Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The last two marron were 12 and 14 cm long from tip of tail to the pointy spike on the head.

I joined this forum over a year ago and only just figured out what HSM stands for.
New Years day, I had left my house for just 5 hours and returned to find what ended up being 45 dead fish from the not that uncommon hot day blackout and a magnetic pump that didnt restart.

oh bugger

Initially i thought the problem was because everybody simultaneously switched their airconditioner on at the same time on the really hot day and me, not having an airconditioner went to the beach, and the solution is to buy an airconditioner. But instead ive decided to dig up the backyard again build a better system.

The best (cheap and versatile) UPS system i could come up with was a spare car battery, car battery recharger (about $20) and a 120W inverter ($30 inc postage from http://performanceshop.com.au/?gclid=CI ... pAodbj654Q ) that ill hook up either the water or air pump to.

Im also replacing my half blue barrels with 2 pallets worth of limestone blocks to make a 2000L tank and 2000L of growbeds.

Anyone wanting to start a small aquaponics system that is game to attempt the blue barrel method, PM me. I am giving these away for free (pickup from Ellenbrook, Perth)
including the attached blobs of silicon, sikaflex and tar.

Thanks Jaymie, very descriptive emoticon thingy there.

Forgot to mention there are 10 half barrels to go

Sorry about the HSM.
I started out with blue drums and then went to bigger GB's. Now I'm connecting the blue drums up on a different pump and timer for fruit trees or plants that don't want as many flood and drain cycles. Like strawberries etc.

Thats the best way to do it.

People reading this take heed! It will happen to you one day. Have a backup system.

Thas a good idea Duff, but my backyard is small

Can still use a couple of them.
Poor fishies. Got most of the bits for my backup, just trying to decide on the battery.

Sorry about the fish Brett... power problems seem to be getting a lot of us... in one form or another....

+1 to the battery backup... as OBO says... it will happen, and given the state of our aging power plants and infrastructure... could happen a lot more...

Be prepared....

Thanks for sharing your troubles.....it totally suckes to find your mates dead....cause they trusted us....with food, air, water quality........( I think ) it should be a major part of planning to bahave a back up power supply incorperated.....

Sorry I let my thread get a little outdated.
3 weeks after the fish died I got 2 pallets of limestone blocks

Footing for limestone blocks were about 10-15cm deep and just wide enough for the blocks

the narrow (10x35x50cm) blocks used for GB walls cemented together on footing with only white cement.

grow beds are lined with 200micron thick plastic that holds back the water with other cheap plastic sheet used as padding. (cost about $30 for each grow bed)

Drain/plumbinging made from cut piece of blue barrel held in place by cement glued to 200micron plastic liner with sikaflex polyurethane adhesive.