Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello BYAP!

I'd like to share my fist AP system.

This is an indoor system I built in the bathroom of the recording studio I work at on the second floor of a warehouse in downtown Cleveland.

I've been researching AP for several years and am excited to finally have a system to play with.

CHIFT barrel system. 15min on, 45 off. Beds are filled half way with lava rock and topped off with hydroton.
Got some kale and herbs in there as well as a wide assorment of seeds which started sprouting in just 12 hours!
Gonna try to find some maxicrop today as I feel they will need something soon.

Began fishless cycling a few days ago and will wait a few weeks before adding gold fish.

Comments, sugguestions, critisms and commpliments welcome

Welcome aboard Fuzzy...

howdy neighbor, i work in beachwood, and live east of cleveland on the lake..
can't see your pictures from work, (photobucket is blocked) but looking forward to seeing your system!
indoors or in a greenhouse is the only way to go in our area

Thanks Rupert!

Hey Keith! I work in Lyndhurst and have lived on the east side my whole life. Checked out your basement system. What kind of lights are you using and what crops have you done well with? Im using t8's and t5's. Will probably stick to greens and herbs, but I see you had some success with radishes so I might give those a try.

Man... I would love to score a plash of water from your system to speed up my cycling

you're welcome to come out to fairport to get some water..just let me know when works for you, i'm home most nights and weekends
i'm using t8's right now, 3 pairs over 2 half barrel growbeds (i may be getting some t5's)
lettuce did great, radishes, carrots do very well, i think some swiss chard is starting to come up, and i'm going to try some broccoli again
i did have a problem with aphids for a bit, but it's not bad right now..
i've got 2 cantaloupe plants that are flowering, trying the little paint brush pollinator
i've done cuttings from the dirt garden, basil, thyme, oregano and sage all did ok
tomatoes took over for a bit so i recently did a cleanout, oh and zuchini is growing but not flowering yet..

Thanks Keith, I think I will take you up on that. I cant wait to get this thing cycled so I can throw in some fish.

When you take cuttings, do you root them right in your growbed?

yup, cut a branch off, trim off the lower leaves, and stick in the growbed..
oh, and i found a great deal on hydroton (but i still can't afford more at the moment) - in twinsburg, $20 for a 50liter bag... pm me for contact info when you want to pick up some water

there aren't very many fisheries close by, but i found a pretty good site for ordering fish for delivery, and "jonesfish" has an office in medina

Welcome Fuzzy and nice set up!

Being a newbie myself, I'm not quite sure how your water flow runs. Are you running 2 pumps? And is the Black Barrel your fish tank?

I'm already scheming...er...I mean, planning my 2nd system for my basement. Will be using two 55 gallon barrels and a scheduled flood and drain setup. I'm looking for ways to keep it all up against a wall to maximize space, like you have.

Hey thanks DrSteve,

Im just running one pump. The black barrel is the fish tank, though no fish in there yet. The pump is in the sump tank on the ground. When th pump switches on it pumps up into the top of the fish tank. The fish tank has a solids lifting overflow pipe coming out of it that runs back along the window sill and then T's off into the grow beds. The second black tube coming from the fish tank is an overflow going back into the sump, just incase the overlow pipe cant handle all the flow, but that doesnt seem to be an issue. Each grow bed has a 1/2" siphon drain plus a 3/4" inch overflow above that.

Alrighty, update time.
System has been running for about a week now. I was fortunate to meet up with Keith and grab 2 gallons of water and some growbed media from his already running system. I believe this helped allot as 24hour later I had .75 nitrite and nitrate up from 0, and am growing some slimy goodness around my browbed inlets. I know I was fishless cycling.... but now im fishless cycling (with goldfish ). put 10 feeder comets in there yesterday but I wont feed them untill the current ammonia readings drop.

Seeds are all sprouting and growing quickly. As you will see, I planted pretty densly and will have to do some thinning.


Growbed inlet



Peas are getting tall



Herbs have some catching up to do



Thick.



Swirly action in the FT



and the sump return from the GBs

lookin good.. glad i could help

i'lll be picking up ladybugs this week, and only adding them a little at a time, the rest will be in the fridge for a few weeks, so if you start having an aphid problem, i may be able to help

Thanks Keith,

Hopefully i can avoid the aphids being in the middle of the conrete jungle downtown. My outdoor kale always got taken over by aphids wich wasnt too much of an issue outside, just more protein for me. But i know if they get established inside they can be a pain.