Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,

A local nursery in Lismore (http://www.preciousplants.com.au/) has agreed to let me do a demonstration of Aquaponics for a day at their site. The lady (Sharon) is very keen on AP and would love to see me do the demo.

I am in the process of designing and building a system which is transportable. As I have little money (due to buying a house ) I am keeping it as cheap as I can. To that end I will be using a bath (which we will be removing from the bathroom shortly) for the fish and three red tubs for the GBs.

My wife pointed out to me that this may put people off as they might not want an asthetically ugly system in their backyard, and I can see her point. I will be doing what I can to pretty it up, but I also came up with another idea.

I would love to be able to put up print-outs of other peoples systems to show what an AP system could look like as well as info re: size, number of fish etc. To that end I am wondering if people would be prepared to take a photo of their system and provide some basic info. I will compile that info into a display at the demo for all to see.

I am looking for a single photo which shows as much of the system as possible. I would also like to know what plants you grow, what fish you have and how many, and whether the system is FnD, has an Autosyphon etc.

Before anyone replies and says that I could just look through the forum and find the stuff I want, I don't want anything without the persons consent (out of respect to them more than anything else). Also, it would take years to go through all the forums. I am looking for 'professional looking systems' such as the ones provided by BYAP, as well as home-built systems made from blue barrels/44 gallon drums etc. The more diverse the better.

If you are willing to provide me the info I need, please PM me.

To the administrators, I am not 100% sure if this breaches any forum rules. As I am not being paid to do the promo, I have assumed that it is ok. If it does breach any rules, please feel free to delete this post and accept my sincerest apologies.

Thanks

Simon

Joel may send you some stuff if you ask him nicely

I'll finish cleaning up and take a new photo of mine

I have sent him an e-mail directly, and yes I did ask nicely. (Pleeeeeease )

When is the display Simon?.....

Take your pick of photo's

http://wa-donaghy.smugmug.com/gallery/3635178_uETeS//207151992_ZdKHY

If you want an explanation of any photo's, pm me the page and number of the photo

Hey!
We got the BYAP system from Joel in our backyard. So pick any foto's: We got loads more if you need it from a different angle!!
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4231

Just PM us if you need anything else!!!

If you find ones in mine its ok

more here
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3473&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

im thinking of doing an aquaponics display/seminar in the central queensland area. It would be great to be able to access something on this site that was downloadable eg a fact sheet, or short video that could be accessed by all bap members. good luck with your plan

Hi Bluefin,

I plan to create something for exactly that.

I am not sure what format it will be but once I create it I will (hopefully) make it available to all.

Hi ROZ,

No date set yet but I am going to do it ASAP. I will be building the GBs this weekend and getting them cycling. From there it is a case of when the system is ready and when the nursery wants me to run it.

S

How about this for an idea Simon....

I will be bringing a large trailer, or truck, with BYAP systems/gear... up to Grafton (Trenayr) ... via Newcastle, possibly Barrington and then maybe on to Brisbane.....

Between 8-9th Nov - 15th November.... while I do my Hatchery Course.... be just down the road from you....

Could bring up a one bed "courtyard" system... 1000ltr tank + growbed ... ala the Perth Garden Expo...


And set it up for a week while I do my Hatchery course.... along with a bunch of BYAP brochures etc...

We'd have to organise some plants and fish, if we wanted to show it working and in full "bloom".....

PM me if you're interested, and we'll work out the details...

P.S ... Stuart (Monya) & Dan will also most likely be at the course... and we might be able to drop up for a day and answer questions...

Hi Simon:

I did a similar spreading the AP gospel thing earlier this year. I made a small demo system from two glass aquariums, one with a gold fish the other with some gravel and plants. This was made from extra stuff lying around.

I also made a PDF to email to people after the event just to get them hooked on the basics. I am going to try attaching it. (CRAP! too large, if you PM me your email I can send it, it is a 3MB PDF)

You are welcome to take any pictures from any of my member threads for your event!

viewtopic.php?p=97841#p97841
viewtopic.php?p=27259#p27259
viewtopic.php?p=4043#p4043

You are welcome to use stuff from my system threads as well.
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2640
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2534
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3628&hilit=Aquariponics

My systems are not built to be "pretty" though and the Big system is really not easy to fit into a single photo since it takes up a long section of the side yard.
I use flood and drain. The aquarium system has a timer on the pump but the two outdoor systems the pumps run continuous. One system is bassically a barrel ponics set up with flush tank but I've added loop siphons to the outlets of the main grow beds. The top bed above the flush tank has a bell siphon in it.

The big system has several loop siphons, one FLOUT, and One sump pump on a float switch. The big system has about 1000 gallons worth of fish tank. The largest tank 600 or so gallons fluctuates. I have over 100 tilapia and 35 catfish in that system currently. I have over 1200 gallons of flood and drain gravel beds filtering for that system. My gravel is a mix of river rock and shells. Most of the grow beds are build with wood and lined with pond liner. My large fish tank is a hole in the ground lined with pond liner. My climate and average ground temps mean that using the ground for thermal advantage works very well for me (I believe our average ground temp is between 70 and 80 F.) I plan to cover my shade structure with some greenhouse film here shortly to help keep things just a little warmer for the chilly months.
If I were to start over fresh I would do a few things different.
1-I would figure out a way to do CHIFT PIST (constant height in fish tank pump in sump tank) so solids could go directly from the fish tanks into the grow beds and the water the pump would be sucking up would be cleaner and therefore clog up the pump trap less.
2-I would have filled the grow beds with the river rock and only used a small amount of shells in removable baskets/bags for pH buffering. With the shells mixed through the grow beds, my pH stays at 7.6 and will likely never come down till all the shells dissolve.

Good Luck with your demo! Spread the word!

well I started this aquaponics system thing a few years ago and have in the mean time had to move the whole kit, which was fun. I started with one pump, a 2500litre fish tank, three 500l grow beds and a gravity return flood and drain system.

But with the move coming the plan was to create a system that would fit in a small space, run the maximum fish I could and run onlyone pump. So i decided a chift pis system would be the go for me.

Thus the system is 900l sump tank with a 7500l/hr davey sump pump pushing water to the 2500l fish tank and this then over flows into two 500l fibreglass fish tanks filled with a combination of 10 and 20mm drainage gravel.

Currently there at least four types of tomatoes, watermelon, cantelope, chillis, basil, different lettuce types, beans, strawberries, rocket, chervil and some other stuff that I cannot think of including rosemary (which is doing very little growing compared to everything else).

There are silver perch and gold fish in the big tank and they are doing pretty well. they are starting to eat but there seems to be a fair bit of algae growing on the walls of the tank and the fish are not eating as much as I would like.

The plans are to get a few more fish of different types such as jade perch, murray cod and more barra if I can source them from somewhere.

Any way of you want to use this as an example in your display feel free.

Hi all,

Quick update on my demo. I am doing it this Saturday.

I have just finished constructing my system, and am really happy with the outcome.

I have the 3 GBs full of Hydroton, add am growing the following:

Lettuce
Basil
Zucchini
Chives
Celery
Parsley
Lemon grass
Strawberries

I have had the GBs hooked up to my existing system so the growth has been really healthy.

There are no fish in the demo system atm, but I have seeded the water so there will be some ammonia there to keep the plants ticking over until Sat. After the Demo I will be hooking it back up to the existing system.

The system has a pond pump and the GBs have loop syphons which worked first go. Pretty chuffed about that.

Anyway, here is a photo of the system. Looks a bit cramped because I had to put it in the only part of the garage that gets any sunlight.

Thanks to all the people who have allowed me to use photos of their systems. If anyone else would be happy to have their system photo up on display as well, please let me know.

Thanks

Simon