Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Been thinking for a while how to grow fish at home. I have always kept fish in aquariums, but wanted to try something a bit different.

I came across aquaponics quite a while back, and since then i have thought about it quite a few times over the years.

A few months back i thought bugger it I'm going to try it. Did some internet research. At first I started small. Just a 'wheelie bin' system with a few goldfish and some simple vegies. Seemed to work well, so I upped the scale.

Scored a free 1000lt IBC tank from work and bought 1 for $50. The bought one had previously had PVA glue stored inside. Easy to clean i thought, yeah right! Took a while to clean it out.

Site sussed out.


Sump tank hole partially dug.


Sump tank filled with water.


Grow bed getting lined and insulated.


Grow bed in position.


Grow bed filled with scoria rocks.


Sump tank lined and insulated, so is the fish tank in the background. Plumbed up and running.


Some of the fish.


Caught 4 this day!


I will add another grow bed soon. Great thing is that it's been mainly made with recycled materials. I had all the wood and other things from prevoius projects. The main costs were the pump and plumbing fittings, second tank, and various items.

The plan is to have Silver Perch and catfish all year round, and grow trout over the cooler months.

We'll see how it goes, and probably expand a little. Maybe run 2 fish tanks and more grow beds.

Picked up some Silver Perch a month ago.

Only 2 bigger ones, and 3 small ones. Didn't want to stress the fish out too much trying for larger ones.

Got them home and was acclimatising them for their new home and noticed that 2 looked a bit different to the others. I think they may be Bass? What else could they be?

Silvers.




Are these Bass? They don't look like Silvers. Different mouth, scales and anal fin.

A few vids of the fish on October 7th.

Goldfish in the 'Wheelie Bin' setup.


Trout, Silver Perch and Bass tank.


Again.


Trout are feeding like crazy.

Some of the plants growing in my little 'Wheelie' Bin setup with 5 small goldfish on 10th October.

Snow Peas.


IBC Setup. Some radish seeds sprouting. Planted 2 Passion fruit plants in the back.


Nice clear water in the IBC tank. Sorry for the awful pic.


Couple short vids from the 11th October.

Trout feeding.


Trout and Silvers. Fish seem to be getting along quite nicely. Nice clean water now.

Finally got my master test kit and here are the results from today.

pH 7.0
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrites 0.25 ppm(Salted tank to about 1ppt to try and help the fish cope with the nitrites)
Nitrates 80 ppm

Also tested some other parameters with a YSI 556 multimeter:

Dissolved Oxygen 9.04 mg/L
Conductivity 1775 us
TDS 1.153
Temperature 15.7

Should I try and lower the pH a bit? Or let it happen naturally?

A really need to get the other grow bed online very soon.

like the trout feeding vid.

nice neat system - great easy way to do the stand combining metal main beams with wooden legs. Not sure on fish ID as we don't have bass over here in WA.

I think a ph of 7 is fine - it may lower over time on its own anyway, so best not to fiddle IMO.

Thanks mattyoga, it's a working progress as i have lots going on at the moment. I will update as i work on it.

Quick update.

Still haven't added the extra grow bed yet! As a result i had a rise in Ammonia and Nitrites.

I have stopped feeding until these come down, just have to make sure the oldest boy(12) doesn't feed them when i'm not looking.

pH 6.9
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrites 1.0 ppm
Nitrates 100+ ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 8.46 mg/L
Conductivity 1607 us
Temperature 18.0c

Harvested some Silverbeet and radishes today.

4 weeks growth


Radishes

Some readings from the 'Wheelie Bin' setup.

pH 7.8
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Nitrates 0 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 8.4 mg/L
Conductivity 480 us
Temperature 21.0c

I think i need more than 5 small goldfish in there.

Got any overview pics of the wheelie bin setup?

Sent from my newfangled doodad using TapaTalk.

It's definitely nothing special. Was my trail setup before getting the IBC setup running. Might pull it down or move it and cover the sides with bamboo screens to protect from our scorching sun.



Some water results from this afternoon.

IBC
pH 6.9
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrites 0.2 ppm
Nitrates 100 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen 8.2 mg/L
Conductivity 1609 us
Temperature 19.6c

'Wheelie Bin'
pH 7.6
Dissolved Oxygen 6.5 mg/L
Conductivity 526 us
Temperature 29.3c

Didn't bother testing Ammonia, ites and ates in the bin setup as they would have been 0.

Temps have gone up as we have had a few days in the mid 30s and warm nights. At least it's going to cool down over the next few days.

Latest plant pics. The tomato plant has really taken off.

Harvested all the radishes and more have sprouted to take their place.

3rd November


Today

Like the setup mate very neat and tidy.

did you bury the fish tank to try and keep the water temp at abit more constant? has it shown that much difference for you?

How many fish did u put into your system and have you lost any?
heve your levels settled down for you ?

keep it up

I buried the sump tank to help stabilise the water temp. After a few mid 30's days the temp of the tank only increased a few degrees. The water temps have slowly been increasing as the weather warms.

I put in 12 Rainbow Trout at around 6 inches, 3 larger Silvers, and 2 Bass.

I have lost only one Bass.

My levels have been up a bit lately. Really need to get the other growbed(s) online very soon. Was going to do it last weekend, but have had a few things going on that have taken priority lately.

When you u say sump tank is it your fish tank or just a sump tank ? is your fish tank located else where?

that is a fair bit of stocking rate in your fish tank. be intrested to know how it goes for you so keep us posted. extra grow beds should sure help stable things up as beta to have over kill on the grow beds and less on the fish side of things. Dam Amm can be a pain at times.