Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all
A friend and I were looking for a way to save money and have a fun project to do over the weekend. We thought it would be really really cool to learn how to grow our own vegis ext at our place. The first thought was to go into hydroponics but soon after finding out about aquaponics I was hooked.
So here I am, and am looking to start my system yesterday already.

OK so here is the basic concept/goal:

I have a lovely 4mx4m room which I would like to set up my grow room from. I will have floresent lighting in the beginning but would be looking to upgrade to nicer lighting in the months to come.

My first plan was to basically follow that barrel-ponics PDF I read on this site, but today I just ran into a 2500l tank, and was wondering what type of system I could start? Basically I really want a system that is simple in design in the beginning but will be easily upgradeable in the future.

So my thoughts where to use the 2500l tank as my fish tank and for everything else be using 200l barrels as these are very easy to come by. My question is how big will the sump have to be for a size tank this big? and is it possible for me to have more than one sump? Is this a hard plumbing job?

Thanks for your help.
Vibe

Oh and also,
my expertise on this field are basically none. I have been doing a fair amount of reading and watching of videos, but I am still the definition of a noob
I am planning on trying to build a model of my room on sketch it first, but I don't know how to use the program. I got a whole bunch of tuts today, and will try teach myself later. Obviously the issue as well is that I don't know enough to sketch out an idea

I'm in the middle of building my first system, so I'm a complete noob as well. Nice sized tank. What is it? One idea is to start simple. Put a submersible pump in your fish tank pumping to your 1/2 barrels, then let gravity take it back down to the tank. Either high volume constant flood or flood and drain w/ either a siphon or a timer. Have you worked out the savings including the cost of running the lights indoors? It seems like the best financial option is to utilize the free sunlight, though that might not be an option in your case.

The rent agreement that I have is that I do not pay for electricity. It is a large house with fluctuations often so an extra light, even a large light, is not going to make too big of a difference. I really want to do it indoors because I can then totally control my climate.

Nice! Stick it to the man!

I would go with the most basic system. A constant flood gravity system that feeds direct back to the tank.

Constant Flood with or without Chift Pist. That way you get constant water depth in fish tank, small or no sump (pump in FT), and fairly low probability of accidental flood. Would be simple either way with only standpipes and no siphons.

Only thing is, with the pump in the FT sometimes the fish bang into it and you might get a flood if the pump gets knocked off. Make certain it's well connected. Chift Pist would avoid this.