Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

No new pictures yet, the only thing different to the above photos is the addition of the sumps. I'll put in more as soon as the leaks are fixed and the fish are in the big tank where they are supposed to be.

Wow, it's sure been a long time since my last update. I've learnt some valuable lessons over the last year and am embarking on the construction of a much larger system now.
lessons learnt?
#1 Watch the ph like a hawk...even when you think it may have settled down it can go off and kill fish in a day
#2 Rainwater is acidic
#3 Gravity feeding requires more than 15-20cm of head...a meter would have been better as the very low pressure leads to uneven water distribution
#4 A couple of those little sucker fish do a great job at keeping the algae out of a tank. When the ph levels killed mine the algae took over.
#5 Children love to put stones in places you don't want them...get used to it
#6 You have to check for bugs daily...if you miss a few days, the bugs will take over.

Anyway, my new system is going into the old chookpen. I built it for chooks but now it's the only place that's big enough. The frame is in place and I've started to build beds.
My question to the more experienced among you is this (please bear in mind that cost is an issue):
I was going to put on a rigid polycarbonate material on the roof to allow in sunlight but keep the rain out, and I was going to put a 10-20% shadecloth on the sides to keep the bugs out but it occured to me that I could just put up the white greenhouse plastic on the sides instead. I'm located on the gold coast hinterland, we get a few frosts in the winter and in the summer most days are 28-32 with a few around 35 and peaking at 37...it's quite humid but not as bad as Cairns.
Will it get too hot with plastic on all 4 sides.
Should I put plastic on 2 and shadecloth on 2?
Do I need a bit of wind to assist with pollenation?
I was planning on raising silvers, plastic sides would help keep things warmer in the winter...but I'm not sure about whether or not I want a cross breeze to help the plants.
Can it get too humid inside there if all 4 sides are plastic?
Would plastic do for the roof as well? That would save some money but if I only do the roof and not the sides won't it be inclined to flap around alot?

Input anyone?

Fortunately I can continue to build while sorting out this question. I lost so many beautiful tomatoes to catipillars I thought I would try things in and enclosure to see how it goes.

Plastic sides excellent to keep in warmth in winter ,, roll up sides:) with shade cloth wind down , means best of both worlds.
Several ways of organising it ..... but you are the best judge as yopu know your materials etc.

Hey all, if you're around this evening my wife and I are going to be on Better Homes and Gardens on channel 7 at 7:30 I think. Dr. Harry came to look at our pets about 5 months ago and it's finally going to air. Unfortunately the AP didn't get a lookin but you'll get to put a face to the name. My wife is terrified we're going to look like complete idiots on air but you'll get to see a bit of our place.

Well, better homes and gardens came and went...somehow they compressed an entire day of shooting into about 2 minutes. Still, got my 2 minutes of fame.

Question: I'm converting the old chook house into a greenhouse for my AP. The sides are going to be a light 10-20% shadecloth with a roll up plastic cover for wintertime...thanks to an earlier contributor for that tip.
I'm not entirely sure what to do with the roof. Presently it's colourbond and I'm planning on replacing it with polycarbonate...question is: white or clear.
They reccomend white for greenhouses but it blocks out most of the heat and 40% of the light. Is that too much shading for veggies or should I use clear polycarb and just put up some 20% shadecloth over the roof in the summer?

+ for using roll up plastic on the sides.

A roof can be done with greenhouse plastic but you have to make sure it is an arch or very steeply sloped peek or rain will puddle in the saggy spots and collapse the roof.

As to clear or white. Well probably your choice really, is there a cost difference between the two? Over the fish tank you might want way more shade but that can be done with a cover directly over the fish tank.

I'm in a climate that can get freezes during winter but we have fairly hot/wet/humid summers. Over the main part of my system I have an arched roof that has 40% aluminet shade cloth and greenhouse plastic all the time now. The sides are rolled up or removed for summer. I actually had some difficulty during winter with the greenhouse, trying to heat things up during the day. It tended to be too hot during the day for any cool weather plants but was still too cool at night for most hot weather plants to thrive. Then again I was keeping almost tropical fish last winter. This winter I'm going to do something different for the tilapia I try to overwinter so I can let the greenhouse be a little cooler during the days.

check out jims system i think its in members

Hi All;
New system is progressing slowly due to time issues but I have shut down the old one and transferred remaining plants and fit to new bed. I'm slowly retrofitting one of the old chookhouses as I go. So far I've built only one bed, the finished dimensions are 80cm x 200cm x 20cm deep and it's made from 7 treated pine sleeps and a pond liner...all from B. Excluding the cost of the 4 sleepers underneath (which I'd need anyway), and excluding the cost of the concrete blocks (which were lying around free) each bed is costing about $78.

The compares favourably with other purchased solutions although, on a cost per liter basis, I think that company in Brisbane's tubs might be better (assuming no bracing is required). I'm gambling on the 20cm depth being sufficient.
Still to do to house...
1. move roof tin to back end...at that end it'll hardly block any light and form the foundation of my solar heater
2. surround in 20% shadecloth to exclude bugs and provide light shading
3. install clear laserlite polycarbonate roofing with 20% shadecloth suspended underneath...I figure with clear roofing I can adjust the light levels to see what works best in this climate using shadecloth
I was going to leave the ibc in the middle for the fish but worked out today that shifting it into the corner will allow me to have 1 more growbed.
This will be a chift system, 1 pump will run water from the sump to the growbeds on a 15:45 cycle and another pump will continually pump water from the sump to the FT where it will drain back with gravity.

My wife also prefers the look of wood over the black plastic tubs from the old system which helps me avoid 'the look'. This is the extent of the system presently until more is built. I built this up quickly and bought it online to keep the fish and plants alive but most importantly...the bacteria. My old system had the fishtank exposed to too much light and the algae was playing havoc with my ph...plus it look shoddy and was losing water from somewhere...it had to be ended.
I transplanted all of this from the old system...the zuchinni took quite a hammering but it making a comeback...being the old chookhouse, I forgot that it would be a magnet for rats and I had my first rat attack.

Hopefully the live trap out there will capture it...I can't put out rat bait until the sides are up because of ducks and chickens in the garden.
Anyway, there's my update. I am aiming for a very attractive and compact system that will keep fish and veg growing all year round. If it doesn't bucket down with rain soon I will have to us dam water to fill up the main tank...is that a really bad idea?

Looks fantastic - How do you drain the GB?

I always wondered about the draining of Pond Liner based GB's..

Thanks

Aj

Almost all my grow beds are pond liner. You can plumb through pond liner with bulkhead fittings just fine provided the backing material is an appropriate thickness for the fitting. I've also used uniseals through pondliner and plywood grow beds.

As to the rodent problem. I've been using one of those RatZapper Ultra traps. Caught a lot of rats with one set of D cell batteries so far. I also got one of the plain RatZappers that uses AA batteries, don't bother with that one, charge doesn't last long enough to be worth feeding the rats with the bate.

I'll take pics of the bulkhead fittings when I put the next one together but that's all it is.
Ratzapper? Never heard of it...will have to google it. I've got 3 cheap wooden traps plus one live trap running at the moment....haven't got one yet though despite losing the bait on a few and a few going off. They're nicking chicken eggs too now so it's time to get nasty on their little rat hides.

New system coming along great, I've got the roof on the greenhouse and it's surrounded with 30% shadecloth. Roof is on but it's just reall old polycarb with a heavy tint so I'll graduall replace it with new clear stuff...but for the moment I am really bug resistant. Have started to expand the beds, will take more pics this weekend of the construction.
Question for you all...

I can buy a fancy goldfish like a fantail for about $2.50 when it's little and I can grow it out in my 2000L tank for 12-18 months and sell it back to the petshop for $15 who would retail it for $30 or so if it's in good condition. If I can get $45 a kg for ornamental fish wouldn't I be better off raising them instead of Perch to eat? I can buy some awefully tasty fish for much less than $45 a kg. If I get 100 of them, that's $1250 in roughly a years time...could help pay for an even larger system. Plus goldfish are much more durable than perch when it comes to swings in the levels of the system so less deaths.

Thoughts?

If you can get a guaranteed return like that go for it i know of a bloke who put in dans with goldfish and was offered 20 c that was a few years ago it may be different now for that return i would fill the whole backyard with tanks

Some time ago someone asked me how pond liner based GB's went together so I documented the construction of my last one below.

Continuing...