Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everybody i have a few leaks in my system and after setting up aquaponics ive found i like it and am going to scale it up i have a few questions however. I'm looking at buying 2 plastic grow beds, do they need support if using gravel if so how? also does my idea on the scale up sound like it would work?( its in the short youtube video) and what would be the best way to lay out the pluming and growbeds? Thanks for everybody's help.

here is the company im going to get the grow beds from for 800 bucks and im going to go pick it up made in white to reduce heat.

http://www.prepperwaterstorage.com/300- ... 00CTHW.htm

Below is the short youtube video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyUX1D0nihU

Those growbeds look pretty good! They will need some good support underneath them - you can probably build something with Besser blocks and timber, or if you weld or can get welding done then Colum Black-Byron and some others on here have built awesome steel growbed supports. The main thing is to make sure it's level (so the growbeds don't twist under the weight) and any gaps on the bottom aren't too big (so they don't sag). Also, keep the placement of your siphon fittings in mind while you build your supports, so you can make sure there's a gap underneath where you want to drill your holes.

Your plans sound perfectly feasible to me. You might be able to balance the water flows between the two growbeds with just a T or Y fitting, or you might need taps - they're easy enough to add later if you need them. I'm guessing you're going to go CHIFT PIST with an SLO? If you do, and you put taps on the growbed supply lines, it's a good idea to also have an emergency overflow pipe from the fish tank straight to the sump, otherwise you can back things up by closing the taps too much, overflow the FT, and pump your sump dry. (An emergency overflow is a good thing to have anyway!)

I realized I'm unfamiliar on slo what is a good design for an IBC? And how do I plumb it?

I haven't used an IBC as a fish tank myself - hopefully someone who has will chime in - but I've seen a lot of different SLO designs on various system threads, and most of them seem to work well. Some people just put a pipe down one corner with a bunch of holes drilled in the bottom, some extend it out so the intake is at the center of the tank, some put a horizontal length diagonally across the bottom of the tank with holes or slots along it. If you have the water circulating and fish stirring up the bottom just about any design will eventually pull in all the solids. I have a smallish airstone on a long tube that I move around my fish tank, I drop it anywhere things seem to be settling and the bottom is clean the next time I look.

A couple important things to remember:
- the water level is set by where your SLO comes through the IBC wall. If you put it too low, you can raise it by changing the SLO piping, (like Asia-Off-Grid explains here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=27639&p=541143#p541143 ).
- Your SLO needs to have an opening where the pipe up from the bottom and the pipe through the wall meet. This is not optional! If you just use an elbow there, it can start to siphon and drain your tank. Most people put a T joint there and leave the top open, in which case it can also act as an overflow if the bottom of your SLO gets clogged, but I've seen one system thread (that I can't find now, darnit) where they used an elbow and drilled a hole in it to let in air and break the siphon.
- Work out what diameter SLO and outlet pipe you'll need to handle the flow from your pump (handy link here: http://aquaponicsnation.com/forums/topi ... pipe-size/ ), then go up a size to allow for friction slowing things down.

For plumbing it through the side of the IBC, you can get a big bulkhead fitting or use a Uniseal. A uniseal will be much cheaper; a bulkhead fitting will probably be easier to install.

Wow, they are very proud of those tanks. For comparison check out TuffStuff or Rubermaid tanks http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=15199 I bought the TuffStuff tank from a local ranch supply. 110 gallons for about a dollar a gallon.

Sorry not TuffStuff, TuffTubs http://www.tufftubs.com/htdocs/mixingtub.htm One concern is what is in recycled plastic?

The link I posted was for a grow bed, you used a 110 gallon grow bed? Seems small I currently have a 4x8 grow bed but I wanted to scale up.

yes, I'm limited in space and all five of my growbeds are small. although i never did use the 110 gallon oval in my ap, I was looking for alternatives to building growbeds. Odd shapes are difficult for me to fit in the greenhouse as well, but looked at pricing for something like these as well: https://www.ntotank.com/610gallon-acerotomold-green-stock-tank-x6195670?gclid=CjwKEAjwudW9BRDcrd30kovf8GkSJAB3hTxFAgmGETwzKK0_mq9w2sIQM8dy2CXeN-KveD1zMm6uMxoCsfHw_wcB This is 610 gallons for $320

I wanted to do something rectangular for ease of support ( at least I'd think it wold be easier then round). I looked around a Google search and many sellers sell the same grow bed as I posted, made by poly mart in Austin TX. That's a couple of hours away and likely cheaper then paying shipping on something like that.