Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So ... what I was thinking was to reuse the 700 litre gal tank and a three blue drums I picked up for $15 and the spare space for as system....

Will post a sketch in next post and ask for comments

looks like a good start. What fish are you planning to try?
Will the growbeds be out in the sun?
Looks like you might need to do some pruning though

Hi Jaymie, yes beds will be in sun, 40 degress here today so I may have to arrange some shade cloth especially for summer.

Will be monitoring water temperature in tank when I get the system together as it is also outside and exposed. Winter can get quite cool - cold here and I might have to insulate tank in winter.

Guess all this good stuff is yet to come eh

its a gal corrugated tank isn't it? A bit hard to see from the pix. Some folks are using pink batts wrapped in plastic tied around their tanks as insulation.

Yeh - so I gather ... figured that's the quick and easy way to go.

This will just be a starter system anyway, when I've got it right I'll look at something a little bit more organised and temperature controlled ie greenhouse etc.

Looking and playing with sketchup and will post my idea for peer review

Spare time.. thought I'd cut up my drums. Left one uncut at this stage until I post my plans.

Suspect I'll probably need to cut the last one as well due to (as I figure it) fact I have a 700 ltr tank and each bed (once gravelled) has a capacity of about 50ltr... x 4 only gives me 200ltr of grow bed.

No problems, the block I got these off said I could have as many as I wanted for $5 a piece.

Payments cleared... send me the book Joel... I have this really overwealming compulsive desire....

The growbed volume is measured by the total size of the grow bed not just the displaced water quantity. So your growbeds will be 400L not 200L...

Point taken Asitis ...

Concern lies with volume of water in relation to tank and ability to remove nutrients....

And whether or not I might have to incorporate a header and/or sump tank

But I'll wait till I've posted the concept in greater detail so that the points can be fineesed by the gurus on this forum

I didn't do it, no one saw me do it, you can't prove anything...


Oh damn there's my name
Sorry RupertoOZ

Hi RupertofOz,

Not that I want to cast a shadow over your plans or anything, but I gathered from earlier posts that a galvanised tank would not be any good to keep the fish in. I would have to be Aquaplate (ie modern drink water tank) I think.

But you could always drop a plastic liner in your tank I guess.

Karel

Tanks Karel,

Had seen some references to what you say, but seemed to be some conflicting opinions or confusing references to painting and/or cementing old tanks.

Can anyone be more definative in this regard

You can buy many paint on seallers... one I have used before is called flow coat... it even reduces the amount of algae on the inside. It is a type of resin that is used in fibreglass tanks, aquaculture tanks and even some eskies...

Hi Tim,

Thanks, point on algae raises my question as to reuse of gal tanks.

Admittably no fisk in the tank, just has been sitting there for several months slowly filling with rain water.

Water is crystal clear... no sign of any algae or anything.

Tank is covered with lid, but is also directly exposed to sun from about 10:00 am to 15:30 pm

Humm .... anyone else got thoughts, don't want to waste my time on the tank if it wont work or will be too much high maintenance

Good to see you getting into it RupertofOZ, package mailed out today, you'll see it within 3-5 days...

If your worried about your tank water, you could always chuck a couple of goldfish into it and see if they survive ok.

Thank EB,

Look forward to receiving the package.

Concern seems to have been raised regarding idea of re-using the gal tank

What's your take