Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone,

I've been browsing the forums since I became interested in Aquaponics 2 years ago. I've recently moved to the NSW Central Coast, and I figured it would be the perfect time to set up a system! I've always had an interest in small scale vertical systems.

My system was built on inspiration and tips from this forum, but I am very much new at this. My current system is a small scale NFT, with 75mm PVC and a 175lt pond that has Koi and gold fish in there. Currently the system has 6 slots for net pots, although I plan on making another 4 to have a total of 10 plants.

My system:

I started with an area that was 1.5m wide by 6m long. It's more or less balcony sized, I knew I have to go vertical to make the most of my space! I first built the backing wall, I used 2x4in timber and secured it to the walls using Nylon anchors. 90mmx10mm timber runs horizontally to close in the area.

I then added a half wine barrel that was 225lt, I added 15 baby Koi, 2 gold fish, and 2 small Koi. The pond its self has Papyrus, Water Lilly, and Duckweed. The pond started out with a 700lt/h pump/filter.

I then added the plumbing to the back wall. I got 4 x 1m lengths of 75mm PVC pipe. I also got a couple of elbows, sleeves, end caps to see what I'd be able to put together. After the plumbing was put together I realised I'd need a more powerful pump to reach the water entrance of 2.2m high. I upgraded from a 700lt/h to a 2500lt/h pump that's adjustable. It works great!


Adding the net pots was next up. I used a 65mm hole saw to drill the holes out. Thankfully those slotted end caps fit perfectly in the holes. Finally I added the plants in, I chose Basil, Rocket, Lettuce, Strawberries, and an unhappy passionfruit, all planted in fine black gravel. I used slotted plumbing end caps as net pots as I really didn't find 55mm net pots big enough, they also didn't sit right.

I'm very happy with how the plants are taking to it, the strawberry especially is loving it. I've noticed the growth of healthy roots within 36 hours!

For those interested to total cost of the system was around $250AU. With the barrel and PVC being the most expensive at $90 for the barrel and $110 for the pvc.









I have many plans to expand and improve, if you have any tips or advice I'm always interested to hear it.
I look forward to sharing my progress!

Thanks for taking a look at my system!
James

Ouch, that's pricey for 90mm stormwater pipe.

Looks good, only recommendation I'd make it to keep a close eye on the temperature during summer, the PVC and water volume will make it prone to going very high.

Thanks!
I was actually worried about the temps over summer/winter as well. I can float ice bottles over summer if i need to, but I'm not sure how to combat the cold temps through winter. Should I focus on plants that like lower temps or is it nothing to worry too much about?

@quickstix4 - Hi and welcome, very neat looking. +1 for watching the temp. Too much of a fluctuation will stressed your fish out.

Regards

Goldies will be fine with the cold temps you'll get in your area.

Putting ice in the water will be an option, just make sure you have enough, I'd personally just bi-pass the tubes when you've got very hot days ahead, or trickle water through them. Or increase the water volume.

Thanks for the tips guys, I'll make sure I watch out temp changes. So far the plants are looking great after 2 days in the pipe. The rocket has new roots growing that are 10cm out of the net pot already!

I'll be adding 4 more pots over the weekend, and I'm hoping to improve the filtration of solids. I've noticed the pots are holding some solids from the pond below.