Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So apparently i have been living under a rock because up until a few months ago i had not heard of aquaponics.
Once i heard of it, it struck a chord with me and i started reading and studying. I wanted to build a smaller system with 55 gallon barrels only since i could get them for free. However i had (2) 250 gallon ibc totes fall in my lap for free.

I rent, so digging is not an option.
I would like to keep this to a 1 pump system if at all possible.
I would like to keep the IBC as the fish tanks.
i am thinking 6-8 grow beds 55gal cut in half
Grow media will be red scoria and river rock
Fish, thinking of catfish maybe trout but family not as fond of trout.
So im thinking of connecting both ibc so that they drain evenly.

Now here is where i am divided. Should i set it up so that water flows from one grow bed through all to the last.(in series)
Or should i pipe pvc so each grow bed gets water from a tee in the pipe.

Do i need a sump?




i made a sketup of basic setup, no piping yet. i appreciate any input.

Welcome to the forum .

Trout probably won't work, the system water will get too warm in the Summer. Catfish will work but it's a bit cool for them so they'll grow more slowly and be more susceptible to disease.

Is this an external inline pump or a submersible pump? I'd do an inlet to each bed coming from the fish tank with a common drain to a sump. Pump from the sump up to the fish tanks and drain via SLO back into all the grow beds. I'm not sure I'd drop the grow beds as low as you have them since you won't be able to dig in the sump. If you run Constant Flood the sump won't need to be very large especially if you rig it to automatically top up from a water source.

You might find some ideas looking at the systems in the IBC of Aquaponics (link on the upper left of your screen). I don't think you'll see much about Constant Flood in there but you could have a look at the BYAP trials thread (http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8621) for a comparison of different types of systems and I'll be glad to explain if you need it.

Cheers

I agree--you'll need a sump. If I were in your situation and had as many free barrels as I wanted, I might try turning 2 barrels on their side and connect them together via the bungs, which are often 2" pipe thread (i.e., use 2" pvc pipe and threaded adapters). This would give you about 100 gal sump, which should be plenty for the number of growbeds you're considering--particularly if you run at least some with constant-flood.

The bottom of the GB's would all need to be taller than the sump. A barrel on its side is about 2 feet. Bottom of the growbeds a few inches above that, leaves the top of the growbeds at a little over 3 feet, which is manageable.

I would recommend adding bluegill to the list of fish to consider. They're tolerant of a wide range of temperatures and they're delicious. A downside is they grow relatively slowly.

I've also always wanted to try yellow perch.

Hi IhasFleas,

I did the latter in my second system because I got sick of adjusting taps to try and balance all 6 GB's in the 15 min on time. I don't think filling one into the other is a good for nute distribution.
Depending on how level you can get the pipe work will determine how many beds will fill at the same time with an even distribution of nutes.
Also there's no surface pipe work to grow around or heat up in the sun.
I'd leave the second IBC on stand by for spare water or later for different fish breeds or sizes.

Pete.

+1 on the suggestion of bluegill. I grow bluegill and catfish at the moment. I might try trout again but they are a challenge.

Unfortunately Yellow Perch were not an option last time I checked, even though you can catch them in local ponds you won't be able to get a transport permit unless something has changed that I haven't heard about.