Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looking into the abyss of AP. It will consume me. I know it. I cant remember the last time I felt so charged.

So, I bought 5 acres (in the desert outside of Tucson Az) I have a well, a 1100 l galvanized tank and was recently gifted a 3000 l galvanized tank. I have some pumps left over from working with large aquariums (I have been keeping fish inside for about 30 years) Oh yeah I also have lots of time and enthusiasm. I do not have much money. This is my starting point.

Any advice will be treated as a gift. I am open to suggestions. What would you do?

I am leaning toward coating the inside of the 3000 L tank or using pond liner in it. That is necessary if I want to be able to eat the fish right? Then split blue barrels on some sort of rack as grow beds.

The smaller tank is full of water with some aquatic plants and Koi. No power or pumps for about a year now. (It isnt lined at all)

Welcome Sandman!

The liner is to protect the fish from the zinc in the galvanized part I think.

If you are getting liner for the tanks then get more and make some beds with it - this will make bed volume a lot easier and probably cheaper than a lot of barrels will.

i think at the minimum you would need 1:1 ratio (if not 2:1) of growbed to fish tank for proper filtration unless you use some kind of filtration system, which kind of defeats the purpose of aquaponics.

perhaps you can get some free bathtubs on craigslist but id suggest building some long raft systems using 2x2's, 4x4's, plywood, and hpde liner.

Jump in... The AP water's great!!!

You might be able to get old hot tubs free for growbeds. No liners, no decay, but a bit wide for harvesting and critters can hide underneath...

Once bitten, you will start noticing all kinds of things that could be used for tanks and/or growbeds. Just keep your eyes looking at the trash others are throwing out - You will score some tubs eventually. And as mentioned - craigslist is a great source.

yep, dangit, I dreamed about it last night! With 5 acres you will have lots of room to experiment

One source for free bathtubs: Rebath. Their remodel guys bring the removed tubs back to the warehouse for collection and hauling off... If you have a local on, that is a good place to make a friend or two.

If barrels are free, they are a good (though highly debated) form of GB. I just spent a day at Travis Hughey's, and he has some huge systems that run on very small low wattage pumps made entirely of barrels, save a 3-500 gallon in-ground fish tank.

The math looks like this (some one can correct me if I make a glaring error.)

A 4x8 GB one foot deep, made of plywood, 2x4 and 4x4s yields a volume of 32 cubic feet (though my gravel is an inch below the lip and the water is an inch below that...) x 7.5 gallons in a cubic foot = 240 gallons (reduced by the percent of gravel, but we'll assume it is the same for both types of beds...) with a surface area of 32 sq. ft. My wood GBs have 2 sheets of 3/4" CDX, 3 4x4x12s, 6 2x4x10s and 3 5/4 decking 10 feet long, plus the hdpe liner.

A barrel cut vertically yields a surface area of 32" x 21" x 2 halves= 9.3 square feet with a volume of 50ish gallons. So, 3.5 barrels (7 halves) equals the surface area with a total volume of around 165-170 gallons if you take into account the water level never reaching the top. A seven half barrel GB module will need 3.5 barrels, 8-10 cement blocks, 2 4x4x16, 2-3 2x6x12, plus assorted plumbing (more than a single drain 4x8 GB.) I found a local source for free barrels... as many as I can haul away... Makes this route MUCH more economical, imo.

Travis showed me barrel systems that have been heavily planted and used for 3-4 years without cleaning/dredging the gravel, without clogging... I asked and we discussed depth v. surface area, etc..

Another barrel advantage is you can take one down for maintenance without shutting down a 4x8 GB.

From my limited experience, I can see that the GBs I built may suffer termite/water damage over time. Not likely with the blue barrels. Cost wise, if you can find a source for blue barrels at a cheap or even free price, they are probably more economical in the long haul... Not as eye appealing as the wood GBs, but more duplicatable for the average guy who will see and copy your system.

Yes, much research and debate is around GBs and ultimately what is best for you has to be determined by your goals and economic situation, but this gives some perspective. Personally, I have 4- 4x8 GBs and the next section of the GH will be filled with barrels, most cut vertically, though I have plans for a few small citrus trees in horizontally cut barrels.

Hope that helps, though may be stirring the GB size/volume/depth pot...

CB

For my indoor system I cut barrels longways so that one piece is 14" deep and the other is only about ten (and gets tossed). I get more gravel depth and, if barrels are free, it works well. The edges curve in, but only about 1/2" (1cm) on each side.