Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

OK, got it. I can't do that specific set up cause my FT has to be the lowest. So I was thinking FT lowest, pump to gravel (highest) and drain to DWC (2nd highest) and then drain to FT. I'll have to think about that. It might not work cause I was planning a small gravel GB. Like 100 gallons. Might not be enough biofiltration. Maybe I might have to reconfigure....

Pics of my DWC base. Its pretty damn bomb proof. Everyone tells me wood DWC beds don't last long but with 2 coats of good exterior latex and construction overkill, I don't think anythings going to happen to it for a while. Its going to hold around 100 gallons of water.

Been workin, Almost finished the construction of one GB. Just gotta line it and plumb it. Waiting for the paint to dry hard.

Dug the hole to the fish pond today. The pic show it upsidedown over the hole to keep out the rain. I was wayy to tired to turn it over for a pic. I have to get some sand for the bottom to level it off. I 'm burying it 12 inches deep and keeping 12 inches above ground so the frickin toads don't have a field day.

I wish I didn't have to work so this would go faster. Here's one completed DWC bed.

Lined and painted. Not sure if I should trim all of the excess off. The little flap looks ugly but will prevent water from seeping in under it.

You can see the pump box I made too. The doors not attached yet.

Getting there...

More updates. Finished my "HN modded skippy filter" with a homemade venturi to help aerate the filter and water entering my DWC GBs.
I have a 600 gph pump for the filter. I have about 7000 green scrubbies in tub. Pretty funny, I was asked all kinds of questions when buying them. Another funny thing is I bought a $25 venturi fitting and it worked like ass. I made one myself for $.89 and it works awesome! Just a bit noisy but I can deal with that.

the venturi adds air to the pumped water and at the end of the pvc pipe in the filter the bubble coming out are quite large. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make finer bubbles? I thought about packing in some scrubbies to the end of the pipes to break up the bubbles. Any ideas?

Supposedly you don't ever have to clean the filter but I'm not so sure. We'll just have to see. I think the gravel bed will help but I think at some point I'll have to clean the damn thing out.

Starting to piece everything together. Its coming along, I was going to build my gravel GB but I think I'll splurge and get a large tub. The local feed supply store has a 100 gallon 12" deep tub for 98 bucks. Might be worth the investment.

Till next week!

I think that when the skippy site talks about not cleaning there filters they have really big filters and low feed loads in koi ponds. With aquaculture you will probably have to clean that filter.

Yeah, machineman, I'm thinking the same thing. Hopefully with 100 gallons of gravel GB space, it will help with the solids. Go worms!!

Machineman, you really messed me up hehe. I'm thinking I should have made a bigger filter. I'm guessing later I might have to make a bigger one. We'll see how well the gravel keeps the solids under control. Although you guys be surprised how much green scrubbies I fit into that 20 gallon bucket.

Work on the system has been slow... here's some updates. Got the DWC bed running with filter. Pond is installed, a friend gave me about 500 tilapia fingerings. Wayyy too much, the nitrite spike is unbelievable but I had to take all the fish at the time. I have some seedling sprouting and will transfer then to the DWC bed soon.

The filter is plumbed with a venturi. It works pretty well at aerating the filter. I am curious what the DO levels are in the DWC.

In the process of putting together a 90 gallon GB with hydroton. I got most of the plumbing done, hopefully tomorrow I can get the hydroton washed and the bed running. I'm rushing because of the nitrite levels. Gotta get them down!

pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0.25
Nitrite: 5.0!!!!
Nitrates: 10

Hi HN!

You might want to put a frame on the top of the 90 gallon mortar tub - it will bow a lot without support. I used spike-sized nails through holes in the middle of the tub (on the rim) to brace the long sides from bowing out. The shipping strap goes from one side to the other over the gravel.

Another way might be to make a wooden frame that sits on the rim, and attach it to the rim by screwing into it from underneath. The sloped shape makes it hard to just put a rectangular frame around the sides.

Nice little tilapia!

I tend toward using gravel beds with lots of worms and no other filtration, but would think that FT>(filter?)>growbed>NFT>sump would work fine.

Thanks Dave. Did you have the same one? Tuff stuff motar tub? I was hoping it wouldn't bow out a lot, I was gonna do the "ol' wait n see."

But maybe now, after your feedback, I'll just go ahead and screw some supports across the top.

Thanks!

Hey Dave, I used a scrap piece of PVC and 2 nails to support the bowing of the mortar tub. Surprisingly there was very little bowing even when filled with water. I was surprised how thick the tub is when I drilled into it. the PVC support works super.

Finished the gravel GB. I'll post pics soon. BTW: I hate washing gravel, its lame.

Hoping to see the nitrite levels drop. The skippy filter and DWC bed have been running for about a month. Lets see how quickly the gravel GB will help alleviate the nitrites.

This is getting exciting.

pH:8.0
ammonia 0.5
Nitrite: 5+
Nitrates: 15

Yep same one, you can almost see it under the plants here:

viewtopic.php?p=148719#p148719

The wedge shape of the ends is a bit awkward but it's very sturdy and does the job. Heat and gravel will cause it to distort from square if it's not braced somehow.

Dave, you're totally correct. The angled sides makes that thing super awkward. Especially when you're trying to run PVC plumbing up and down the short sides. Couldn't do it.

I might have to go back and make a sturdier brace. We'll see how it works.

Thanks!!

Updates! Looks like its fully cycled, or at least getting there.
pH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates 10

Lettuce is growing slow. 3 weeks old and very tiny. Hoping they'll now grow faster because the system is cycling. I have another air pump on order to aerated the DWC bed.

The filter is working pretty well however there's still some sediment on the bottom of the DWC bed. I don't know where its coming from. it started to collect even BEFORE I added the fish. It was really strange.

I guess the green scrubbies aren't filtering everything. I think I'll have to look into another type of media along with the 4000 green scrubbies I have in there, or make a larger filter.

Been adding chelated iron and maxicrop weekly.

Still have to add one more DWC bed from the original plans. Gonna start work on that one soon.