Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

here is a pic of the newly started system i am working on

If that is a standpipe in the middle of the bed you might like to think about putting e media guard around it as the roots might build up and block the drainage from the bed. If you have it covered already, just ignore me. I guess you are hooked and this is probably just the beginning. Have fun and keep posting the pics so we can follow your success.

it is a drain pipe that i have a piece for it when the plants get bigger,right now the plants are small and if i put it in then it will flood the smaller plants but i thank you for the heads up, i will definitly add more pics as progress goes on,,,

Hey Parker,
Nice set-up. There were a few things I would like to point out. I am completely new at this, so please take my advice with a dash of salt and shot of tequila.

White barrels I heard overtime cause a nuisance with rapid algae growth, it my not be as transparent with others but I went with blue on my barrels.

What kind of water flow are you doing? Constant Flood? Flood and Drain? I'd recommend putting in your stand pipe guard or siphon so it runs the right way. If you wait to put the cap on the stand pipe the water is still going to rise above your plants. You want the water to stop about an inch before your surface rock. The picture you posted shows the top of your gravel pretty wet. You don't want that, it will cause rot to the plants.

It also looks like you don't have enough and possibly the wrong medium too. Those seashells are limestone and they mess with the pH of your system. I saw them at HD when I was picking out my medium and did the vinegar test on them and they fizzled like crazy.

All in all, welcome to the AP community. Glad to have a local APer in the Tampa area. Look into adding that cap/siphon, adding more medium in, and take a pH test on that seashell medium.

always like to hear feedback from fellow members, the plants that are in that will be transfered to the other media bed once i have it built this weekend,,,<hopefully> the shells i have heard mixed opions so i am gambling with the concept and some of the plants are reacting positive way to the water perameters, as for the level of the water i have a slight slope in the front so lil more water sits there then the back so now that its established what i am going to do is drill a small hole in the pipe that will allow some of that standing water to drain out back into the fish system...i have learned that aquaponics is a on going test and trials and you have to just have faith that things will turn out right..

so far so good,i have been monitoring my system to compare plants i have in the ground compared to the plants in the aqua bed and huge diffrence and they all were planted the same time...i transfered some to the water bed and they have excelled in growth....i tested my guava bush by taking a clipping and putting it in the aquaponics bed to see if it might take root, I noticed new leaves starting to form so im thinking it worked....I am making another bed this weekend to stand a lil higher then the one i have now so that the water will cascade into that bed to then drain into the fish system...gonna add more fish <goldfish> to the system after i get this new branch of the system started...im stoked over this whole idea of growing things without soil and so far its clicking on all cylinders..

Added some herbs such as basil,oregano,and tested the base of celery to see if new stalks would grow and found it works.new stalks are growing.pictures to follow.

Mint and similar herbs will clog you beds with their root system. Better to have them in a bed by them selves but check any pipres on a regular basis for roots.

Thanks for heads up,new system bed built and im gonna move them to that bed soon

updated pic, added some celery root balls, they are already growing after a few days, everything is doing real well fish are happy too

Update,second bed is setup and plants were transplanted yesterday..so far there are no issues..by my surprise the tomato clipping I did not even a week ago has already formed good root system which im stoked about..i hope I have the same luck with the pineapple topper I just added last night..post pic later today

Garden bed 2 setback seems it sprung a leak..just as I thought things were going smoothly

i added abput 3 inches of pea gravel to gb#1 to ensure better rooting and stability....all the plants are doing great,tomato clippings are growing roots, to is the mint and oregeno...the celery base that i put in are growing stalks, the avacado seed is producing a stem and root system...so im stoked over the early success....

updated pic

updated picture 4/25/13