Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Once you convert the system to CHIFT and use that "pond" as the sump (provided you don't have any fish in the sump) you won't have to worry about lifting the pump up and there shouldn't be fish poo in there (provided the fish tank drains though some grow bed before flowing water back to the sump tank.)
This is the beauty of CHIFT PIST no worries about the fish tank level dropping too low due to pumping out and some how not returning the water. And if you send water through a grow bed before it goes to the sump, you get to pump clean water and pump filter cleaning is greatly reduced. (also water being pumped from a clean water sump can go to NFT pipes without as much worry about clogging the roots with solids.)

Yes TC, you have hit the nail on the head, but, the key word is "once" the conversion takes place to CHIFT.

Although I have the IBCs, there is still a lot of work to do before I can even get to filling them! I need to make the modifications for the pump suction, even if there are only temporary for the remainder of the period whilst the installation is happening.

We're still trying to source suitable (and suitably priced) insulation and cladding; the first stage of cleaning has already started.



Scott

Low Tide Control v2.0 (thanks OBO)


I needed to buy some elbows, the minimal additional cost is far exceeded by the peace-of-mind knowing I cannot empty the pond again! The breather hole is large enough to prevent the pump from gaining its head and being able to pump out of the pond, but small enough that it doesn't completely lose suction so the aeration stream will continue to cycle the water in the FT.

The IBC's have had their first cleaning. We have cleared the destination site (garden bed) of plants (not all plants liked being transplanted so we lost a few ) and levelled the site where the FT will be situated. I have dug through my scrap timber and found enough (very) old jarrah (Australian hardwood) to build the base for the IBC and will endeavour to get that done this weekend (not the nicest weather for outdoors work here).

Thanks to another thread on the forum, I could have sourced some polystyrene foam to use as insulation for the tanks (and maybe later, the growbeds). The off-cut "skins" are free but are quite thin so have to be glued together to make any reasonable thickness,so I'd have to buy the acid-free adhesive so I guess it isn't really free then? The supplier is also considerably NOR and I am SOR, it's not quite a cut-lunch journey but not far from it!

I did some more searching for local providers. I found a polystyrene supplier in Canning Vale who will cut to size (for what I believe to be a very reasonable price) and will provide me the bulk of my needs; they also have off-cuts and assortments which can be picked through (for free(?), we didn't discuss price at the time). Hopefully, I will order sufficient foam on Monday to clad an IBC on all sides and a sheet across the bottom for just over $60 and with any luck I will have my hands on this by mid-week.

Yesterday, we took the opportunity to visit a couple of salvage yards whilst doing some other running around; we're looking for zincalume or colourbond mini-orb but didn't find any. Does anyone know who might have some? SOR preferred and reasonable price?



Scott

A quick question regarding worm wee: What is the "best" practice, adding the wee to the AP water and having it circulate through the system or applied as a foliar feed?

I would think adding it to the water would give the plants the best opportunity to extract the "good stuff" whereas if simply sprayed on leaves it can wash off or evaporate; but what about the fish? How much can I add? How often can this be repeated? (We use a dilute solution (1 wee : 9 water) in the dirt beds, applied liberally using a watering can over the leaves and around the roots.)



Scott

I'd suggest going with the same dilution... and watering the beds/plants...

Foliar feeding is often the best approach to get quick results. Worm tea is actually a really good thing for foliar spraying especially if you are combating certain problems like powdery mildew or something like that.

Otherwise, just use the dilution like for soil feeding and water around the plants in the bed.

How do people connect pipework to the valves fitted in an IBC? The broad thread is too large for standard irrigation or plumbing fittings. Any suggestions; I want to install a 50mm PVC outlet using the existing valve. Suppliers? Price?


Cheers

Scott

Hi All,

It's been a while since I started up-sizing my system, and it still isn't complete! I have a contract that will hopefully take me through until about Xmas time, so time available to tinker with the system is more limited now. There wasn't any rush when the upgrade project first kicked off, but since then, time is rapidly becoming more important. The trout are growning exceptionally quickly and have started attacking the goldies (two are now missing, presumed eaten.) The goldies are suffering, stressed and as of this morning two more have died in the last 12 hours and the rest look dishevelled and have some fin-rot/fin-been-eaten damage.

Some time ago, I purchased two IBCs. One has been clad in 25mm polystyrene and colourbond sheeting for the fishtank. I have cut an access port in the top but have not completely chopped the top, so still have the full 1000L capacity available should I need it. The other IBC has been cut in half for two growbeds. The top lip of the plastic is higher than the frames, so when I have them filled and they have distorted as much as they are going to distort, I will trim off the excess; hopefully this will leave a neat finish and each growbed will be approximately 400L but I will only 3/4 fill with media i.e. 300L of gravel each. I will have to somehow clad the growbeds, similar to the fishtank but I haven't completely figured that part yet.

I cleaned the IBCs with soft-soap, water, scourers and lots of elbow grease. I thought they were pretty clean and even tested some goldfish in the fishtank for a little while; they survived. I had need to drain the fishtank, so took the opportunity whilst empty to give everything another clean with a high-pressure water gun. Even more crap came off, so I now have a better definition of "clean": An IBC is clean when the inside feels smooth. (BTW: my IBCs used to contain a binding agent used in manufacturing vertical drapes. In its liquid state it is water soluble, but once it has set it is like "plastic" and sets clear; think along the lines of PVA glue and you'd be close.)

I had the fishtank IBC sitting on a hardwood frame which was positioned in part of the old garden bed. I had compacted the soil as best I could using hand-tools, but when I first-filled the fishtank, the 1000L (one tonne+) caused one corner to start slowly sinking. At first, I could live with the slight imbalance, but as it started leaning more and more, I decided action was needed. I emptied the water out and removed the wooden frame support in favour of large concrete blocks which have performed better. The fishtank is filled again with tapwater and de-gassed.

During last week, I basically taught myself to weld using the (ancient) arc-welder my Dad gave me. I managed to make up two frames which would support the growbeds, I was pretty chuffed with my work and even SWMBO seemed impressed. I took them to the galvanisers to get hot-dipped, and then... an HSM. Shortly after I got home from delivering the project to the galvanisers, I received a phone call from them with some bad news; one of the lads had run over my work with the BIG forklift and destroyed the stands. They are in the process now of sourcing some more steel and re-manufacturing replacements. Happy they have accepted responsibility and happy that I will get professionally welded stands, I am unhappy for the fact I can no longer say this project is entirely my work

The sum of the delays so far has meant the new fishtank is not yet connected to the sump and there are still no growbeds in place, but I have had to move the goldies out of from with the trout. We have friends coming over this weekend to see the system as a prototype for a system of their own (we booked this time weeks ago thinking it would be up and running) and was supposed to have hosted a local television crew, luckily for us they cannot make it this week but may be available early next week. :O

I guess I have a busy weekend ahead, that is if the growbed stands are available? I also have a contracter FINALLY showing up to install some fencing (it has been three months since these (incompetent *&^%$&*%$^) gave us the quote! If you're thinking of getting some fencing done, give me a PM and I will advise you who NOT to use.) Just to make matters worse, I have a bad case of tennis-elbow (I don't even play tennis) which is going to slow things down.

As for the remaining goldies, they are in the 1000L of clean fresh water, with their own aerator and access to their own food. Today I purchased a bag of salt and will add some to their water tonight, 3ppt. I will also salt the trout tank to 1ppt, although the last time I did this the strawberries did NOT like it, so I will have to take them out of the system before doing so. (The question remains, what to do with them in the mean time? Transplant them into the dirt? Ditch them and get some more when the new system is fully up and running and the salt has completely dissipated?)

My trout are all edible-sized, but it's still too cold to put in barramundi, although it is going to be hot this weekend and the water may get warm enough to harm the trout? It seems this transition-time of the year needs to be carefully managed? Maybe I need to harvest the trout before they die of heat-stress and get some more goldies to keep the bacteria chugging along until its warm enough to host barra?

Anyway, pictures, full product descriptions and costs will follow.


Scott

Nice system. I'm looking forward to seeing pictures of the renovations, especially your IBC growbeds.

Well my arm is still kaput so I wont be doing any heavy work this weekend

My new growbed stands have been re-manufactured and I am extremely happy to have them. They look very good and were rebuilt to my original specifications (whether my original specifications were right is yet to be seen!).

I hope the Mods here don't mind me making an unashamed plug for Western Galvanizers in O'Connor WA. Yes, they destroyed my original work, but they readily admitted their mistake and rectified their errors as soon as they possibly could. The team were friendly and helpful, and their hot-dip galvanizing service is probably at the best price in the metro area? Things are a little slow at their business at the moment, so if you take your project to them now, you might even get back the same day? Unlike some other services, Western Galvanizers are happy to take our small AP projects. That name again:

Western Galvanizers
Industrial Strength Galvanising

Office:
17 Sainsbury Road
O'Connor WA 6163
(08) 9331 2111

Workshop and Delivery:
48 Forsyth St
O'Connor WA 6163

Pictorially, what happens when mistakes are made?



Hopefully their professional welding is as good as my amateur efforts?



The IBC cage fits into the stand...

How do you add more than three pics at a time?

More eyes looking improves Quality Control...



I will have some more pics and details soon. Stay tuned.




Scott

Hi Bunson,

I love the look of those stands, if you want to save money on future angle iron purchases I have found a free source. People are always throwing away those steel framed beds with the springs and wire that support the mattress and the outside frame is high tensile angle iron usually finished in hammertome paint (which may make it hard to galv) which prevents corrosion.

Keep and eye out for curb side collection or shopping as I call it.

Just keep away from the Midland area I don't tolerate trespassers on my scab turf

Hi Simo,

When we have a collection happening in our local area, we do keep eyes open for useful stuff, including steel. In our recent collection, there was not a lot of useful stuff for us, so we did have to buy the steel for those stands. Unlike some other people we see "curb-crawling", we don't go driving miles to scope stuff out; if we happen to be going past somewhere and they have something we want then we'll pick it up. The chances of us being on your "turf" is pretty remote, unless we're heading up to the Valley for lunch!

Have a great day!


Scott

Nice stands, is that two cages welded together to hold two IBCs side by side?

No Burnsy; it's just the perspective of the photo. The stand holds one IBC frame which houses one chopped IBC, so the stand is actually just over 1m x just over 1m rectangle. I did toy with the idea of two IBC GBs side by side in a common frame but decided otherwise for reasons of aesthetics, the flexibility to have two separable parts of the system and my limited welding experience!


Scott