Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Nah, just my own budget so far (ive probably missed some expensive items).
Tank $700-odd (online store)
Pump $100-odd (e-bay)
Swirl filter- $50 for bin/drum
Sump + screens - $150
Bio- $50 for bin/drum, $16 for bean bag balls
Growbeds $200 or so for PVC and timber for frame
Aerator $100 ish
Heating Coils and piping $300 ish
Thats brings me to $1700, so a bit over
Ill blow the budget with a $120 poly house from ebay

Royale, so was it minnamurra? Dr Wilson lennard?

Joel quotes 60 kg/ m3 as a maximum using his design (Slap me on the wrist if i'm wrong joel) with no O2 measurements taken.

Much less labour intensive than cleaning filters once per day (i think minnamurra quoted twice per day) and draining solids from swirl seperator.

Once again, just highlighting differnt things for thought.

Yeah it was Wilsons setup at minnamurra, I was very impressed with the simplicity and elegance of it. Wilson does clean his mech filters daily but doesn’t do any water exchange other than to add 20-50 litres a day to account for respiration and the filter cleaning

From my reading last night I think Joels was 60kg/m3 and that figure assumes a 2:1 growbed to tank ratio, is that right? Thats pretty impressive too, especially when commercial systems run 80+ only with oxygen injection.

I am now mindful of lurkers, it is an open forum, and people don't need to register to view, apparently the ferris wheel invernters spent much time here without introducing themselves.

Anyway, my point being that i don't want to voice my opinions too loudly lest lurkers get offended.

At some point i will stop caring

sometimes people can get confused between theoretical operation, projected operation, and actual operation

Maybe set up two small systems, one with a small swirl seperator and filter, and one with gravel. That way you can judge for yourself which would best suit you without being locked in by havnig spent too much cash.

Keep us posted

Dude TRUST me..dont buy one of the hothouses off ebay................. it will( like me) cost you MORE than $120 when ya done with it...........I cant remeber who said it on another post but was along the lines of " I wouldnt even set it up inside my shed.

I had to make a new frame for mine lol.......

That’s a pretty good suggestion Steve, Ill work on one to start with then look into a second for comparison- my requirements though are probably a little different to others here. I am doing this as a commercial trial (a dream, but a fun one none the less) and want to be able to isolate parts of the system and run them independently hence using a dedicated & separate biofilter rather than relying on the growbeds/medium.

thanks for the heads up bundy kid, wish i read your post before i bought it

I've probably forgotten to mention that I’m currently doing a short course in aquaculture so if anyone is interested in the info the course is imparting (water quality, species suitability etc etc) feel free to pm me. I'd guess most you have already researched or experienced the bits that I’m learning about but there may be something new.

I see a new breed of aquaculture farmers coming thru the ranks, new ideas and ways to do it, dual income streams and less wastage. Good luck with your course mate

I'm interested in the theory of seperating the system in a minamurra design, it's something I've been thinking about a fair bit...

OK, concept is that you can seperate the fish from the rest of the system and have it run by itself allowing treatment of fish if necessary..

So while this is going on what happens to the system when you do a "treatment" to the fish, what happens to the plant side, what happens to your biological filter etc? Whatever chemical you are treating the fish with will go through the whole fish side of the system. Are you going to completely drain your system out after treatment, flush it with clean water etc, before turning the plants back on?

What do you do to the plant side while you have them seperated, the large grow trays will need aeration for the plants roots, the plants will need nutrients to survive and grow.

I don't know, to me, I just can't see the point in having them seperable, they are a whole, aquaponics isn't just aquaculture and hydro combined, it's something else, unique, something in it's own catagory. And something that can't be disected and turned into aquaculture or hydroponics when you feel like it, because how the hell do you get your complex cycles back together again, it would take ages to get it all working in balance again after "treating" one part of things..

Just interested to hear others thoughts on this, probably should have started a sperate thread though, sorry Royale...

It's a area of much debate I am sure, and we have visited some of the issues already, but I think you are right Joel, it's an ecosystem in its own right, and operates as a whole. Trying to make anything else of it IMHO like seperating the two components will battle to keep the integrity of the system

Isn't aquaponics fun, challenging and addictive - as soon as we get a system functioning properly we are then into modifications - aaaaahhhhh!.

Fish diseases is an area that I want to learn about and have followed all the topics as discussed - would love it if this is covered on Royale's course and he could add to our knowledge base

Les, I looked at the course Daniel is doing, and you can do it externally, over the net etc and just do the modules that interest you if you want. Something to keep your elderly mind active could be a good thing!!

EB, not having seen an aquaponics system prior to Wilson’s I didn’t think to ask him the exact reasons he did what he did, but I can provide a few ideas and theories from the info I did get.
The grow beds in use were media-less, meaning that a separate biofilter was required. Gravel bed or floating beds with constant flow were investigated to be the most efficient for the plants Wilson trialed (out of constant flow, reciprocal flow and NFT).
The biofilter design is such that a single biofilter can be replaced or cleaned in minutes and ‘on the fly’ with the remaining filters taking up the slack, and be back at full efficiency in a matter of days.
Due to its climate, plant production in Victoria, only occurs during 8 or so months a year. When the grow beds are not being used (deep dark and cold melbourne winters) the plant side can be shut off and the remaining system can be kept inside an insulated shed to conserve heat and energy, possibly allowing nitrate levels to build up but not to dangerous levels.
….ill add more thought as they occur

I can still remember all my imperial measurements (22 yards = 1 chain = length of cricket pitch stump to stump) lead me to this course
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and i'll ignore the elderly comment

IMNSHO, isolation and seperation is a problematic thought pattern, and stems from the "humans can do better" idea.

As highlighted by you, EB, and discussed in depth in another topic GREAT aquaponics is NOT as simple as fish water feeding plants. Its the synergy of every living microbe in the system. God only knows what strange and wonderful enzyme or chemical some "insignificant" microbe could be contributing.

Its why i am so dark on filtering the solids out. Leave it the way it is in nature.

Apon getting my first flood and drain system together i caught myself stressing about having an inch or so of water always at the bottom of the bed.......what if i creat some anoxic regions? I slapped myself in the face and said "good!" I'm sure there are stacks of anoxic and anerobic pockets in a lake or rainforest.........it just allows two more species to take residence in my system (in the right balance) that would otherwise have been "isolated"

There are heaps of herbs that work wonders, but when we isolate and concentrate the "active" ingredients they dont seem to work as well. Its becasue the other hundreds of chemicals that are not considered "active" all have a part to play. Same with aquaponics. Remember the discussion on bio-film? I was stoked to find a brown growth forming on my pvc pipes in my indoor perch tank......more life! besides, makes them suit the tank theme

I was once one of the "isolate and refine" crew, before i realised that humans weren't as smart as we like to think, and that nature patiently waits for us to realise what she has taken millions of years to accomplish.

Any way, just some thoughts to ponder

Steve