Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi
I've been reading allot on aquaponics over the last few months and and am starting to plan my first system. I have allot of experience with fish (cold water, tropical, marine) and am a keen but inexperienced gardener.

I am hoping to put together an IBC system to start with. I do have a long term dream/goal, in that I have a currently inaccessible swimming pool on my property. Inaccessible in that it currently has a large wooden custom-made wendy house on top of it. My house was once a school and for what ever reason they covered the pool with a classroom without draining it or filling it in with sand. So in short I have a black water lake that I cant yet get to. When the finances are right, I will remove the wendy house and convert it into an energy efficient, eco-friendly and productive ornamental koi system that support all manner of veggies and the like.

So that's me in a nut shell. Keen to learn from the Gurus out there so please bare with my stupid questions that I'm sure you will have heard several times over.

Hoplo (Rob)

Welcome Rob

That swimming pool project sounds like it will be a beauty and I look forward to following its progress. Can you post a photo of it? I am also working on a larger project and, like me, you may need to devise additional vortex and biofilters to deal with the volume of fish tank (FT) water and waste produced. Like you, I am also planning to learn the ropes with an IBC based system and there is no shortage of helpful advice available on this forum.
Welcome to the forum, Hoplo, and I wish you the best of luck with your AP endeavours.

Welcome Rob, enjoy the ride.

So I thought I'd post a few pics of what things look like now before my ambitious projects begin.

Man, I cant wait for this thing to go! Only problem is, the moment its gone, I need to spend some cash.

This is the view from under the the first pic - NASTY!

Another pic - I took these shots through a hole in the rotten flooring of the landing.
What still amazes me is the water under there does not smell. The pool is almost full to capacity. Its not a huge pool, so I think would make a great conversion to a large koi pond, feeding my GBs.
I've owned the property for just over 2 years, and come December, that wooden monster is no-more!

This is a view of the back yard where the GBs and eventually the greenhouse will be. It receives good morning light till about 14h00 in Summer but only about 11h30 in winter. I live close to the coast, so winters are mild, but Cape Town has some heavy winds and strong rain storms in winter, so I will need to plan accordingly.

Hi Hoplo,

It looks a promising site. A pool could generate a hole lot of growing powerrr. Now you have the time to plan and invent your system till that financial matter works out for you. I know I sometimes have had a sigh at a cash register buying AP supplies. But it is heaps of fun planning, building etc.

I bet that if you give the pool water a good stir, you will find the lost odour.

I think you are right! I have heard frogs in the water on occasion, but cant imagine that they are doing very well down there.

I read somewhere that using a pool is not a good idea because of the sheer number and volume of gb you would need to maintain the the balance. I need to get my head around that still. Any thoughts?
I do not know the volume of the pool as yet, so cannot calculate the bio load yet.
I have a relatively large space to work with, and now want to start the long term planning. I need to start by deciding on the best GB containers. Advise here would be great.

I also need to figure how you decide if a greenhouse is necessary. I am keen to put one in, but the finances may be prohibitive, given the size I guess I would need.
I am in a frost free zone, mild winters

The following (for anyone interested or you can advise or who has an aptitude for such information) is the average climate for Cape Town (source: http://www.climatetemp.info/south-africa/cape-town.html)

The average temperature in Cape Town, South Africa is 16.6 °C (62 °F).
The range of average monthly temperatures is 9 °C.
The warmest average max/ high temperature is 26 °C (79 °F) in January & February.
The coolest average min/ low temperature is 7 °C (45 °F) in July.
Cape Town receives on average 629 mm (24.8 in) of precipitation annually or 52 mm (2.1 in) each month.
On balance there are 101 days annually on which greater than 0.1 mm (0.004 in) of precipitation (rain, sleet, snow or hail) occurrs or 8 days on an average month.
The month with the driest weather is February when on balance 15 mm (0.6 in) of rain, sleet, hail or snow falls across 4 days.
The month with the wettest weather is June when on balance 108 mm (4.3 in) of rain, sleet, hail or snow falls across 13 days.
Mean relative humidity for an average year is recorded as 77.7% and on a monthly basis it ranges from 71% in January & December to 83% in May, June, July.
There is an average range of hours of sunshine in Cape Town of between 5.7 hours per day in July and 11.1 hours per day in December.
On balance there are 2993 sunshine hours annually and approximately 8.2 sunlight hours for each day.
On balance there are 0 days annually registering frost in Cape Town and in July there are on average 0 days with frost.

In short, I live in a semi-paradise