Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone,
over the last 6 months I have been reading up on AP and I think I should start with a small system before moving on to a large system. Ideally at some point in time I would like a system that can produce enough food for a family of 5 - 10 people. Anyway, in the beginning I would like to make sure that it is not too troublesome and that I don't lose interest in it. My question is how small a system should I start with? Is a 300L tank (aquarium) too small to start with?

I was even thinking of setting up a series of smaller tanks to run water with different salinity to see which works better.

Can we run an aquaponics system in an aeroponics style setup? (Aeroponics - suspending the roots in air and allowing the plants to grow up to 10x faster than the normal hydro system)


Adrian

Hi Adrian and welcome!
Trying your hand with a small system before moving on to a big system is a good idea for all the reasons you mention and then some. A+ there.

300L is not too small. There are people out there running mini AP systems with 10 gallon (37L) aquarium. Granted, the bigger the aquarium, the more fish/bigger fish you can grow and larger volumes of water are of course more stable. Keep in mind there are many different ways to do systems. If you want to start with an aquarium that you already have then you need to decide if it is ok for the level to fluctuate or if you want to CHIFT PIST system (constant height in fish tank pump in sump) in which case you will need a sump tank that can hold all the water from your intended grow beds plus some.

If you really wish to do salinity experiments, I'm sure plenty of people here would be interested in your results but I don't really expect that you want to do that for your first step. First get a small system up and cycled.

As to aeroponics, I know it can be done with hydroponic type nutrients and even then clogging is the constant issue. If trying it with Aquaponics, you will definitely encounter clogging issues. Most people find that they need to filter their water before sending it through any DWC or NFT type growing system. Easiest way to do this is usually to run the water through Gravel or media filled flood and drain grow beds.
The flood and drain media filled grow beds serve 3 major purposes.
1-Bio filter, they provide surface area for bacteria in a highly aerated environment that gets good contact with the water to be treated.
2-Solids filter, the gravel and bio-slime are very good at filtering out solids like fish poo and uneaten fish food.
3-Gravel beds provide a perfect place to grow plants.

TCL has about nailed the most important points Sasukewa....

Welcome to the forum and the world of aquaponics... feel free to ask any questions and post your system ideas/designs... you'll get plenty of feedback

Aero may not work well using this system because of the solids in the water. And from my experence if you get a blockage your plants die fast. I'm going to use some of the water that gets changed out in my hydro setup(autopots). Don't know if using a fog maker get affected by the quailty of the water, mister's do.

As a start up aquaponic system I'm going to use a wheelie bin and the toughest fish I can find. Then work on the larger system.

Thx for the info. Looks like I will start with the smallish system first. I have a question about the sump tank. What is the advantage for using a sump tank or not to use it? If I use a sump tank, don't I need 2 pumps? I am going to pay Joel a visit first as well and get more documentations from him.

Hi sasukewa, my first system was only a bathtub, two pipes, pond pump and a mister. It was a great learner system and worked well.

If you do CHIFT PIST constant height in fish tank pump in sump tank, it only requires one pump. Essentially the fish tank is the highest water level in the system and it overflows into grow beds which drain into a sump tank where the pump is and it pumps back up to the fish tank.
Benefit here is that the solids go directly from fish tank into grow beds without having to gunk up your pump first. The sump stays relatively clean. Just an FYI though, bio-slime will grow anywhere though so the pump may occasionally need to be flushed out anyway.

Hi, and welcome.

Yes, an aquarium makes an excellent fishtank. Is it setup in the garage or somewhere where plants and growlights won't be a nuisance? 300L is larger than my tank. (envy)

One disadvantage of an aquarium is that they don't usually have a bulkhead fitting that penetrates the glass. This means you either have to put the pump in the fishtank, or use a "hole-less overflow". The latter is available from pet stores that sell saltwater aquariums or mail order.

Why is the pump in the fishtank a bad thing? If a hose breaks or something starts gushing, your little pump will happily empty the tank, much to the detriment of non-air-breathing fish. For the record, my pump is in my fishtank.

Here are a few questions and we'll design you a system.
Have you done any hydroponic growing before?
Are you going to be growing indoors or out and how much space do you have?
Where abouts are you located?
Does your aquarium have fish in it now, and if so, what kind?

Good Luck,
Ellie

The CHIFT PIST system sounds good. Thx for the suggestion TCLynx.

To answer some questions....

1. I have never done hydroponics before. I was just a keen gardener (beginner) during summer, but it is too cold now. Even though my pumpkin and chillis are still doing fine. The silver beet is nearly 2 years old! That is in my backyard.
2. Probably use my patio as the space for this new setup. I was thinking of sealing it in to keep the cold out. Basically away from the rain. I am quite happy to run some lighting for 8 hours a day to keep the plants happy. It is about 2.5 x 2.5m. (Could be 3 x 3m)
3. I live in Mullaloo at the moment. I will probably be here for another year until my new home is ready. (Currently about to start building in Belmont). Up here it is always cold and ocean always looks cold.
4. No fish in aquarium. Picking up an old aquarium from a friend of mine. Looking at keeping some silver perch and some cichlids. Do they keep each other company well? Will have to buy some silver perch. Friend got plenty of baby cichlids to give away... lol.
5. I just want to grow some salad and chillis and tomatoes just to see how they go.

I have access to wood working tools in the university if I have to make any sort of framing. I was even thinking about cutting up the aquarium to allow it to overflow into the growing bed like the what TCLynx suggested.

At the moment it is too early in the morning for me to visualize a system.... but I guess I have never done it before. What are your suggestions for a growing bed? From what I am reading, I can get up to a 600L growing bed or is it a 150L growing bed? Pipes looks good and easy, however, isn't a (tray) large surface area exposed to air better for the bacteria cycle? I would like to have some freshwater mussles too but that can come later. (pity i can't just stock up on the river mussles.)

I am tempted to go down the river and collect some river prawns to chuck into the system. I think they will have a better chance than the king prawns that I usually collect in the river. I read in an article from Curtin University that our western king prawn will survive at 10 g/L (ppt) of salinity but prefers 25 g/L. That is why they are easier to catch in the winter months because they move to the shallower banks of the river. (Due to the rain water making the water "softer". Sea water is normally 35 g/L) At the moment, I would like to keep my system strictly freshwater.





Adrian

I forgot to mention that I am in Perth, Western Australia. I just realized that most ppl here are not local to Perth and may not be familiar with the suburb names.... sorry... lol.

Also, the Swan River (where I collect king prawns) is essentially a salt water river, except near the banks where the salinity can vary. It has not always been a salt water river...... I scuba dive for the king prawns in water depth of 8m to 20m. Normal water temperature is 18-21 deg C. In winter (now), it is around 14-17 deg C. Once upon a time, the river prawns used to thrive until we have the chemical spill about 5-10 years ago which decimated the population. They are smaller than the king prawns. We still get them around, just not in "catchable" numbers. (You need at least 1kg to be worth going after.) We also have another type of prawns here called the leeder prawns. Somewhat looks like a tiger prawns but it grows up to 32cm long. (possibly more) I have caught a few over the years but not along. Somehow I doubt that they will thrive in the freshwater... but I will look for a few to try later.... lol.

if you go to your profile and add your location, it will make it easier for folks to answer many of your questions

sasukewa, since you are already in Perth are you coming to the get together on Friday arvo ?

There was a "duckaponix" thread here a while back, you might be interested.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2228&hilit=duckaponics+duckaponix

What is on tomorrow? What time?

go to the perth BYAP meeting thread mate