Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Afte having two ibc's sitting in the yard for a few months now, it is finally time to put my first system together.

The first stage of this system is rather basic and will use one buried ibc as a ft, and the second ibc cut in half creating two 500L gb. If will be ran as CF for simplicity using a small, (probably undersized), pump to get the system going and an ac/dc airpump.

At present, I have completed digging the hole for the FT and now need to remove some more dirt to position the gb's.

Now I know I am a long way off from starting the second stage of this project but I would really like to have an idea of what the final outcome will be so that as I progress I can make the correct decisions that will work down the line, eg what size pump?

In its current location I have room for 5 more buried ibc's for FT's and 4 more 500L GB's. There is room for more GB's if needed but that would probably be classed as stage three.

I should also mention that I have also sourced a supply of about 15 food grade ibc's for free.

The part of this build that I am having trouble with coming to grips with is how to incorporate all the fish tanks. The best option I have come up with is to interconnect 2 as sumps and interconnect the other 4 in series with a couple of SLO's between each. By using the sumps in this configuration I am not limited to CF and could change to F&D if wanted.

Any thoughts on whether this will work or not is most welcome along with other suggestion on how I could best use he area and ibc's I have.

If you have multiple fish tanks, it may be best to keep them separate as multiple mini systems. That way you can stock different types of fish.

It is my understanding that running multiple mini systems would require multiple pumps. I would prefer to use only one pump if at all possible.

As for the diferent species of fish, I had intended to stock different species in the seperate tanks that were interconnected and also grade them by size to some respect.

Another thing I realise but did not put in my first post, is that I will probably have too much FT volume for GB volume. That should not be a problem as my intention is to only stock at levels that will be sustainable, although I am not sure as to what level that would be yet.

Good to see you making a start and nice score on the IBC's

A few idea's..

Others in the past have connected IBC FT's with 90mm pipe and uniseals through the walls if the IBC but they can have there problems if the ground or IBC's shift over time, Ive also seen them joined using the drain spout at the bottom. These two options both require the piping etc to be underground if you are burying the FT's and for that reason alone I cant bring myself to like the idea.

Personally, I like the idea of using SLO's.. easy maintenance and there is no chance of fish tranfering between the tanks if you decide to run different species.

I will agree with Ron that seperate units are also a good idea because if anything goes wrong in one... its only one. Maybe stage 1, 2 and 3 can be descreet systems although this will require a pump in each.

If you interconnected everything you could run one big pump, but I'd still be looking at the multiple system solution, as quite often a few smaller pumps actually works out cheaper to run than one large pump e.g. I helped build a system with a 6000lph pump which drew 90W (67litres per Watt) but was replaced with two 4500lph pumps which only drew a total of 100W (45litres per Watt) whereas the equivalent 9000lph pump drew 170W (52litres per Watt). My own 3000lph pump only uses 32W (94litres per Watt). Having multiple pumps also allows for failureover and contingency purposes.

Separate systems allows for flexibility, species/size isolation, experimentation etc.


Scott

Also, even with an SLO, you could still have fish get through. Screens tht are too small for fry to get through clog easly. I have experienced this myself.

Should have been 90litres per Watt as there are 2 pumps!

It would be extremely rare for us to put fry in our systems here. If we did they would be in a seperate tank or floating basket that doesnt have a SLO or pump etc in it for the very reason you have mentioned.

OK, so the consensus definitely seems to be running it as seperate systems. I can see the benefit in this due to falure in one system not being fatal to all fish. I think I would still need to interconnect some of the ibc's, just not as many

I also like bunson's thought that the smaller pump may save running costs. This however may not be the case with the pump I was considering. I was planning to use a Laguna MaxFlo 9000 pump which is also rated at 100W giving the same L/W.

However, the benefit of the two seperate systems using the pump bunson mentioned would be worth doing.

Benson, I have had a quick look around on the web but I couldn't find a 4500lph pump that only ran a 50W. Do you recall which brand/model it was?

New Jet 4500 from UK (made in Italy/Spain I think??)

[edit]It wasn't my choice of pump, they were available at the site at the time... 6 months later, I believe they're still running? Might have to go have a look-see one day?

Was in Perth last week and visited he BYAP showroom. The visit was well worth while and I suggest anyone who can get there but hasn't gone there yet, Hurry Up.

While there, I picked up some bits and pieces in readiness for finishing this build.

I'm still a little undecided as to how this sytem is going to expand but family are currently still in Perth so I have finally had some time to make some decent progress on getting a small system built.

Made a few visits locally to get some plumbing supplies but had a little trouble carrying the 6m length of PVC in the van. Got home safely though.

I have removed the dirt needed for the GB and have used this to top dress the lawn. Wrong time of year I know, but it had to go somewhere and the lawn to be done.



I measured and cut the ibc frames in half, inverted one half of the frame, inserted the bladder and used this to mark the ibc for cutting tith a reciprocating saw.



After cutting the grow beds it was time to give them a good clean. I thought this was going to be easy as they had only contained canola oil previously. But no, the oil had all gummed up so the little home pressure washer wasn't up to the task. It was time to call in the big guns and get hold of the industrial washer with a diesel boiler from the old man. This made life easier but still needed a scrub with detergent to get rid on the final oily film.

Before placing the FT in the hole in the ground I shaped the bottom of the hole so that there woud be a low point in the centre of the tank. I did this by placing the braces from the top of the ibc in the bottom of the hole, created a square with them andlevelled them up. At the centre of the square, I buried half a brick 50mm below the level of the frame. Then I proceeded to use a straight length of timber and placed on end on the brick and rotated the other end around which removed the dirt than was in the until the timber was resting on the level braces.



Don't have anymore photo's but also managed to get the tank installed with the frame reinforced on the outside with some old tin, GB location levelled, trenches dug for the pipework and some of the plumbing until I realised that I got some incorrect pieces and needed to swap them. By that time It was getting dark and I had had enough so I have called it quits.

Hopefully, it won't too long to get this finisehd as there is not much more to do.

systems coming along nicely, interested to see how it turns out. and see more pics ! i just finished my system, i decided to go with a 1000l fish tank and 2 sumps, but one of the sumps is constant height and can be used as a 600l fish tank if i want to stock fingerlings or grade fish etc. and the sump can be used as maron or yabbies. all using one pump. bit like you, i am a bit short on grow beds for a 1:1 ratio.

Good score with the IBC Collection, look forward to more photos