Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,

I only learned about aquaponics about a year ago and I've been looking all over taking in all of the information and deciding which route I want to take. I think I have settled on a plan now and I've been slowly piecing things together. Once I start building, I hope to post about it.

I'll be going with an outdoor setup. I have an 8x12 greenhouse (still needs to be built), a 300 gallon FT and 2 110 gallon tubs for sumps. I'm not sure how I want to go with the GB's, I originally bought a bunch of plastic totes, but I also have a few 55 gallon barrels that I could cut in half, but I also like the look of plywood with sealer or pond liner.

I have aquariums setup for 2 years (goldfish and some tropical fish) but I'd like to raise trout if that's possible.

Anyone else on Vancouver Island have an aquaponics setup?
I'd love to check out other systems that are actually functional.

Anyone raising trout in BC?
Can I just buy some fry, or do you need a permit or anything?

I'd love to hear anyone's thoughts or guidance.

Cheers,
Allan

Hi Allan,

Welcome to the BYAP forum

Allen,

Welcome to the addiction! 1 note on the blue barrels. I have found that they are more expensive for the space they provide because they require a lot of extra piping. It adds up quick. The barrels make good mechanical filtration devices though. The totes you speak of, are they IBCs. Or just small totes?

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the replys. I haven't even started and I'm obsessed.

floridafishin: They are just small black totes ~100l, the ones from homedepot with yellow lids. I think these would be worse for plumbing compared to the barrels. I was leaning towards plywood with some type of sealer

I was originally planning on using a 5g bucket as a swirl filter, but it might be too small so I'm pretty sure I'll be using a 55g barrel.
I'll start a post in the members system later tonight and post my plans for all to dissect.

Be sure to check out radial flow filters (RFF) as they are more efficient than swirl filters. Still easy to build, and have the same space requirements. You will want to read through this thread.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=24533

Sorry for going dark, hectic weekend.

Thanks for that, I'll be sure to look into Radial Flow Filters.

For Flood & Drain systems, what type of siphons would you suggest?
I was planning on using Bell siphons, but it seems that there may be simpler ones out that require less materials and are easier to get working.

Attached is an image of my planned setup.
I had to redesign my plans
The fish tank will be in ground with the pump going to the 55g barrel (filter). From there the water would get spit into the different grow beds. I was toying with the idea of filling the Flood & Drain and DWC from the Vertical Grow Beds only, but would it be better to fill all the grow beds separately?

The 55g takes up a lot of space, would a 5g bucket be sufficient as a solids filter?

If I were to go plywood (or solid) as a growbed and customize my grow bed size would a sealant be better or pond liner?
I've read that Liquid Rubber Sealant was a good choice.

Cheers,
Allan

Hi Allan, check out Colum's thread for some recent youtube clips on how he makes his boxtube and timber GBs with pondliner. Tori's system and Boss' system are cold climate greenhouse builds with an inground fishtanks. If there was no particular reason to have you FT inground, why not bury the sumptanks, pump up to the FT, SLO to your filter (if you need one) and then gravity to your GBs which can be a bit lower to give more growing room? Then you are not breaking up your solids through the pump, and your FT will stay full and not overflow if here is a glitch in the system.

Only suggestions, good luck with your build.

Thanks joc,

I'll take a look at the systems you've suggested.
There's just so many great systems out there that it's hard to know where to start looking for something similar to what will work for me. I get sidetracked looking at one, then someone posts about another great idea, and there I am 2 hours later reading 5 different posts.

You've brought up my concerns about a glitch in the system and having my FT flood over.
I'll redesign my system so the sumps are on the bottom, and see how that looks, I may only need one sump then.
I put the FT inground because it's huge and I don't think it will fit in the GH.
The tank I have is a 300g Behlen Country which is 3' wide x 2' deep x 8' long. The GH was originally purchased for traditional gardening, but then I stumbled on Aquaponics.

Thank you very much for your input, looks like I've got some reading to do, at least it gives me a good place to start.

I'll start a post in the Members System section when I get a chance, so not to fill up the New Members section with updates.

Cheers,
Allan

@angeles - Hi and welcome to the forum Allan.

Thanks Curious.

@joc
I checked out Colum's GB's and his are pretty nice, he did use epoxy and pond liner, I may reach out to him and see if he has any suggestions or preferences.

I did a quick look at Boss and Tori's systems, but will do a complete read through soon.
Where I live we don't really get snow, but the water does freeze over (sometimes), we've got it pretty good here when it comes to temperature.

There are so many great systems, I'm very jealous.

I can't wait to get started.