Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

HI TO EVERY ONE
I HAVE BEEN READING ABOUT AQUAPONICS FOR A WHILE NOW AND BEING FOLOWING THIS SITE INFO,I AM VERY EXCITED ABOUT THE SUBJECT!!I AM A WATER TECHNICIAN BY PROFFESSION,I WORK IN A WASTE WATER PLANT IN CANADA,A BILOGICAL TREATMENT OF 175 OOO CUBIC METERS OF WATER.WHEN I START TO READ ABOUT AQUAPONICS I JUST FELT THAT I HAD TO TRY THIS SO I AM STARTING A 20 GALLON AQUARIUM SYSTEM .I UNDERSTAND THAT THE RATIO WATER VERSUS GROW BED MUST BE ARROUND 1 TO 1 IS THAT RIGHT?WHAT KIND OF MEDIA SHOULD I USE? IS PEA GRAVEL BETTER THAN HYDROTONS(CLAY )I AM INSTALING THE SYSTEM IN THE HOUSE COZ I WANT IT RUNING YEAR ROUND SINCE OUTSIDE IN CANADIAN WINTERS ARE VERY COLD.I AM PLEASE TO BE A NEW MEMBER HOPE TO HEAR FROM U POEPLES SOON
PAULO

Welcome Paulo to the world, some would say addiction, of aquaponics.

Is pea gravel better than hydroton??..... probably only as a factor of cost...

Here in OZ most members battle issues of high temperatures rather than cold... unlike many of the members from either the US or Canada....

For this reason most members in your (extended) neck of the woods are doing their systems either indoors or at least undercover and heated...

But it's very doable.... we even have several Alaskan systems.....

Feel free to post your ideas, drawings and pictures on the forum... you'll get lots of feedback and ideas.

Again welcome.... p.s.... maybe turn your Caps Lock off when posting... makes it difficult to read long posts

Hi there,

Also new on the forums, your tanks need to be 2 to 1, (fish to grow bed) half the water goes to the grow bed half stays behind, otherwise fish would have to grow lungs:)

On a small system, I'm not sure what kind of ratios you may need to keep water in the tank. In larger systems, the goal is actually to have 1 part water to 2 parts grow media by volume. Of course, that's all theoretical and I've seen plenty of references to a 1:1 ratio as well. It really just limits how many fish you can put into the system and have it clean the water for you without any additional filtration.

Healingdeva is correct Axle... we actually express the ratio as 2:1 growbed volume:fish tank volume.....

2:1 is a figure derived for maximum stocking densities in highly managed mature systems (by experienced operators) as a determination of the filtration volume required.

In real terms 1:1 is much more the norm.

At this point Axle you're probably thinking but "the fish would have to grow lungs"....

As I said the ratio is the growbed volume... the total volume of the media which acts as our filtration.... not the volume of water in the actual growbed....

Typically, depending on the media used, the actual volume of water (in a full flood) is about 40% of the actual growbed volume....

i.e the growbed media takes up about 60% of the possible volume leaving 40% of the volume as spaces between the media that the water fills during a flood cycle...

So, in reality even at a 2:1 ratio... the actual volume of water pumped from the fish tank would be closer to 1:1....

So yes, theoretically in that case a full flood of ALL your growbed capacity in a 2:1 system you could very nearly drain the fish tank...

In reality, and hopefully by some deliberate design.... the growbeds rarely get to a situation where all growbeds are full at the same time....

The growbed siphons tend to kick in at different intervals... thus there is always some volume of water returning to the fish tank or sump.....

At the 2:1 ratio though there is little margin for error... hence the use by many people of a sump tank... effectively and added reserve....

And many employ a CHIFT PIST system for exactly these reasons...

A CHIFT PIST is a "constant height in fish tank...pump in sump tank" system where the pump is located in the sump (not the fish tank) and the growbeds are filled by the "overflow" of the fish tank.... as the sump pumps the level overflows.... thereby remaining a "constant height" in the fish tank

Hope that helps explain things.

Aup backcountry.

I'm working on an indoors system as i want all year round growth & it can get a littl chilli over hear too. the system being developed is a vertical system, as this saves alot of space, have only 1 level setup at the mo, but you can check out pics & hopefully share some ideas?

heres a link: http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vie ... highlight=

good luck with setting up system, hope we can get to see some pics?!

The newbie feels chastised and properly informed , will take this into account when building my larger system.

No chastisment intended Axle....