Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Aya and Jenny Set up their BYAP system last November, and it's been been running really well for them. In an email I received last night Aya says " We had been eating the produce for ages. I was surprised at how easy it was to set up, get growing and manage."

Here is their three bed system set up just as they finished cleaning the clay 15 months ago.


Many of you may have heard about the fires in Toodyay about 3 weeks ago. The fires burnt out dozens of houses across Toodyay and caused millions of dollars worth of damage. Luckily they didn't lose their house, they did lose all their sheds and water tanks, as well as their aquaponic system. Here's what happens to an aquaponics system when it gets hit by fire.

Picture one: What is left of my set looking out my kitchen window.


Picture two: The fish tank, it melted down to the water level and the fish survived! (They are now living in a neighbours pond.)


Picture three: My bed of Asparagus, strawberries, lemongrass, chives and silver beet.


Picture four: My bed of Broccoli, Cauliflower and Beetroot


Picture five: My bed of Tomatoes, Capsicum and Onions



She summed up her email with "Evey time I look out my kitchen window, I mourn the loss of my beautiful aquaponics. I miss the hours I spent, planting,tending, my son feeding the fish and relaxing there. Toodyay climate it is hard to have an edible garden. I miss eating my fresh produce most of all.Thank you for one of the most enjoyable experiences in my life."

Far out....

Good to hear the fish survived.... the stands look OK, and the clay is still there...

Just needs a new fish tank and growbeds...

What a terrible disheartening sight to see out the kitchen window.

Being that close to the house, they must be very lucky to still have the kitchen window, along with their house.

Man, that is tragic, really is !

I cannot believe the fish survived though - wow

Best wishes to them and hope they're able to rebuild.

OMG! yes, they do look very lucky to still have a house

OH My GOODNESS, glad to hear that everyone is fine and the house is still standing.

bloody hell, our thoughts are with those poor folk over there, thank goodness they are okay. has reinforced my desire for a fibrereinforced plastic tank on my shed... seen what fire does to poly now.

Wonder if a fibrereinforced... or fibreglass tank... would have been toxic to the fish...

wow Its devastating to see the effects of bush fire, but amazing that the house survived.
My best wishes go out to you and hope you can rebuild the system.
Just looking at Pic5, I am guessing that this GB was full at the time of most intense heat as the plastic has held up alot better that the other one, like the fish tank held up to the water level.
Could this be a tip or last minute hope for people in case of bush fire danger, to flood the system so that all GB's are full before you leave your property, may save some of the system.
Dont want ppl to think that I mean as the fire is upon them to be running around blocking there GB drains, but, if your BF plan is to leave early it could be incorporated into your things to do the night before an extreme or severe fire danger.

We've contacted our tank supplier and sent them the photos and an explanation of what happened. They have agreed to supply a tank to them which is a second. We have three growbeds that have some slight defects in them and a pump that we use now and then for water transfers... And Faye is volunteering to go up there and help put a new system together.

Looks like we might be able to get their system up and running again for them..

A bloody nice gesture from both you and the tank manufacturer....

Yep - very generous by BYAP and the tank mob - great effort guys !

Thats great to hear what you are going to do for them.

Surprise- they don't know about it yet