Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Been lurking for a while and getting some great info. Thought it time to put a description and some pics up of my Small startup system.

Used all existing gear except for the 'B' grow bed.

Fish Tank:

~120 l existing pond, cleaned out all overgrown plants and kept the 'slime' from the pump to start the Grow Bed.

Grow Bed:

160 l 'B' tub ($35), only thing I had to buy besides a few Gold Fish.

Media:

White quartz ~ 10 - 15mm. Level or quartz around the swimming pool dropped a little [schild=1 fontcolor=000000 shadowcolor=C0C0C0 shieldshadow=1]Who Me![/schild]

Pump:

Low cost 500 l/h pump that I used for the pond. Driven by a HPM timer running 15 min on 30 min off.

Fish:

5 x Fantail (Gold) + 6 x Shubunkin

Plants:

Tomato, Rockmellon, parsley, Lettuce, Bok Choy

Healthy growth, only recently added seed for Lettuce and Bok Choy.

Operation:

* Pump from FT into GB for 15 minutes.
* Takes about 7 minutes to fill and overflow through 'No Hole Siphon'.
* Overflow aerates the FT.
* Level of FT drops ~100mm
* Empties via siphon back through pump - self priming.

Has been running for a couple of weeks and fish and plants are happy. Only testing pH which was low initially, so I added some shell grit, which brought it just above neutral.

No Hole Siphon

Not sure I've seen anyone else do it exactly like this. I didn't want to cut any holes initially so I've place a jam jar inside the grow bed so that it remains full of water, with an identical jam jar on the outside of the grow bed which also remains full of water. These two jars are connected by two tubes (ensures adequate flow to keep up with the pump), which are primed with water. As the water level rises above the jar in the grow bed, the difference in pressure pushes water through the pipes and into the outer jar, which overflows into the fish tank.

Others are using a similar setup to 'balance'/connect more than one tank. but I haven't seen any like this...

I want to use the same principle when I create a larger system so I don't have to cut any holes in the fish tank - will be integrated with a central stand pipe.

Looks nice. I would love some extra picture explanations of the no holes siphon!!!!! I have seen all sorts of things described but I sometimes need some extra visuals to get my head around it.

Is there any way to make something like that work for an auto siphon where the pump is continuous run? My pump is not of the type I'd want to be turning on/off all day long.

Welcome mylesau! It is an interesting idea to drain your beds like that! Just make sure you use a hose/pipe large enough to not get stopped up with bio slime. I do like your idea. I have large tanks that I am going to use as grow beds and this might be a way to not have to cut large holes in the tanks. Thanks for posting that!

I would also be interested to see what others have to say about that method of draining! Makes for good aeration of the tank below too. However, how does the bed completely drain? Or does it just have standing water in it?

Perhaps a siphon could be added to the outer container..

Hopefully - I new my explaination would need some more detail - the diagram below shows what I hope to do when I build a larger system.

This is the same principle of what I'm using now, but not so pretty - jam jars are the 'chambers'.

Draining of the bed is back down the pipe coming from the pump. The pump runs for 15 minutes, at about the 7 minute mark the grow bed is full and the water overflows via the jam jar. At 15 minutes when the pump stops, the water drains back through the pump line, draining the grow bed fully (the end of the pipe is placed at the bottom of the grow bed). Pump is off for 30 minutes and then starts again.

I'll keep my eye on the pump line. It's simply fed down a bit of rectangle rainwater pipe that goes down to the bottom of the grow bed and then across (holes distributed across to spread the flow). So I can pull it out clear it and put it back in if it needs it.

It could be used as an overflow (no holes) in the case where the auto siphon couldn't keep up with the inflow or it failed. But I don't think you could integrate the two as the 'no holes siphon' needs to be at the full level of the grow bed, and must remain primed...

Interesting idea Myles... I'll be interested to see how it performs over time, and especially in some larger setups..

ps I can tell you've been lurking for a while, you have the lingo worked out...

Hey myles,

So its not a syphon as such, it maintains a constant level of water in the growbed?

is it a low level or high level?

Starting to think 'no holes overflow' might be a less confusing name (though it is a siphon effect that drives it).



High level - overflow.

still a very good idea! i like the overflow name, will make it less confusing to any newbies

See how you go with it, but i think you may eventually change it over to a "low level overflow" beds like yours invariably suffer from root rot when flooded like that. dead areas develop as water "tracks" through it.

a low level is fine if you have a reasonable distribution grid at the top.

Keep us posted

You've missed something Steve, or I've poorly explained it...

The grow bed is flood and drain - when the pump stops the same pipe that pumps the water into the GB then drains all the water back out of the GB back to the fish tank (normal siphon action). This has nothing to do with the 'no holes overflow'...

OK, i can see it now the green pump pipe goes to the bottom of the bed!

good, flood and drain.

are you getting any trouble with solids being sucked back to the pond?

No, at least not yet. But I suspect some may build up in the pond as its got pebbles etc in it and the pump can't be place such that it draws from a low point.

Probably have to siphon out the fish poo every once and a while from the bottom of the pond and poor it onto the top of the grow bed manually...or train the fish to poo at the pump when its running.

i meant returning to the pond from the reverse pump siphon action

Hi Myles, love the concept

The rockmelon may require more nutrients than the number of fish can supply as it grows...just keep an eye on it and be ready to remove it (or add more fish )