Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey guys and gals,

I'm currently designing my aquaponics system, Ive been thinking about it for a while and decided to bite the bullet. I'm not buying it all at once. My goal is to get the fish tank and sump done first and all plumbed. Im starting up with two IBCs, one will be the fish and the other will be the sump and a media bed.

I've been watching Rob Bob's Aquaponics & Backyard Farm non-stop along with some other helpful channels and reading around forums.

Im actually going to try and start off with vertical grow towers which will be hooked up in the initial start along with a solids filter and airation. I have DWC beds which are independent for now, but maybe added later. The 1st media bed (Flood and Drain) will be eventually be added, depending on time and $$$ with plans for a 2nd IBC to form another two media beds. All the beds will be flood and drain. I'll probably also looking at experimenting with NFT and Dutchbuckets/Constant flood eventually.

My idea is to start small with the basics and have something to expand and build on, so it'll be constantly dynamic. At the moment I want to get a pump big enough to expand however I like. I've already got my water testing gear, vertical tower equipment and other essentials on the way.

Brandon.

Hi Brandon,

What is going to be providing the bio-filtration prior to eventually adding the media beds?

At the moment I'll be cycling the system without fish with just the vertical towers. I'm hoping to get the media soon after all the plumbing is complete. I won't be getting fish until after the first media bed is done. I'm hoping the media in the vertical towers should help promote some initial bio-filtration however.

I wanted to put a bio-media filter after the solids during my initial plumbing setup to allow for more versatility and forgiveness in the system, but I'm still researching it and weighing it up. But at the moment it looks like a cost effective way to go if I wanted to get fish in the system earlier.

I'm just going to be taking it step by step until I can get the system ready to support fish, but at the same time I want to avoid falling short when it comes time to expand.

've been watching Rob Bob's Aquaponics & Backyard Farm non-stop along with some other helpful channels and reading around forums.

warning, I find watching too many different people sprouting their opinion can get confusing,
There are some VERY good presenters who know what they are talking about (Rob Bob) there are others that carry on like rabbits in breeding season.

Start and be choosy who you watch.

Rob Bob is the bulk of my viewing content, I watch "The School of Aquaponics" a little as well, more so for clarification or a bit more indepth on some things. All the other channels are mainly to get a different perspective on the DIY side of things.