Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello everyone. I am just now starting my own Aquaponics system. I've been looking and dreaming about it for a few years, but it's always been on the back burner. I recently changed my diet to hopefully help with some medical conditions. This diet change means I am eating a lot more produce and I really hate spending so much money on foods I can grow at home. This system is going to have some celery and bok choi that I already have starting to regrow. I plan on getting some fresh herbs, lettuce, and spinach. I might try my hand at a strawberry plant later down the line.

I already have a 29 gallon fish tank that has been running for over a year. It has one lonely goldfish in it. I'll probably add 3 more goldfish to be able to sustain that many plants. My father in law has some equipment left over from his old hydroponics system that I can use. I think the only things I need to buy are a plastic tub for the grow bed and possibly a pump if his old one doesn't work. I plan on doing a flood and drain setup with a timer set to 15 or 30 minute intervals. It will take some trial runs before I get the water flow and timing set properly.

This is my sketch of what I want my system to look like. My tank stand is a double stand. The aquarium will be on the bottom level and the grow bed on the top. I have coconut husk for the media. I want to put the plants in net cups so I can move them around the grow bed easier if needed. A pump goes from the tank to the grow bed. A pvc pipe drains from the opposite side back to the tank. I am going to have a larger pipe with some holes filled with a filter sponge around the drain pipe to keep media from going into the tank. Or I might just get a sponge and cut a slit in it to fit over the pipe and secure it with a rubber band.



How does this setup look? Also, do I need to keep my traditional filter on my tank so I don't have to cycle again? Or keep the filter for a week and then get rid of it? The filter has carbon, bio media, and a sponge.

I'm so excited to get this project started. Step one is getting my design finalized so I know what I need to buy. Then I'll move the tank to its new position on the bottom rack and start building!

Hi Nikki,

it seems like a pretty good basic concept to start with.
Is this and indoor, porch or outdoor system ?

Don't know much about the coconut husks so cant help much there.

you shouldn't need filter sponge. Just drill lots of small holes in the outer PVC shroud and that should do the trick.

you can keep your fish tank filters initially but if done correctly the grow bed should do the trick.

bacteria is in the water anyway - so it will transfer pretty quickly.


As it is a fish tank then you may have to run the timer for a bit longer because it will provide filtering and aeration. You can easily run 30min-30min or even do something like 10 off-30 on etc.

Light will be your main issue. Enough light for the plants and then reducing the light on the fish tank to control algae etc.

your container/tub should be a reasonable size - maybe even a couple.
you are probably able to go to 20Gal quite easily *but* make sure they are 10-12" deep.
else your plants will not do so well in a small system.

one trick with a small system. Don't drain the grow bed completely. Put the drain hole a bit higher up.
If you have a removable standpipe or a tap in bottom then you can release it in to a bucket every couple of days/once a week. That will reduce the water fluctuations in the fish tank. Else you can run it constant flood.

you can put a couple of wicking buckets to the side and use some excess water on those.
They will work OK for herbs. I have also simply used all media and topped up every other day or so.

Thanks for the tips! This is an indoor system. It's going by our living room window. The tank will be below the window so it shouldn't get too migh light. It has LED lights that are on a few hours a day just so I can see the fish. The plants will get plenty of natural light from the window.

I think I'll keep the filter on for a week or two so that it can seed the grow bed with plenty of bacteria. Then I don't run the risk of having a mini cycle and harming the fish.

I was going to see if I could find a container that is 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and 1 foot deep. That will fit perfectly on the top of the stand without having to split the water flow between 2 beds. I e seen a few plastic storage containers at the store that look promising.

I was planning on having a drain pipe about halfway up the container to leave it half full for the plants. Would that be enough water to keep the media damp without drowning my plants? I'll do a lot of trial runs with the timer before I add fish and plants to see how long it takes to fill the bed and drain it out. That should tell me how long to run my pump. How long do you leave it dry after it drains, and how many floods a day should I have?

Herbs might be grown in small pots on the kitchen counter if I can get them enough lighting. The one window in the kitchen has a massive tree in front of it so it doesn't bring in much light. Otherwise, I have a small box that can sit in the windowsill behind the main system and I'll add a scoop of fish water every couple days. I think 1 foot might be too deep for the herbs to get enough water. The box I have for the herbs is 6 inches deep.

mostly sounds good Nikki. That sized tub sounds pretty suitable.

you will find it best to have your standpipe guard go all the way to top so you can see in. Helps to clear roots etc and pull standpipe. In a small system with small hands then you can use 50mm PVC (2"). The standpipe need only be 3/4" or 1".
Just be carefu with an indoor to allow for overflows. A simple option is to put a pipe at/near the top out of the side so that if something goes wrong it doesn't end up on floor.

your standpipe top should be about 2" (5cm) below the top of the media). If you need some pics let me know and I will post some examples.

there are no rules for flooding times. A constant flood system can work just as god as a flood and drain. So you dont have to worry too much - whatever works for you. Mostly if you do drain 1-2 times per hour is normal. Your non-pumping cycle needs to keep your media wet - flushing is mainly to refresh the water and helps oxygenate the bed. You can also get away with 1 flush every couple hours etc. And as before you can do partial flushes so you don't have the whole volume to deal with. A good standpipe and inflow at couple places will ensure the water turns over.

"Herbs might be grown in small pots on the kitchen counter if I can get them enough lighting."
there are ways of using media like mini little buckets/tubs where you can add water just one a day/couple days.
These style of setups work fine for herbs - plants actually don't need the turnover as much as the fish tank.

You can also use some of the hydroponic media (perlite etc), or just part rock and part clay/coconut etc.
(the permutations and combinations are many... but basically you don't need to have dirty soil inside again.)

using fish water for other things provide opportunity to do regular small water changes which often helps small systems.

Design update. I'm going to be using my father-in-law's old hydroponics setup. He has something similar to this.



The grow media goes into the soda bottles. This way I use less media, less water, and it takes lass time to flood. Now I just have to collect soda bottles.