Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well I guess it's time to get started.
The system is going to be a lot smaller than I had originally hoped for. But I have it under good authority that I can expand if it works okay.
So the first thing to consider was location, location, hmmmmmmmmm
The following pics are of the two proposed sites. (yep they need cleaning up.)
The first gets sun for most of the day. (could be to hot in summer?)
The second site only gets morning sun. (well 8am to 1pm)
I thought of putting the fish tank under the roofed area, and the grow bed out the front.
Any suggestions or comments greatly appreciated.

Fish tank under a shaded area/roof is a good idea to help keep algae from taking hold...

One thing to note is that the sunlight in summer is different from the sunlight in winter... comes from a different direction.. I am no expert but I found that out in planning for my next system...

Another consideration is power. Need to have a power point somewhere close by.

Well after checking out my resources I decided a trip to the BYAP shop was called for.
Just to have a look of course
A picture tells a thousand words, so I've included a photo of Mel's reaction when she realized I was up to no good


Anyway after a bit of negotiating, we came to a compromise.

Lol

Thanks for the input.

A couple more quick questions.
Is 18mm pea gravel okay or is it a bit large?
We are thinking of using two third pea gravel and one third hydroton.

Has any body used the Lake Salt brand of pool salt in their systems. Aparently it comes from the wheat belt area?

Lake salt is fine. I use it.

18mm is a bit big, it is a PITA to move around too. 14mm is as big as I use.

You can actually go 9/10 gravel and 1/10 hydro. You only ever disturb the top layer to plant.

Just a quick update after considering the advise given. We have decided to go with the second site location. Although both locations have power close by. The second location is closer to the water supply, (both mains and rainwater) saves bucketing water across the yard for top ups. Having the fish tank under cover has many advantages, shaded to reduce algae growth, hopefully cooler for the fish (trout), less overflow problems in heavy rain.
The down side is more work for me in cleaning up the area.

Still thinking about the gravel size? The place 5 mins round the corner only has 8mm or 18mm peagravel

personaly id go for the 8 mm less wasted space in the growbeds and much more suface area for bacteria to live on,

good luck to ya
CHeers
pete