10C at night and early morning the trout still love to feed and in the arvo I really enjoy watching them eat - they seem a little hesitant bar 1 or 2 to come to the surface for the pellets that are still floating. I tap them down at the moment but when my container is empty I believe the next are floating only so they'll have to come and get it or starve.
The silver perch are doing nothing from what I can see apart from hiding around the pump so when I drop some food to them its hard to tell if they eat it or it gets sucked into the FT. The trout feel like they are growing in front of me and thinking it would be bloody brilliant to keep them for a few years but not here in Perth.
My pH has been around 7.3 for a while but am getting some Iron chelate as there are parsley and a few others looking yellowy. My ammonia has been @ 0.25 since cycling and the nitrates are @ 0 so would like to know in the spring I intend to add another 900L fish tank for Silver Perch only and another growbed as thats all I have room for and will make a Bio filter (K1 etc) to help with the load- how can I increase nitrates as Ive only got 15 trout and 5 tiny SP but don't want to over stock?
Another thing how would I go adding the extra FT into the system eg 1100L of new water without stuffing up levels etc?

Also have found no waste in the IBC corners as before due to putting in an extra air stone in opposite corners so everything that sinks down is good for the trout. It also means I can see if there is left over food which means the trout can too.


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Looks good Liney, surprised you are not being hit by White Cabbage Moth caterpillars. They seem to plague me when the leafy veg is going well.

>> Another thing how would I go adding the extra FT into the system eg 1100L of new water without stuffing up levels etc?

shouldn't be an issue if you use SLO's as you can get them set up with a joint feed to the beds.
Then just 'T' off the return. SLOs basically run at in = out so as long as they are approx. equal flows then both will get equal turnover.

Thanks Darren - what I was trying to get across through my poor wording choice was do you let a little bit of the non cycled water to mix with the current systems flow? Do I need to cycle the new growbed and fist tank separately ? Only thing would be I only have 1 x sump @ 600L but I'm picking up a BYAP growbed which I think are approx 500L plus another IBC FT of approx 900L plus I'm looking at getting 2 x 60L plastic drums as a bio filter and maybe a RFF.
I'm not doing anything until the trout are finished so just acquiring the materials firstly to see how/where I want it to go before looking into the plumbing where I might ask a question or two.
Also need to make some side shelter as the bl@@dy wind is snapping my rainbow chards and beetroot so its pi$$ing me off to see it lying on its side when I come home so I need to buy a couple of clear polycarbonate sheets.

Hey Liney,

I'm suffering from the wind a little as well. This winter weather is hard on the plants.

The moisture is also kicking off some disease as well. It's frustrating, but I'm just going with the flow and trying not to stress about it.

Regarding your new tanks. I would have thought filling them and letting them sit for a few days to a week would be enough to make the water safe. Once plumbed in to the rest of the system they will just dilute the rest of the water. I guess you could run a bypass or use a bucket to swap some water in stages between the old and new, but might be overkill.

You could also pump water out of the old into the new and then do a top up over a few days.

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That's a great looking system Liney, very clean. I like how you used the same fence material around your beds.

Thanks,
Matt

Thanks Matt I’m pretty fussy by nature but I wanted it to be functional but look tidy as I don’t have a large backyard to keep it away from our outdoor alfresco/entertaining area. The trick is going to maintain the appearance with the expansion without costing a fortune.


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So today I brought me a large 500L growbed for a great price and now with it home the mind and ideas are running wild much to the wife dismay lol. I have an idea but also its only an idea so welcome to others ideas or opinions. I'm putting another IBC fish tank next to the existing FT giving me 1800+L of fish tank along with the existing 700L GB + 500L GB and want to add a RFF & Biofilter so I can obviously have a reasonable fish stocking level. Thinking of around 30 trout for the season plus running 30 silver perch constantly which keeps the system ticking along no matter what the season.Probably will have the GB drain into a 90mm length of pipe then drain into the sump as its probably 1.5M away from the sump. I'm not sure how I will link the 2 x FTs together as I still need to just out how to have the 2nd FT SLO join into the system as I would like it to have 2 x FTs drain into a RFF then a Bio filter then feed the 3 x grow beds and then return to the 600L sump tank. Is this a real expectation?
As previously mentioned I am space limited hence only 3 GBs and a biofilter to handle fish waste etc... so its only the plumbing I need a little fine tuning with. I have my SLO to GB @ 50mm pipe and looking at picking up a couple of 60L drums for the RFF & Bio filter so after trout season Im moving the FT away from the GBs approx 600-800mm to allow room for the 2 x filters without taking up too much alfresco space which the wife is very hesitant about. I said to her if it looks nice and tidy then it becomes a conversational piece lol.
Here are a couple of pics of my proposal- any thoughts?

Buy the wife some jewelry or perfume.

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Have been throwing around ideas in my concrete mixer (my brain) the last few weeks on what the system will expand to/look like and after securing the grow bed I'm wanting to get a tall but round Fish tank approx. the size of an IBC but not liking by chances. I'd like it tall to keep out unwanted dogs/kids etc and being round I'd also like to maintain a slight flow/current and prevent them from head-butting the IBC tank if possible, must be nicer to go round than zigzag in a confined area.
Also after a couple of plastic barrels for my RFF & Bio filter around 60L but here in Perth that is looking tricky as I see plenty online/ebay but are over east where they have allsorts to choose from. 200L drums are going to be too large for my area unfortunately.
On another side note I'm also wondering with this rainy weather do I cover the top of grow beds with the polycarbonate sheeting like a greenhouse or should I put it on the sides only to protect from the wind as I thought maybe the veggies like a little of natural water? So many things to think about when I'm cooped up inside.

Have a look at the Stratco range of tanks they have several options in the tall narrow space situation .

Can always hack the top off and make a lift off lid .

Stratco "Urban Poly Tank Squat 1,200L" would make a nice fish tank , might get one myself

https://www.stratco.com.au/products/hom ... uat-1200l/

They also have a 2600L stock trough that would be great for my sump

Thanks I have been looking at this type of tank but I cannot understand why aquaponics sellers only seem to sell low walled wide tubs to fit underneath growbeds but as this forum shows the majority have a separate fish tank away from the growbeds. Surely someone in Australia makes tall tanks? I wish WA had more variety.


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There is a guy Tanks Very Much in Bibra Lake that will custom build the lined rolled end colorbond tanks to any size you want. I got two custom made to go along 600mm wide side of house undernerath a rack made from galvanised pipe and wooden pallets. For basically the cost of one under-eave rain tank, and didn't need the taps/hatches etc. plus got the edge protective capping like the raised garden beds have. You can google him - probably someone similar NOR - I think they did variety of radius/width options (400mm, 600mm, 800mm etc) - could be whatever you needed. I went too narrow on first and then wider on second longer one for the other end.

If you go colorbond for fish tank you need it made as a rain tank lined config rather than the typical raised garden bed. Have been fine for my needs - though I only run goldfish, not trout or SP. And turned a very useless part of our property into useable growing space I have 2x colorbond and the original 2x BYAP patio setups down this section as it was not wide enough for IBC's and I needed the plants up high to be in sun during day (as you can see from 2nd photo only part sun through winter period due to house). Turned my IBC setups round the back into wicking beds and fruit tree's.

these are from few years ago (2015) when I first set up along the side area. I started out trying to cut and heat weld IBC's to a thinner profile but just paid in the end - the first was about 1.6m long as I was worried about the structural strength but the second was 2.4m long. Got me 400 Litres and 700 Litres. Are still going fine.

The ones that Mel Redcap got made up for her system would be along a similar line...

A few emails and I have a local company who makes the aquaponics tubs mention that if I want a tall round tank that maybe a rainwater tank of around 1000L which was 1300mmhigh x 1000mm diameter might work just cut the top off. Wondering if cutting the top off is even needed or might reduce structural integrity. Maybe just remove half of the top and see but I’m going to ask them about the inside bottom if it’s sloped or true flat as that will determine where the SLO needs to be. Approximately $550 which isn’t too bad with a 20yr guarantee.


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