Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey guys! Name is Michael and I'm from Jacksonville, FL!

I get a bit long winded

Skip to the bottom if you would prefer to see my setup and skip the life story

I set up my first aquaponics system a couple of weeks ago and all seems to be going well!

Discovered aquaponics accidentally while searching Amazon for something related to my raised vegetable garden and was hooked on the idea instantly! I spent hours upon hours over the next few days reading up on different aspects of aquaponics. At home, on the laptop, pc, tablet, on my way to work and at work on my Android.

Finally I achieved information overload and decided to dive in head first, using what information I had retained, to make a system out of what materials I had available to me while spending as little as possible on the essentials I did not, such as a water pump, air pump, fish etc etc.

I told my neighbor about my plans and, as luck would have it, he gave me a 35 gal pond. That evening I went up into the storage area of the restaurant I manage and stumbled upon two large plastic bins that were perfect for my grow beds! Then that evening, as if the stars were truly aligned for my aquaponics adventure, I discovered a friggin' aquaponics store had open a couple of weeks prior less than three miles from my home!

I visited this store the next morning and spent a couple of hours gleaning information from a very nice couple who owned the store. They set me up with my water and air pumps, tubing, fittings, gro blocks, ph test kit, timer, 50L of expanded clay and a bunch of literature. All in all it was less than $125! Far less than the nearly $300 worth I had sitting in an online shopping cart.

That very afternoon, in what seemed like no time at all, I had my system up and running! Now, I do have a horrible character flaw, the need for instant gratification! I immediately dug up three zucchini plants, washed their roots and put them in the grow bed. The next day I went to Wal-mart and purchased my gold fish. I know, I probably should have let my pond cycle. However, I am happy to report that, after more than two weeks, my fish are happy and healthy and my plants are a beautiful shade of green, though they aren't growing very much.

I have since moved some basil and a variety of lettuce seedlings into my grow bed. We'll see how they grow!

Here are some of the specifics of my system. Your feedback is not only welcome but greatly appreciated.

35 gallon pond
370 gallon water pump
44 gph air pump
1 grow bed (26Lx18Wx15H) System should easily support a second GB?
Expanded clay (6" deep) Should it be deeper?
4 Gold Fish (maybe 2" each)
Fill n drain fittings
Was running constant flood until this morning. Installed timer. 15min on 45min off.
Lettuce seedling are in Grodan blocks placed directly into GB
Basil and Zucchini are planted directly into GB. Are net pots really necessary?
PH is holding steady around 7.0

A few suggestions: Add some more media(hydroton) or add some rock to the bottom and use the hydroton to come up close to the top of your GB (growbed). Get a API test kit and start checking for your water cycling. You can plant the plants directly in the GB, don't need net pots unless you're using DWC and planting in the "water'. 12" is about the optimal depth, but you can vary from 10-30"...and have seen a few even deeper, but that's just for additional BSA(biological surface area) and not something you need to worry about with that size fish tank. Good luck!

Thank you very much for the advice!
I was trying to skimp on the expanded clay because I'm cheap like that. Suppose it would be better to spend a little more and actually get some kind of yield off my plants while not ruining my love for this newfound hobby with a bunch of dead plants.
I did take my pump off its timer and am doing constant flood again. My plants looked a little rough after 12 hours or so of flood and drain.