Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I've set up a tank in the kitchen last week, I'm going to add an aquaponic component later to grow herbs for the kitchen. The 90 gallon tank is just starting to cycle with Danio minnows. pH started at 7.6, we'll see if it comes down as it cycles. Will be looking to add channel cat fingerlings in a month, I'll have to set up an outside system in the spring because they'll outgrow the tank.

The main restrictions on the aquaponic component are that all parts must be above the tank, if something leaks I want the water returning to the tank, and they should not rest on the tank, but be suspended above it. The system is on the second floor and I don't want to add any more weight than I have to. If I hang it from the ceiling it should distribute the weight satisfactorily. I expect to keep filtering, but may remove some of the filtration media if necessary. I expect to basically add a small pump and 10 gallon reservoir with gravel for the plants. The images are hosted at blogger.com, they show up for me, I hope they show up for you.

Groovy. You may want to research lighter-weight media like clay balls or perlite, plastic scrubbies, etc. Any amount of gravel is going to very scary suspended from the ceiling over your tank. It gets heavy fast.

Another thing to try starting out would be to float rafts on the surface with plants embedded in them.

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Good points, Dave. I'm trying to keep the system as natural as possible and I'd like to avoid styrofoam. Does clay balls = hydroton, or is that something else entirely?

Clay balls=hydroton=expanded clay pellets all pretty similar there are probably a few other brand names around.

If you want to go for perlite, I strongly suggest you look for the really really big stuff. I have gotten a big bag (probably 4 cubic feet) of perlite that was mostly like 1/4-1/2 inch pebbles of it. I got that bag from a hydroponics store for like $26. Perlite is very light but Perlite tends to float way more than the clay stuff. The smaller perlite that you might find in a normal garden center tends to be really fine and will totally float and clog all your plumbing, move through the system and cause havoc with your pump.

Of course even if the media is light weight, there is still the weight of the water in whatever you are using for the grow bed.

A nice sturdy shelf over the fish tank is probably the way to go but then there is the risk that spilled water will run along the shelf rather than dripping down into the fish tank.

Yep hydroton

I use hydroton too but after 3 months the buildup of solids make the bed weigh maybe 3 times as much so make sure you overbuild the shelf to cope
I tried to make my above tank bed as disaster proof as possible and so far (a year or so) its worked out ok. I have the feedline and overflow at one end and an auto syphon at the other.

IMHO the aquarium manufacturers need to get on the ball and make all of them this way.

Please dont use perlite, it will give you no end of grief. Pump failures, blocked syphons etc.

Looks like you aready have canister filter on the system? So its just removing nitrates etc. NFT across the top, only real weight is in the plants. I have a wooden tank top which weighs quite a lot so providing the undertank reinforcing is good, can support on the tank.

After a few beers
perspex top 2" above waterline, with sides, net pots, bubbler at bottom of fish tank; aeroponic system. Make sure the fish are root trimmers.

I've been reflecting some more, I'm thinking of either custom building some glass troughs or using two 5 gallon tanks with glass lids on a sturdy shelf over the aquarium. The lids would have holes cut out just big enough to hold plastic pots. The pots would have gravel, and the tanks/troughs would be empty, no gravel. I'll over engineer the shelves in case I need to add gravel later. The existing filter would take care of the solids. The system would be flood and drain, so the roots would spend most of their time hanging in the air. I may add a sump to keep the water level in the tank stable. The overflow would have to be reliable; I have some acrylic and don't mind fabricating, as long as I can make something fairly fail proof so I don't end up pumping half the tank water over the kitchen floor. It's rather imperative that I avoid angering the little lady, she should have positive associations with these experiments.

I'd like to keep the plants out of the fish tank, I'm not really sure why. I'd like this to be a real test system where I can experiment with some of the components of flood and drain.

The plants sorta need to be out of the fish tank, or they end up with no roots

One of the Danios got a bit of fungus or something on his face, I put him in a bucket with a dose of salt. He'll stay in quarantine for a few more days.

I've got two channel catfish fingerlings and placed an order for four more, hopefully there will be a momma and a poppa in a few years. They're only two inches long and already acting like great whites, any time a minnow drives by they make a lunge for it. I also picked up two Senegal Bichirs as permanent inhabitants of the tank, they walk like lizards along the bottom and come up for air on occasion. The catfish will be moved outside in the spring.

There isn't a lot of room in the yard but we've agreed on greenhouse site, and I'm negotiating a site for a small deep pond, if possible it will be about 10 feet deep by 6 ft by 4 ft; I'm hoping this will be enough space to convince the catfish to breed, if not, there's always the garage, which is mine to do with as I like.

I added peat moss to to the filter, the pH dropped to about 7.6 but seems to be going back up to 7.8; I think there may be something leaching from the stones. At no point was I able to detect any ammonia or nitrate; the cloudiness in the water is mostly gone.

The catfish seemed very stressed out as soon as I put some of the tank water in the bag they came in, they lay motionless on their sides and looked like they were in shock. I waited an hour before adding more water, and slowly added more water over several hours. They were behaving pale and stressed when introduced in the tank, but the next morning were quite active and normal and hunting for food.

I haven't had a chance to build a little plant bed but will do so before the fish grow too much, in the meantime the filter will keep the water clean.

A few weeks ago I was cleaning the filter and I got distracted by a phone call. After putting it back together, I had problems getting it primed and all in all it was down for around an hour, enough time to kill all the bacteria off. The tank recycled and there was a massive bacteria and algae bloom that's just dying off now; I don't know if it really cycled properly previously, I never did detect any nitrate or ammonia until this cycle, and the first bloom was just a mild cloud.

The pH is holding steady at 7.3. Very minor amounts of ammonia during the recycle, I need to check it again tonight but it should have dropped back to zero by now, I'm generally quite stingy with the feedings and prefer to keep the fish hungry.

6 minnows have been eaten. I saw a few microscopic baby minnows attaching to the front glass but I don't think they'll survive in the main tank for long. I'm suspending the lighting fixture from the ceiling and going shopping for shelves to hold a very small sump and growbed above the tank. I'm feeding the fish table scraps and have started a small worm farm.

I'm planning to put plastic containers under the main tank that stick out a little beyond the edges of the tank itself, so if I have an overflow or something leaks I can capture some of the water. The containers, filter, buckets, power bar etc will be hidden by a bamboo curtain cut to size and fastened to the frame of the stand.

Once the water clears a little more I'll post some fish pics. The Bichirs make very good community fish for a predator, they aren't aggressive to the catfish, and although they started out picking at each other - I saw one grab the other by the tail and slowly wave it about like a flag or a stick - I've put in more wood hiding spots and made some caves by glueing stones together, and they don't bother each other at all. I like their primitive characteristics, especially the thick diamond scales and the snakelike appearance. They get excited at feeding time and do a little dance. The catfish are still shy, but getting a little less so.