Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Morning folks - I'm a long time lurker, but relative novice on this forum.

Now, I have a bit of a query. I have had some work done at home, and have had my front yard levelled. It slopes slightly towards the street (say 300mm in 6m), and the available area is roughly 8m by 6m. There is a driveway up one side (not included in the leveled 6*8 area), but apart from that it is flat dirt from the front of the house to the footpath. The house is on the West side of the street, so there is heaps of morning sun, which gradually peters out by about 2-3pm in the afternoon in summer.

My question is has anyone setup a system in a front yard in suburbia? We are near Parramatta in Sydney in a pretty established area, so the solution has to look pretty good in the end. There is a driveway up one side (not included in the leveled 6*8 area), but apart from that it is flat dirt from the front of the house to the footpath.

I also have access under the house - a couple of IBC's could be hidden under there, along with a couple of rainwater tanks.

I'm thinking some wide beds made out of sleepers and plastic all the way round the yard could work, with a sump sunk somewhere that pumps back under the house.

But I would love to hear some other peoples ideas! And I think the wife would love to see if it's been done before.....

Sounds like a wonderful idea

Here is a picture of my monster bed that is set right on/slightly into the ground. Lined with pond liner (I do recommend good heavy duty pond liner since it has to cope with gravel and roots.)

I imagine you could do a prettier job of it than I did. I do have a sump pump sunk into one end of that grow bed and two other, higher grow beds are draining into it. That bed is about 3 foot wide by just under 30 foot long.

Another member has done an on ground lined grow bed that is acting as a sump for his other grow beds.

Hi chumpion, I don't have much experience yet and I expect you will get some good advice but two things come to my mind. One is the smell, my system is not yet cycled and this maybe a factor in the smell but I am surprised by the fishy smell and the possible effect on people on the street. Two poaching?

They are some nice looking beds TCLynx! Thanks for that.

Novaris - I'm not too concerned by poaching. I'd plant something ornamental accross the front to screen the internal garden, and even then I'd be growing things like different types of fancy lettuces and other vegetables more for their appearance than food value.

Further back in the garden would be the staples tomatoes/ strawberries/ beans, etc....

The neighbours are pretty environmentally friendly, so a bit of smell should be acceptable.

Another thought I had this afternoon was some type of vertical garden up against the side of the house. It couldn't be PVC (unless it was painted and/ or hidden well), but mabey thats worth exploring as well.....

When it's cycled there is no smell, except for a heavenly-forest mud like smell or no discernable smell at all.

Oh yes when there's a breeze aquaponic mint will waft its perfumes. Even Joel confirms this - http://backyardaquaponics.com/thedream.htm

I have my system enclosed in a GH and there is no noticeable smell whenever I enter...put the head close to or under the fish tank cover and there is a slight fishy/earthy pleasant smell...inside air temps ranged up to 40c+ last summer, so would expect any odours would be magnified, yet clean, hot air greeted me every day.

Janet has her system setup inside and I would imagine that it wouldn't last long if unpleasant odours wafted throughout the house

All you would need to do is put up a screen with some merbau decking and it would look sweet

A screen the same height as the growbeds would allow the veges, flowers etc be on display out the top but keep the fishtank, sump hidden

Could you fence of the front yard? then you can build what you like with no sticky beaks

+1 for lined growbeds, surrounding a sunken tank in the middle.

You could save space (and reduce algae in the tank due to bright sunlight) by having some growbeds over the fish tank - anybody done this?

A long fish tank, in the ground with growbed above, yep its been done, and done very well by xzorby:


http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1599

Welcome!

does the wooden post work well as an SSR heatsink?

The strongest smell I notice around my system is actually the fish food. Or the smell on my hands after I touch a tomato plant. Or then there is a strong smell of basil around that plant and then of course mint (if you are going to plant mint some where, plan on giving the mint it's own bed as it will try to spread and take over.) Rosemary is also another nice smelling plant you could put along the front, nice evergreen shrub, ornamental and edible.

Some people have worked ornamental looking ponds into their systems as the fish tank though these are a little more challenging to deal with if you plant to harvest and eat the fish. If you want ornamental fish it might be a nice pretty touch.


There are lots of pretty plants that are quite edible. Lots of Kales and lettuces can look good. There are many edible flowers, day lily, pansy, viola, violet, and nasturtium to name a few right off the top of my head. I think that many herbs are quite lovely, basil, rosemary, stevia, and thyme are a few that have stayed looking nice for me. I think that carrot foliage is nice texture. Many hot peppers can also be quite ornamental as well as edible if you like that sort of thing. I've got a few small pomegranate trees that are really quite nice looking with their flowers. I don't know if they would do well in AP though. Many fruiting shrubs and trees are quite ornamental and I suppose dwarf types could do ok in half barrels like how outbackozzie has done it.

Personally, I think that many veggie plants look really nice but beauty is often in the eye of the beholder and I realize that many of the plants can look rather tattered and unsightly if they are not doing well or as they reach the end of their time. I also know people who really like the look of blue barrels while other people don't.

I love the idea of an AP system right out in the front yard. My AP system has taken over my side yard.

If you put the IBC's under the house, will they be a pain to get to for feedings and fish-watching?

In my neighborhood, it is not uncommon at all to see flowerbeds "mulched" with gravel. You could build a rectangle on grade out of 1x12's, cover it in pond liner, and wrap it with landscape timbers. After the gravel goes in (if you take care to hide the siphons and fill tubes) most folks would be hard-pressed to tell it was an aquaponic growbed.

As for what to grow, this year we planted Rosemary as an annual shrubbery in the house-front dirt-flowerbeds. Curly lettuce and bok choy would look nice too. I think Tomatoes and vine plants would run to much, but maybe you like the idea of reaching out of a second floor window to pick toms..

-ellie