Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Okay, Thought I would post details of my current system. The better one is still in my head, but this will have to do for now...

Original Setup:
Tank - 500L Green tub (you know the type)
Growbeds - 4x87L old Coke syrup containers.
Pump - Laguna 3500lph

Stage 1:
- Started back in June with 10 goldfish and adding urea balls to speed up the process. When the fish started floating and were turning black, I changed the water. It was a little crude - but none have died yet, and are all back to the gold colour
-Was originally running 15min fill time every hour, but it was taking a long time to cycle (too cold). Ended up running it 24/7 and heating the water during the day using a black polypipe coil
-It eventually cycled and have been growing a few veggies but they are getting awfully crowded. I can't actually tell if there is any fruit as they are too bushy and the growbeds are too high off the ground.
-Have a few yabbies kicking around too and duckweed/azolla to control the algae
-Added 100 rainbow trout from the Fly Fishers assoc. They were a little late in the season and I've lost about half due to suicide jumps and heat deaths, hence the new fish tank...






Stage 2:
-500L is just not enough once you get going, and I figured - what good is a pit in the garage if you can't fill it with water? So I lined it with plastic, built a lip and filled it. Now it is about 2.3kL, but feel the grow beds are not adequate and need more fish.
-Currently constructing more growbeds from a variety of relatively cheap materials which will add an extra 430L or so per bed.

Stage 3: (TBD)
-Add a new fish tank. The idea is to construct a 7kL one (similar to how they make pools) and split it into quarters - filling each quarter with fish every 3 months.
-Add grow beds as required.

Hints and tips:
-Have patience and don't rush things too much
-Try to avoid plastic liner if you have to join it or are putting rocks on it. At least double line it or else it leaks or gets holes in it from stones
-Try not to flow water into trout tanks near the edge of the tank - they might think there are greener pastures if they can only jump up the stream...
-Don't get trout as summer is starting

Currently trying to source some new fish for the system - either Silver Perch, Murray Cod or Barra. I'm compiling a list of Adelaide (SA) suppliers that may be of use for locals.

Will post some pics of 'growth over time' later on.

Been Busy

Very good!

If dealing with rocks or gravel or any rugged situation, the rubber pond liner is the stuff to spring for.

I notice your garage pit tank if filled pretty close to the top, makes it difficult to keep jumping fish in unless you put a cover over it or make a net fence around it so that any fish jumping out will fall back in. Even fish not known for jumping, can still occasionally jump out. My 2nd fish death was due to jumping out of the tank, and that was a catfish.

a cover or safety fence around the tank would probably be a good idea anyway if there are ever children or pets around the place.

Hi Noolie.... you got it bad..... luv the idea of filling the "pit" in the garage....

I assume you live in Adelaide?

Yes. Adelaide. It's "heaps good!"

Any probs with algae in the GBs?
(they don't look opaque)

I did while starting up. They are slightly greenish now, but I had the sides covered with a tarp until recently to try and keep them cooler. Perhaps that helped a bit? Since the duckweed took off and the plants started growing the algae hasn't really been a prob at all. Before that though, it was really building up in the tank and duckweed pond.

Don't know how much one large yabbie can eat, but he seems to be keeping his cage pretty clean.

Thought I would post a bit of an update on a decrepid thread and I will not go into the nitty gritty....

So the pit was going great guns coming into summer.
I ended up constructing a growbed 2400x600mm which gave me a lot more growing room. It was good but I was losing a fair amount of water through the pit - mainly I believe, to a not so great seal near the bottom and 2m of water pressure.



But the trout were feeding well and the plants were taking off.

But then, the heatwave struck during summer. Trout don't like hot water and were lazily swimming around the surface of the pit.
During the day (and at night too because it was so hot), the growbeds were acting like great big water heaters. The fruit on the plants was getting scorched even with the water pumping through.
So in order to "save the fish" I turned the growbed water off for one day. But the plants just withered to death. In the end, the fish didn't survive anyway...





So it was a lesson learnt about "seasonal" fish.

So, not stay down, I invested in some silver perch and Murray cod from interstate. The cod were great, but I had one which was 3x larger than the others. I put "Murray" aside and kept the others in a small tub. They weren't feeding at all well until I discovered that they love peas, but by then I had lost a fair proportion to empty stomachs and the occasional one through the pump.

The perch were fine but were infested with ich. The salted water helped fix this, but the strawberry's didn't like it. No matter.

Anyway, some of the lettuce I had previously, had gone to seed and within a few months I had way too many lettuces. I was giving so many seedlings and full lettuces it wasn't funny.

'Twas all going well - the constructed growbed was holding, but stating to get a little water logged ans seeping water in a corner. But it had been in service for over 6 months by now. However, last week we had a bit of a windy time in Adelaide, and the growbed was a little top heavy, and this was the result...




Since then, I have put half of the gravel in a large container and am just pumping water through it as a filter only



However, I must say, it was quite pleasant shovelling gravel in the sun with the smell of fresh crushed corriander in the air!

All this on the eve of looking to upgrade the system. I am currently looking to expand the system - CHIFT PIST - 4 sequenced growbeds, hopefully with the expanded clay balls.

But I'm sort of teetering whether I should or not as it will be a fair investement. This first system was a bit of a trial and has proved it's point, while teaching a few lessons along the way.

Everyone's got a system they learn from! If you're turned off by the price of clay balls someone on the forums has said that you can just use a layer of them on top of scoria (or something else) and even when they mix together, because they're light they just end up on top. So you get a nice top layer than you can dig your hands into, without the cost of filling the whole bed. Let us know how it goes though.

I now have two systems, the old one (bathtubs and an IBC, CHIFT PIST) and the one with all the pro gear. They're both doing well now that i've had 1 year to get the wrinkles out of the dodgy system - but the BYAP ones are pretty darn good in terms of just getting one that "works out of the box".