Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

a question on the wheelie bin, are they all water proof or did you have to seal it? I like the idea for my up coming marron/yabbie system. they like deep water and it also needs a lid to keep the little buggers in. i'd build up with lots of hidey holes for them in pvc pipes stacked on top of each other.
the only issue i see is getting the bottom of it might be a hassle if i need to.

the water proofnes of a wheelie bins depends on how hard its life has been ours has a crack in it from the bloody truck driver being rough and using the hoist to push the bin up the curb

Sleepy asked
"What's the pipe at the front of the sump (near the lock) in image 2220 for?"
That is an overflow into a stormwater drain.....just in case things go pear shaped and the sump overflows

Timmy....No probs with wheelie bins being waterproof provided they have been treated well. I just removed the wheels, dug a deep hole and in she goes.
Also it is easy to secure them with a lock to keep out curious grandkids

Hi Peter, will there be anything living in the sump? if so then maybe some sort of trap between the sump and the storm water pipe.

(I'm also not sure if this is legal)

H.

Not planning to use the sump for fish raising at this stage, but you make a good point.
Legal ??? not sure but who's looking

You could run the over flow into the garden ( in these times of water restrictions) or into an aggi pipe.

It's not as if it's will overflow frequently

I have added a modification to my standpipes.
Based on those used by EB but which also give adjustment for drain rate and max GB water level.....see this link for a pic:
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... c&start=45

An update showing the growth I have after 5 weeks. Have harvested plenty of herbs, lettuce, baby spinach but the tomatoes (Burnley Bounty) seem slow to ripen.
System currently has around 25 big goldies and is cycling really well with nitrates at 50, and 100 of Monyas SP's to go in next month.

Hella cool.

That looks way cool!

Dear Peterall,
The water outlet on kidney bed 1 is at one end, and I wonder if you would get dry spots at the far end?
Also, does the relative darkness in the FT make for problems with the fish?
The setup looks really neat.
cheers
Highlander

Highlander,
Both beds are drained from only one end, but as they are level there are no probs with dry spots. Standard P traps are a cheap and easy way to hook up and have easy access to the drains.
Re the FT, the extra shade cloth is to keep the fish cool in our hot Adelaide summers. From my experience and others (see King Eric's system) they don't see to mind the dark at all and ,of course, too much direct light can cause algae growth.
Also a pic of my beautiful Burney Bounty tomatoes.

I have included pics of my new auto fish (pet) feeder, set up as we are soon to be away for a few weeks. The pet feeder was from Sold Smart at around $68 with a few simple mods to make it a fish feeder.
My water distribution is just a single point rather than a distribution grid which, so far, has caused no issues.

The fish feeder setup should work really well mate, you have a nice height above the water so fish splash should not be a problem

Highlander, apart from algae reduction, it is good to cover the FT as this reduces the light to the fish...how they like it in the wild and so is more natural and less stressful for them

how does the fish feeder work? what did you start with and how did u modify it?