Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here is a drawing of my proposed system, I have all my hardware ready to go, I just need to pull my finger out and build it. A brief explanation: A flood and drain system that will allow water to flow from the tank to the GB's via a sand filter. The water will cease to flow once the GB and tank are at the same water level, it will be important to keep the tank topped up with water daily. A pump will return the water to the tank. Float switches will control the pump and valve. When the system is running, I plan to set a timer on the valve to allow the water to build up again so it can trip the valve float switch. Once the water has been pumped back into the tank the pump float switch will stop the pump until the GB's are flooded again. I'm going to have a wind powered aerator and solar pump eventually but for now it will be a fish tank aerator and a 2500Lt/h pond pump.

Here is my price summary: Just under $500 so far (approx)
500Lt water tank - bunnings $99 (bargain)
160Lt growbeds x 5 - $175 (ripoff)
30mm Bulkhead fittings x 5 - $50 (ripoff)
PVC, fittings and Glue - $25 (mostly free)
Aerator - $50
Pump - $100
Steel for stands - Free
25mm SHS 1.6mm wall
No gravel yet - but doesn't cost much

Ok... lay it on me people, what ya think?

Gee the water thas turned green already! Must have an algae buildup

ROFL!

Sure you wouldn't want a windmill

Sorry just bein a smart a@#e.

Is there a reason for adding the sand filter before the beds (filtration), I would of thought placing it on the return line would of been better to make sure less solids were going into the tank. Just a thought.

Interesting Zombie.... nicely drawnas well

The 160ltr growbeds @ $175.... why do you consider them or the price to be a rip off???

Are they the black bins from Bunnings?

Oh and what media are you going to use in the growbeds?

loks like a fluidised bed to me. good for bacteria doesn't do much for solids

Gotcha

I think a metre of 10mm gravel is around $50-$60 Zombie

I think the tubs were a rip off because I only wanted to pay $15 for them. you can't negotiate with bunnings, everytime I go there without shoes on they call security to the isle I'm browsing in. never been approached though. I really wanted to use scoria but living in QLD it's rare and most people think you are talking about a venereal disease when you ask if they have scoria. I'm still considering growbed media for now but will probably end up getting smooth pebbles or a fine gravel from the local landscape supply. I have about 200Lt of perlite in my hydro system right now and was going to use that for a seperate constant flow system attatched to a large horse through full of redclaw but I think that's for next season.
As for the sand bed filter, I thought it would be good to filter solids to stop the valve getting clogged but apparently that's a shit idea. I pondered how fast my beds would drain if I put a sand filter before the pump. I thought it might not drain fast enough to keep up with the pump.

and Gnash... it won't be a windmill, they fall over too easily. I'm gonna build a multiblade turbine. no one likes a smart a$$...

I reckon with the amount of water and grow bed space you have, a sand bed wont be required for nitrates....

Also how much head has your pump got?

Think that you'd have major problems trying to do this with perlite zombie..... unless you intend to utilise the nft channels and keep the flow height low...

One it tends to float like a raft and two it'd wash through into you outlets etc.... not really successful in a "growbed" style IMHO

like 90% of the married guys in the world I have to ask... what is head?
I'm going to assume you mean the height/flow ratio, the box says 2500lt/h.
max height is 2.8m. it is a pond pump though not a fountain pump so hopefully it does the job. My tank is just over 1m high so it should be ok.

Head starts at the water level - so the height of the fish tank should not be an issue. Is the distance from the top of the water (at any given time) to the outlet.

and the restrictions and friction of the pipe.

please please dont use perlite - it sucks big time, floats and blocks elbows in pipes.

The perlite will be in baskets sitting in a PVC pipeline, water will barely touch the perlite. being constant flow I'm hoping the roots of the plants will absorb all the good stuff they need. When I first started my hydro system I had a problem with the perlite floating from the buckets so I drilled holes in the bottom and put it on a drip system. I'll take a pic of this seasons plants, they all still babies. I've left it so long to plant because of all the rain we've had here lately. I'm too lazy to build a pergola/greenhouse. If I can get my system running soon I will transplant most of these into the AP GB's and put the perlite back into the bags to store for later.

The very very large grade perlite might be ok so long as it is gently treated (doesn't get busted down to small size.) I've used some large grade perlite (like as big as my 1/2" river pebbles) and it is ok so long as you are very careful not to let it get at any plumbing. As most of it floats, this can be tricky. Perlite would not be good in a flood/drain situation though a deep enough bed that only flooded about half way might work with the big stuff. Main problem with it and vermiculite is they aren't heavy enough to give the plants much support.

The fine perlite and vermiculite (meant for making potting mixes and starting seeds etc) that you usually find at the big box home improvement stores would be totally useless and cause worlds of pain in an AP system.