Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

ok here is my first aquaponics system..... wish me luck on this .... i had all this stuff just laying around the shop ... i did go and buy a new 110 gallon tank $85.00 for that ... everything else i had here so far ... i do have a bag and a half of rocks left.... i did all of this today ... all of this will be done indoors for now maybe in the future i will have a greenhouse to work with ... the trays are 8Lx2Wx7D.... i know they should be around 12inches deep but i am only doing leafy greens in there for now so we will see how this works .... just not sure how many fish would be good for me in this tank... i hope i got enough grow beds for this ... i will be using one 400MH, and two 250watt light for now ... i might go over two T-5 8bulb lights later but for now this is what i have ... i have a few more parts i need but i am close to being done...

Welcome! What are you planning for flooding and draining the growbeds? Timer or Siphons?

I see you are from Texas. Did you get the bag of rocks locally? If so, they may be limestone and will keep the pH of your system above 7.6 preventing most plant growth. I had the same problem using local river bedrock and tap water.

Welcome Redeye,

You're systems coming along well mate.
You have plenty of lighting there for an 8 foot area, should be fine I reckon, just a tad expensive to run, but should get your growing none the less, and like you said, you work with what you have. As for fish, I'd only be having a stab, but there are plenty of threads and info to google regarding stocking densities, but a good beginner recomendation is 100 fingerlings (that is if you're going to growout and harvest the fish) per 1000ltr. You have a 416.4 Ltr tank. If you're just keeping gold fish, I personally would be game to put 15-20 in there, with good airation. Have you thought about maybe growing crawfish?
Anyhow, All the best with it!

Cheers,
Krimann.

well i paid for the rocks at a hydroponic store, so they are good togo...





man i was thinking about a siphon... but i am not sure how to do that..... right now i am going to use timers...






cool man i will be checking more into this more... and yes i want to grow them out... i also have room for more tanks, so i could always have some more fish just setting aorund... i also want a faster turn over on the fish... i think i will be looking into 1 maybe 2 more tanks....




i just added the water today... i lose about 15-20 gallons when i turn the pumps on so i was thinking about a small sump... here are a few pics ...

I would be truely concerned that your system will fail due to lack of depth in the growbed......unless all you intend to grow is bean sprouts of course......but your system looks to be ready to grow something much brighter and bigger......

+1
But depth is generally for bacteria health. if it is flood and Drain I would agree.
Add a biofilter and all will be well, but so the solids still get into your GB put the biofilter on the drain of the GB.
A biofilter is just a bucket of media that never dries out.

And please DO NOT stock 100 fingerlings in 1000L of water... not even Tilapia...

Those stocking rates are for intensive aquaculture with extensive external bio-filtration, solids removal and oxygen injection....

Stock at 30kg/1000L (30 full grown fish)... or twice that if you're intending to eat them at a smaller size....

But ONLY if you have a filtration capacity of twice your tank volume....

Otherwise ... you will kill your fish....

And likewise I have some doubts as to the depth of your growbeds... they may be fine for lettuce and herbs.... but are nowhere enough capacity for your tank size.... or anything above 30kg/1000L

i do agree that my beds are NOT deep enough but this is all i have for now ... cant really find anything i like and i had this here to work with ... i did already say that i just wanted to grow leafy veggies and herbs with this ... how many fingerlings should i get to start with ???

also do u think i should make a bio filter???

i just found this video and there beds did not look any deeper than what i am using...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wS3sej53gx0

Looks can surely be deceptive. lol! I guess those are 300mm deep! The voulme ratio of FT v/s GB should be at least 1:1 so that there is adequate filtration.
Pump: Why are you losing water when you turn on the pump? I couldn't figure that one out. What kind pump are you using?
Timer: Best to go with a timer for starters. Most people run 15 on/45 off and let the beds drain back into the fish tank by gravity. Siphons might not be the best option since your GB is not deep enough. I do recommend that you search (top right hand) for siphons/syphons and learn as much as you can about them in the meanwhile. It will surely come in handy as you go along.

Cheers!

Redeye,
Here is a video from another Texan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMqDJvnK ... =rec-HM-r2
You could probably look at using these kinda tubs for growbeds in case you wanna upgrade. He is also using a timer. (I would increase the cycle times tho!)
Hope this is useful.
KM

Siphons are fine so long as they are sized properly for the amount of water flow.

Your beds might be fine Redeyes... but just may limit the type of veges you can grow...

But much more importantly... your growbeds are your bio-filters... and how many fish you can stock is determined by your bio-filtration...

Use the figures quoted in the posts above as a guide.... and read through the info regarding "suggested" ratios...

ok i am back with 2 more pics... i need a half bag more of rocks and i would have enough for all the flower beds... i want to go with T-5 lights for sure ... i got all the flower beds to drain at the same time now... just working on getting my PH down... it is so high right now..