Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Haha thought that was a captivating title a little more about that later....

This is my first aquaponics system, i love fishing, i have two aquariums one with a Bass and a Barramundi the other tank has 15 Platy's, Mollies, Rosey Barb's

I plan on going NFT i would like to run a small 4 channel system over the top of the IBC base than i would love to run a much bigger NFT system to either side of my IBC base/FT

At the moment my 4 channels are only 90mm by 1 meter in length, i plan on running a radial filter and some sort of bio or mechanical filter i still have not decided but i do have 2x 60L water tight drum's

At some later stage i would love to set up a NFT system with 200-250mm channels for nice big pepper/chilli plants, i would like to run it off the IBC FT

Fish at the moment are going to be Silver Perch as they suit my weather temperatures inSydney

Now about the banana's my neighbours have these huge banana trees is suburban Sydney, each and ever year in summer we have massive lightning and thunder storms which strike these banana trees, do u think my water pump, fish, and electrical wiring will be in the line of fire?

I haven't finished the base i ran out of timber, i used 50mm sleepers for the main supports with 70x35mm bracing

They look in surprisingly good health if they have been struck by lightning- it normally kills trees!

Close lightning strikes will induce high voltages in copper wires, so some sort of surge arrestor would be a good idea.

I've never used an IBC, so not sure how strong they are, but I'd think seriously about a bit more support underneath, maybe fill the wooden frame in with sand or soil.

I always just assumed the lightning was hitting those banana trees they are one of the tallest around the back yard other than a few natives

I ran out of timber i'm going to have 8 of those 70x35mm timber cross members i just put it together to see how it looked, i still have another sleep i can reinforce it with



a little unsure how to clean the top of my IBC its very sticky almost as sticky as hot tar the lower portion came off with bleach and a soak for 2 days but i was unable to fill the IBC to top the as my two youngest dogs were inquisitive of what was in the tank, the youngest tried to drink the water glad it's done now tho

What kind of timber are you using? I'd be concerned about termites getting into it. Wouldn't it be easier to just terrace the yard to level it out?

Hey Steve i'm using treated pine sleepers for the bottom and treated pine frame for the top

might rot as well over time in contact with the ground. Better idea may be to use the wood as a frame fill with brickies sand to make a pad.

not sure on what you area asking - IBC lid/half grow beds should be cut down to 300-350mm.
see some of the examples in threads I mention below eg. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24235 or the IBCofAquaponics (video/picture at top).

re: your plans generally (following on from other thread)......

Maybe show us a photo from a bit further back showing us the area and the bits that you have.
And what you are looking to do with the site.
Use something like Paint/Powerpoint to draw on the picture (you can use the Windows snipping tool to grab it, save and then upload).

You site seems to be sloping, so why not simply have the fish tank on the downhill side and your grow bed on the uphill side ? To avoid the wood contacting ground use a couple of blocks and/or pavers and put your frame or a wood pallet on them (get pallet for free if you look around).


The most basic setup would be your fish tank (is that the IBC shown ?) from a pump onto your grow bed with a return pipe back to the fish tank. A simple form of the IBCofAquaponics (see link at top of web page or go here.....http://ibcofaquaponics.com/

This is a great place to start - no filters, just the grow bed and media.
Easy to expand and then add a DWC (Deep Water Culture) in the future once you have a hang of things (a bit like this....viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24235).
You do not need filters etc in a starter system - so don't worry about that at this stage.


re: clay balls - you can use clay balls or if your budget is bit tight then look at scoria like you original mentioned. Hopefully someone like Rendang,Signore, Buidoi, Sydney Chick can advise...

Here are all the pictures

this is how i cut the IBC container, with it stacked its at chest height i'm not a tall person, anyway of lowering it?



here is my power outlet, i'm going to get a quote or two on making a extension with another power outlet on the other side of the door

(below this power outlet pictured are my dogs kennels i have 2 staffies that love jumping up on top of the kennels and love chewing stuff up)




new extension power outlet will be placed on this wall high enough the dogs cannot reach it, the pump power lead will run up to the roof and to the left



this is where the pump power lead will be ran from the room down on a angle to the top of the fence



the pump power cable will run roughly 2 meters along the fence to my IBC FT



these are the bits and pieces i have

And i have 2x 60L blue plastic barrels with clamp type lids

I was wondering what u meant by up and down slope but i'm with u now, that would make sense it would lower my GB to the perfect height for working on and allow full access to the fish thanks for that i might actually go with that idea now, i would have to look into building a frame

don't worry too much about frame (I presume you me a base frame).
Hunt around your area for wooden pallets - they are excellent for putting grow beds and fish tanks on.
Many companies wont mind giving you one or two.

You could the use large blocks on the downslope side and pavers/bricks on the uphill side.
This would save you a lot of effort and cost in making frame etc.

May be best to make a fence to surround your AP. You could easily do it with star iron pickets.
If you hunt around you might be able to get a section of old security fencing (like they use around tennis courts or company yards) - many salvage and metal/hardware re-sellers often have this sort of thing.

also **don't cut your grow bed down any further**. It is better to keep it deeper and only fill to 300mm with media rather than cut it down and have to fill it to the top. Then you can re-purpose it or put additional media in later.

Hi Gaz, as mentioned on a couple of your other threads, you (and us) will find it easier to assist and follow you with support and answers to your questions on this system thread here. It keeps the forum neat and tidy and it will give you a history to go back through as time goes on.

I probably let the 'Media pros and cons' thread linger on a little more than it should of. As you could understand that in future when a new member wants to go through media options and come across that thread they will spend some time wading through us all trying to assist in your system ideas which is off topic. Us mods have been a little slack in that regard but anyways lets get it all happening here and Im sure you will get a great system up and started.

As I mentioned previously, Id can the NFT idea, well at least for now. I know you mentioned you have Hydro experience so I can understand that would feel most comfortable for you. But AP is much different than HP in that the fish produce a lot of waste and pre-filtering, mineralising, extracting wastes, adding nutrient back to the system etc etc can all be a bit full on if you haven't had the time to round up the basics. It also, as you have learnt can be a little more pricey.

Out of all the AP methods, whether it be media beds, DWC, floating rafts, auto pots etc, NFT would require an extremely well designed pre-filtering system. Its also subseptable to temperature changes and blockages in the feed lines and channels.

I second the idea of kicking of a basic media bed then as it settles in and you feel more comfortable start adding more components. You already have the NFT pipes you made so might as well use them aswell so you can figure that one out whilst your at it. When I started my system thats exactly what I did.. I started with one media bed, then added another, then added filter drums and a DWC etc. Media beds give you a very good base to work from and if something you add doesn't work out to well you still have a functioning system to keep the fish alive.

Darren is this what u meant by up/down slope of my yard? i really like this style of set up it gives me access to the fish over the whole tank and the GB is perfect height as u can see in the back ground the GB is just over half the height of the fence, i would have to factor in the cost of timber and screws tho, i have all the saws and impact drills to build the stand

Charlie sorry about the threads i will keep it all here

yep. It can even be further away to the right if you like as long as the return pipe goes over the edge of the fish tank IBC.
As you move grow bed uphill (to right) it gets lower down for you to access - one advantage of a little slope.

In a classic through bottom standpipe you will have some pipe underneath, but if that doesn't work you can always put the outlet on the side. Either is OK and will work.

PM me or let me know if you want some photos - I have both bottom and side outlet pipes in my various setups.
Ether option works fine for either timer or constant flood (siphon would need bottom drain plus lengths of bottom pipe beneath the grow bed). You don't really need siphons IMO - run with a $10 Arlec mechanical timer from Big W and you get everything you need with much less hassle.

If it was me I would dig the fish tank in by moving a bit of dirt to make a little flat pad.
That will lower the fish tank a little bit more. (ie. few spade fulls from under right side of fish tank and put under left side of fish tank if that makes sense. And get rid of the wood frame altogether. The fish tank can sit on the ground OK.

from your post in other thread...
>> i have a IBC cut in two pieces i don't like the huge base on the GB frame anyway i can remove this?

Yes - can substitute it with a wooden pallet which you can paint or nail/screw some sides on if you want to neaten it up and have some spare material at hand.

If you do that - best that it is not over the fish tank as you can get some chemical leach from wooden pallets (many are spayed with chemicals). Good reason to have the offset grow bed.