Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all, I'm only new to the whole Aquaponics scene. I hope to set up a system to grow out some Silver perch ect and grow some vegies for the house, I use to grow veggies in the back yard but due to guttless sandy soils in Rockingham (sandy soil = less back ache more heart ache) I just gave up.

I'm just looking at different ways of doing things at the moment and plan on starting small to gain a better understanding of how to/not to do things.

I look forward to chatting with you all.

Let the learning begin.

Cheers

Shaun

G'day Major,

pretty new myself, it's really addictive, good luck,lots of patients and heaps of questions and reading.
Merry Xmas Good Luck

Hay there and welcome!!!!

Yes this can be very addicting so be warned (figure out some good way to get the other half on board, like by growing some of their favorites. )

I have experienced sandy soil, it can be great for growing a few things but the AP is great for most things.

Now here is some of my advice I often post for newbies.
First, Read through the Basic Info and Useful info sections of the forum. They are not too long and they will give a good start on alot of the important questions.

Then I recommend picking a few of the big member system threads to read through completely. If you know a bit about what you plan for system design or special circumstances, we might be able to point you to some member systems that might be similar to your situation.

Try a search on your questions since most things have been discussed multiple times, however, we realize that it can be hard to find what you are looking for with the search function so if the search doesn't help you quickly, go ahead and ask. Some on might answer you or link to a thread that will answer you or give you the right terms to use in the search function to find what you are looking for.

Welcome.

Welcome Major..
You'll love playing with aquaponics. I am today about to don my wetsuit and get into my tank to hook all the pipework up and begin cycling my system.
The wetsuit is because we had a huge amount of rain here several months ago and not wanting to see good water going down the drain because my 5500lt tank was full, I dumped 3/4 of it into the fish tank not thinking that I would have to one day actually get into it to secure everything.. And that day is today.!
Despite it being 'summer' here apparently, not that the weather knows yet, the water temp in the tank is a toasty warm 14 degrees.
TC has given some spot on advice there, and all I can add is consider downloading the BYAP mag's. They were very handy when I began planning my system and learning what it is all about. I still refer back to them occasionally have read them about 2 or 3 times each now.
There are also some great links on the web-site and then read, read, and read some more.
I would recommend then plan your system layout and work out a budget on how much you want to spend. i.e. do you go recycled materials or purchase a kit. Or a combination thereof.. Anything is possible depending on your 'handyman' skills and what you can get hold of.
Have fun.
Cheers
T

By the way Shaun, I also have given up with the sandy soils here. Anything that grows needs a stack of imported humus, compost and ongoing nutrients. AP is much easier..!

Thanks for the welcome guys, I have been reading through alot of pages of info and have learned so much already. I'll save my questions for when I'm due to start buying stuff.

Cheers

Shaun

Welcome MM, south of the river is becoming a bit of an AP hotspot

Well I've downloaded the mag, read all the basics, read through hours/days of posts, looked at thousands of pictures and serched for anything I could think of.

I now have a 1500lt FT, a 1000lt ST, a 10000l/hr pump, water testing kit, I'm buying an approx 1400lt fibre glass GB and will be running CHIFT PIST gravity from FT to ST, pump from ST to GB, gravity from GB to FT.

Just a few little questions?????????????????

My pump is just a tad bit over powered so I'm going to install extra overflo stand pipes in the GB, What size pipe/how many would you recomend installing?

Anyone had probs with using Fibre glass as a GB? It's lined with some hard coloured coating on the inside for use as a pond.

Oh and when I say "guys" I mean both boys and girls together!

Hi and Welcome MM

Is there a reason why you are doing your water flow Fish Tank over flow to Sump Tank, pump to Grow Beds.

It is generally better to go, Fish Tank overflows to Grow Beds, Grow beds gravity feed to Sump Tank, pump from Sump back up to Fish Tank. This means having your outlet from the fish tank at the highest point. The pump is sitting in clean Sump water after it has passed through and been filtered by the grow beds, less cleaning and the pump lasts longer. Have a look at page one at the link below if it helps.

If you are concerned about the size of your pump, put a T juction in the outlet pipe and use a ball valve to control how much get pumped out the other end.

Fibreglass is good

No, just thought it was easier! I was going to ask if there was any difference in running it the other way round.
I'm guessing one would get more airation and water movement pumping into your FT.
I'll build a stand and run it the other way!



Will that not put stress on the pump and wear it out faster?

You are not restricting the pump. The idea is to put a ball valve tap off the side of the outlet pipe and redirect some of the water back to where it is being pumped from (the sump if that is where the pump is).

This mean you have control over how much water is entering the fish tank at the other end of supply pipe, thereby regulating the fish tank overflow so you don't overwhelm your grow beds. No need for the extra standpipes in the grow beds

Oh I know what you mean, thanks heaps!

Yea, if your space allows you to put the fish tank water level at the highest point and have it overflow to the grow beds then to the sump, then you have the benefit of a clean water sump from which you could always pump to NFT pipes or DWC if you find you have plenty of filtration but still need more plants etc.

However, some people don't have the flexibility of layout and have to let the fish tank overflow to the sump, in which case you just need to clean things a bit more often.

Due to space restrictions and not being able to bury the sump, I'm going to have to run FT overflows to ST pumped to grow bed drain to FT.

I'm thinking of putting in the T section as fishfodder sugested and pumping this "extra" water dirrectly to the FT through some sort of bio filter box thus getting more water moving through the FT. Would this be a good idea or should I go back to the original idea of larger drain pipes/overflows in the GBs

Provided your plumbing from the fish tank to the sump tank can handle the extra flow, then it would be fine to have some extra filtration going. You might even add some extra filtration where the water leaves the fish tank and goes into the sump tank but you would have to clean those filters often or risk clogging and overflowing.