Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Not exactly a newcomer but the last time I was here was back in 2011, I was at that time just starting along the road of Aquaponics but due to circumstances everything had to be put on hold. I presently live in Thailand town of Meachan in the province of Chaing Rai,near enough on the border with Mynamar, having returned home after a spell back in the UK.
Anyway a question to anyone here in Thailand that happens to read this, I am really struggling for three main items, Timer,decent Media for my growbeds and worms. Who would have thought it was so hard to find gravel of the right size,most of the local stuff is more like coarse sand not what iam looking for.

Welcome back dasboot.

There are quite a few members from your area so it might be best to touch base with one of them and ask for help.

This is a list of threads with 'Thailand' in the description... hope it helps.

search.php?keywords=Thailand&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=titleonly&sk=t&sd=d&sr=topics&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

Welcome back dasboooot!!

Much of the expanded clay on the world market since the Hydroton/Hydrogran factory stopped producing... comes out of Thailand.. you should be able to get it dirt cheap there!

Worms... you want composting worms (red wrigglers)... they are found at/near the surface in rich organic matter, moist leaf litter, cold compost heaps etc... you only need 2 or 3 to get started... they reproduce in no time!

Timer... ... go auto siphon/loop siphon and run the pump 24/7... no issues with timers and pumps not restarting!

...I know!... I'll take myself to the naughty corner!

Dare I mention CF .....

Dare I mention Affnan siphons?

Many thanks to the moderators for the welcome back,it is good to be back and iam really looking forward to this project .
On the subject of worms,

Worms... you want composting worms (red wrigglers)... they are found at/near the surface in rich organic matter, moist leaf litter, cold compost heaps etc... you only need 2 or 3 to get started... they reproduce in no time!

Believe this or not I have no worms in the land around my home,the soil is completely impoverished,I tried growing in the dirt I turned the ground over for about three days for not one worm,I have never seen anything like it and I struggled to make anything grow. Most of the other land is set aside for rice so not the rich organic matter iam looking for. I would be better off buying worms and reintroducing them back into my garden. This might seem an exaggeration but it's how it is here.
The thoughts behind the Timer and going flood and drain is due to the size of the pond,it's 5000 gallons,holding Koi at the moment with a few what the locals call Blah nin,really good to eat and fast growing tilapia . The filter box is roughly 500 galls.with flood and drain I can reduce the running costs. Also when I built the pond I thought it was clever to put 2,2 inch bottom drains as opposed to 1,4inch water velocity being quicker through the 2,inch but it doesn't work that way and they can start blocking up,so with flood and drain I can use a big pump really pull the water through bleeding off for the growbeds on there flood cycle,the rest being returned to the main pond.

When I went back to the UK it got switched off and basically neglected,luckily due to the low stocking fish loss was down to just a couple of the Koi. So now it's time to resurrect it in all it's glory,so my thoughts were flood and drain through 4 or more raised grow beds,use the filter box as just settlement and a nursery for small fish,the main pond keep the Koi,some of them are getting quite large now and add food fish as well.
I have found some really good growbeds, the Thais use them for mixing cement in so they are a hard durable material,about the same price as barrels but less work to convert,these I will stand on a simple block base.
Well again thanks,I will start taking pics of my progress and share them here for anyone interested.

Did the land around your house get sprayed with bad long-lasting pesticides or something? Maybe the rice farmers spray too much?