Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I second that. I spent a whole lot of time trying to get a no holes overflow to work for my trees. Cut a hole or use a pump to move the water.

I've had a no-holes working for about a year with no failures. Important thing is to have a clear air chamber so you can monitor it.

I have one no holes overflow on the outdoor aquarium, it seems that the little air line check valves don't stand up to UV very well and they are even weaker when you try to glue them using PVC cement. That one has been a continual problem for me.

I have two no holes overflow on the indoor aquarium. The air line check valves have survived better in there but I believe we have experienced at least one overflow with wet floor when one of em got a bubble and the aquarium overflowed during the pumping cycle. Have to check them regularly.

I agree with all the negatives on the no holes overflows but good luck getting that hole in that 3/8" thick plate glass.

As with anything, having the proper tool is key. They do make special glass cutting hole saws just for this purpose. Question is, is it worth buying the hole saw for the purpose. Then again, ask at a good aquarium shop, for a fee they might have some one who can do it for ya or know some one you might contact.

I prefer to drill the hole. I'll be getting the proper tools and I'll get some glass the same thickness and practice first. Wish me luck because if I break it that's going to be a lot of work to take that tank apart and rebuild it.

When I first planned the system, I had in mind sump and growbed would all be made from barrels, but when I picked up the hydroton that 100 gallon reservoir came home at the same time. I wasn't thinking of it as a grow bed, but of course it's perfect. I think I'll maybe pick up another. If I use it as a grow bed, I think I need to put a bulkhead overflow in that too; should it be the same diameter as the overflow at the main tank? (which I'm now thinking per advice should be 1 1/2 inch diameter)
I think the sump line is only 1/2 inch diameter.

Now I need to make another sketch.

Good luck, Make your self a plywood guide/jig to clamp in place and keep flooded with water, cut slow with little pressure so as not to generate much heat.

Good luck! If you do break it you can always do a "quick and dirty" and simply use aquarium cement to add another layer of glass (with pre-drilled hole). Of course, some people in the house will say it looks like cr#p, but if that end is not very visible....


You can always put some PVC together dry and get a rough idea of flow rates, find out the minimum clean pipe that will do the job....then size up AT LEAST one size as biofilm can grow 1/8" thick.... You can never go to large on your overflow. Same goes for the supply as well: larger pipe=less friction=more flow per watt and more pump longevity and less critical problem with sludge buildup. Probably.

I get a 'url not found message' when I click on the image. Are others having the same problem, or is it just me?

Actually I'm having the same problem, but only sometimes. Which is odd because the image is there.
This is the exact same link
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/__LNrzw59PhA/S ... g_4316.jpg
but I bet that works. I think blogger is giving grief.

I still get a 404 when trying to click on your sketch, 'fly. Even the new link.
You're sketch is very well done (as much as I can tell in the small version). Clean, neat, etc. All mine always look like a 4yr old did them...

OK I have to redraw it anyway because I'm putting the black reservoir/growbed on top of the barrels/sump instead of the other way around. Here's a direct link to the blogspot post. http://humanefly.blogspot.com/2009/06/p ... mbing.html
I tried uploading the image as an attachment to the forum but it wanted me to make the image smaller.

Thanks for the compliment, Swanberg, I'd had a few vodka and tonics and I'm a non drinker so at the time I wasn't sure how it would come out.

In other news, I made a comment on an article on the Globe and Mail website a few months back. The article was on sushi, and how tuna and popular sushi fish are going to be gone in a matter of decades. Well I made a comment that I was planning on building a system in my backyard to grow my own sushi, and then forgot about it. Well last week a reporter called me up asking questions, she wanted to do an interview, I said I've just started building this thing but OK. So I answered her questions. Now she says she says she wants to send a photographer over to take pictures.

IN CASE I WASN'T CLEAR I HAVEN'T FINISHED BUILDING THE BLOODY THING YET. I've just started.

I guess this is good motivation? I'm not sure I'm ready for this attention, but I've been setting up fish tanks ever since I was a kid, and this is just a big fish tank really. Get ready for the fastest build in the history of aquaponics, peoples.

I've found someone to drill the tank; they recommended a 2 inch hole, so fine, I called the plumbing shop and changed my order to two 2 inch bulkheads. There will only be one hole in the tank. I have a feeling that's too big for a loop siphon off the black reservoir, so I'm going to buy the two bulkheads and some piping. I'll get the hole drilled in the main tank and then mock up a loop siphon from the reservoir before I drill, if I have to I'll downsize.

I've ordered some bushy nosed plecos for my tank and for a friends pond, to keep the algae down.
I'm breaking for work for lunch, on my shopping list:

pond conditioner
trying to find a clear hose with a standard hose attachment (for water changes)

Tonight when I get home I need to:
plant some herbs in the front garden
take down a crappy looking shelter bolted to the front of the garage
do a water change to get some of the salt out of the tank
finish attaching netting over the whole system to keep raccoons out
scrub some of these olive barrels

Tuna for sushi is in little danger .....,, captive breeding has been achieved in Australia and we are more than haapy to supply at $100 a kilo

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008 ... =australia

Well that's amazing. If I recall, the article said wild tuna was in danger of collapse by 2012 actually.

Now THAT's what I call a fish tank; a tuna farm.