Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Guys!
Well, i was ment to be getting some ibc's from a mate... but it was always "this week" "wensday" "next week" etc.....
that was a few months ago, so....... I decided to build a system with the small amount of stuff i already had.

the first system i built can be found here: viewtopic.php?f=45&t=5058
my plan for the ibc's here: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=5529

its been running for about 2 months now, problems arose, ensued, where overcome
the best one was reliasing i forgot to get the grow bed level.....after i filled it with rocks
the sorce of my rocks...... a pile down the back mixed with sand sitting under a tree for 10-18 years
my fish tank leaking... which turned my ST into a the FT, my worm farm into the ST, and a GB into a worm farm ( cutting the system size in 1/2 )
and many many more......

At the moment theres pea's tomato's capsicum's, shallots, and lettce -all just testing to all what happens
The FT only has 1 monster yabbie in it, hes been in there from day one
The ST has 4 muscles, and about 20 little yabbies ( they where spared fishing hooks and needed a home )
The spare tank has 14 glass shimp and 2 gupys (they where in the shimp net it seem's )
the worm farm has a box of 1000 worms i got from bunnings and a few that came back from fishing

Anyway... here's some pix,
Bare in mind this system to date has cost me a total of $50, it is made 100% from stuff lying around the farm
( thats not counting the worms to get the wormfarm started or the fingerlings that arn't in there yet )


you can see it all in this pic except for the spare tank


This is the spare tank, theres shimp in it now, but it'll have duckweed later


These are the test results THAT MAKE NO SENSE!

The results make no sense for 2 reasons.........
I saw the Nitrite spike... but never ever saw any nitrate.........
thursdays and tuesdays results are the same, dispite the biomass being ATLEAST tripled on sunday

I have not had nitrates for well over a year now....

So where did they go?
the tomato and capsicum are barely clinging to life in this weather ( and there 3rd transplant )
the pea's shallots and lettce just sprouted, surely, still living off the seed......

I just assumed something must be messing with the results...
not cleaning the test tubes properly?, heat/light on the test chemicals.. something

could those plants really suck it all up?, i sure hope so.

i was also expecting an ammonia spike... guess it's on the way

Yes, they could.

Tomatoes and cap[sicums are both heavy nitrate feeders...could they suck them up... you bet...

Ok, sweet, thanks
now i just got to get a new lid for the fish tank ( wet wood = bad thing )
and some fingerlings, and i'll call it "working"

do you guys think i should get rid of all the small yabbies?
i was going to before i put the fish in, but i'm thinking i might do it sooner

Depends on the size and type of fish... and whether or not you've got plenty of hides...

I have yabbies happily coexisting with Silver Perch (about 100mm) and goldies (about 200mm)... in my small system...

Don't know how they'd go in the tank with the bigger Silvers though,... and I don't think they'd stand a chance in the trout tank...

the little yabbies are in the sump tank at the moment, just one monster in the fish tank,
if the system can handle it i could leave the little ones there till the silvers are big enough to eat them
but i wasn't planing on the little ones at all, was gunna put the big one in the sump when i get fish, just cause hes cool

just worried about ammonia, guess i'll keep testing and see what happens

well, the ammonia and nitrate rose a tiny bit.. like 0.25 and 5
and i swaped the yabbie and the shimp.. so now the shimp are in the system, and the yabbie is in the spare tank ( i'll take him home soon )

but now i want to change the overflow on the FT to an SLO
but that requires removing the old hose and putting in a new one, with the system running.......
so i'd have to restart the system with 1/2 set marine silican around the overflow
do you guys think this is safe?
and how do i get my shimp to breed!!! should i sing to them? pour vodka in the system? feed them stawberries?

What goes on in your tank, should stay in your tank Marka...

And this is one occassion when photos are not required....

Dirty, Dirty man........

starting to think i might forget about trying to breed the shrimp in system,... just thow them in the dam and hope....
theres only 13 of them, but i think there eggs/babys would just turn-up in the GB anyway.

i'm keen to get some silvers started, it's been 13-19 degrees most days for the last few weeks, easy to get the tank above 10, and its only gunna heat up,
so it's prob a good time to start

My solids lifting over-flow dosn't seen to be lifting anything........??? help?


The tomatos and lettce came to life as soon as the weather warmed up


Also.. I'm starting work on my bigger system...
Any advice on cleaning these?? I got 1 IBC and 5 120lt drums all had this stuff in them
Common sense would tell you herbicide is a bad thing for a system for growing plants...
But, its just salt really isn't it?

For a start your lift pipe is way to small min is 50 mm set it a bit lower in the tank [ ie when you cut the hole leave the top of the old hole and enlarge down] what size pump do you have !

tiny pump i got for like $20, it was ment for the little starter system i had going (10lt GB)

edit: its roughly the physical size of that air pump on top of the tank

It's ment to be like 1000lt/h
At the height its pumping now it takes bout 10minutes to fill that GB (100lt)
so thats about 240lt/h

it all flows and works good with just garden hose everywhere, I guess theres just not enough suction with such little flow rate

NO.... its Glyphosate.... just as a isopropylamine salt ... a chemical "salt" compound...

Trust me it's a herbicide.... "Roundup"... to be exact...