Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Its going to be HUGE!

I have a 350lbs sand filter that has been replaced inside with bioballs for filtration. I have a 100lbs sand filter that will be used for cleaning out the solids and able to backwash. And then I have a 1hp pump that is self priming. I should be getting it assembled soon so I can use it this growing year

We started late due to cold freezes

I guess I cannot edit the post? Dunno why anyway forgot to add a few things.

I am not going to be using gravel for growing medium I am going to be using troughs filled with water to keep the plants roots submerged. These troughs will be 55ft long and 3ft wide. I will likely have 4-5 of these in my backyard. The troughs will have 5000 gallons of water in them roughly and then I will have 1000 gallon or maybe a bit larger tank for the fish. Depends on how excessive I need to go and what you all advise

all I have right now is my pump, and two filters if you want pictures of those I will post them I actually planned on it just need to get them off my camera

Well here is my filtration that I will be using and my pump.. It looks a whole lot like swimming pool gear! and it is,Its used but it will do the job I need so I am really excited this is just the first parts of what I will be doing.

How are you supporting the plants in the trough?

Similar to how Aquaranch is doing it I love what they are doing in Clovis NM. However I saw this done at Texas Tech before Aquaranch so its nothing new under the sun.

http://www.aquaranch.com/argreenhouse20 ... /frame.htm You can see what they are doing here, however theirs is much larger than what I am going to do by far

Also there is a abundance of construction waste around here so I can pretty much get free materials

Are you going to use the 'erector set' type growbeds with insulation sides?

Has anyone else beside aquaranch used that type construction for growbeds?

Interesting.

SD are you going to have the sand filter first and then the bioball filter, or vice versa if in series. I suppose you could have them in 'series' or 'parallel' like batteries.

Hey! They stole my idea! I did that about 5 years ago and posted to the internet about it, except I used cattle panel to support the grow-beds.. Works great to have some insulation.

It will go like this | Pump --> Sand Filter --> Bio Filter --> Fish Tank (Drains by standpipe gravity feed) --> Growbeds --> Pump |

That is the entire system circulation design as of now. I will have the tank with the stand pipe in the center and flow from the pump creating a rotational effect in the water that will pull the solids to the middle and flush them into the sand filter, thus I can backwash the sand filter compost the manure then make high quality fertilizer to add back to the system. I am considering using foam I have not decided yet it depends on the cost. I have other materials in mind if that fails.



Indeed that was my thought to encapsulate the growbeds to minimize heat transfer to the beds so evaporation is slowed by a large amount.

I have some questions for you all.

If I owned the place where I lived I would just dig the ground and lay my troughs in the ground. It would be cheap reinforced walls of earth thats insulated. However this is not a perfect world so I must do things that wont "damage" the yard.

So I have to go with something I can set ontop of the yard that is gravel so I am not worried about killing anything. What materials would you advise for building my troughs? So much is so expensive these days plywood here is 45$ a sheet.. 2x4 are expensive.. Costs ramp up to stupidity and just blows my mind. Does anybody have any ideas for inexpensive materials that I could use to do this?

I cant think of anything that would look good.. Cattle panel and foam boards are cheap here as well as pond liners..

Well the foam here is as expensive as plywood.. I dont get it!? but hey thats where its at

Hey SD, I keep considering concrete blocks two blocks high with liner in them for beds (I was inspired by Travis Hughey's grass carp pond that is just dry-stacked blocks and liner), but I haven't priced them. It may be that wood would be cheaper than using that many concrete blocks.

Are you saying that is OK to kill the grass or not OK to kill the grass (by smothering it)?.