Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hey everyone, this is my Small Indoor System 30g, then when i get bigger system ill be posting here to.

ive been messing around with a this 30g system for about 6 mouths now..
it has;
small 65gph pump
small air pump
aquaiurm gravel for media
fishes: orange sunburst cichlids, and electric yellow cichlids,.
Plants: romain lettice, cherry toms, sweet basil.
strawberrys are dead(bad transplant)

i know i need more media, but lack of cash been a big problm
enjoy
-df

got a lot of california title company mugs there! Your fish like coffee?

What's with the mugs in the FT? Hiding places for fish?

they love those things
i spend hours watching them clean-out and reput back in rocks. its so funny.

well, its just a small system it looks cool, and my friends love it, i am getting them all into AP. i need a bigger system tho...in do time.

good news

looked on craigslist right now, and saw a guy selling 55gallon drums(water/food grade/used) for $20!!!

i called him and im going to get three, tomorrow...i cant wait...


here is the add: palmsprings.craigslist.org/grd/1649371042.html

i was talking to him about aquaponics and the forum, and seemed interested.

ok, well i am doing nuthen here at work, so here is what i am thinking for at least one drum:


i need to find what growbed i am using, but size pump do i need to get a good amount of water up 3 feet, what do you use?

this is going to be in my indoor patio(pic coming soon), but i need more light, it only gets direct sun in the morning.

umm, much more to plan.

-df

DF,

You only need to lift water from the surface of your FT to the level of the top of your growbed. Is that going to be 3'? How much volume do you need to pump?

When I was down there I considered using the shells from the Salton Sea beaches as growbed media, but realize now that would keep the PH too high. Maybe snag some gravel from a dry wash if your table will take the weight? Even cheaper (if you include price of gas) might be to simply get some 3/8" (or 1/2" if they have it) pea gravel from a local landscape supply place.

I'm confused by the drawing....what are the sizes of growbed and fishtank? Is there any sump?

hey hyrdrophilia

no sump, i never was convinced on why there needed. i mite change my mind. 3-4 feet pump up.
i was thinking about salton sea shells, but the pea gravel, ive tried that years ago(Dank fish's bed room system) my fish kept on dieing, but ive been talking to tookairrs, and hes seemed not to have any problems with the pea gravel.
maybe it was just my inexperence that killed my fishys

so much stuff to try, i got a tip about Utelite, but IDK, i might just go clay pellets.

where in palm springs did you live? ive been here all my life, wondor if weve met?lol that would be funny.

sorry about my spelling last post.

bad news: the guy with the 55 gallon drums has not came back from LA yet, so still waiting on those

good news: I found my GROW BED!! its perfect!!

the grow bed i got a Lowes for $13.
its called Super Tub, and its made buy Mac Court in Denver Co.
its Polyethylene, and is 24"w X 36"l X 8"h, they say it can hold 23 gallons, but buy my math: 24x36x8=6912/231=29.92 Gallons, so well see.

link:
www.maccourt.com/products/mortartubs.html

Pic of tub (from maccourt.com)


-df

Thats a great tub. Just need to support the sides. Its pretty flimsy.

thanks for the tip hawaiinewbie, that saves me the "test fill up". do you use them?
would a 2" PVC frame work? or a little more hefty?, its not getting to much direct sun...

-df

never mind

i did a water full up test any ways, i put 25 gallons of water(with about 2" to goto the top, with no bending of the sides, these things are rigid!
thats all for now
-df

Hey DF I used one of those tubs once - just used a bungie to hold the middle together. They are bit too shallow to be optimal but are fine for small plants. For flood and drain you only get a few inches of depth.

viewtopic.php?p=16314#p16314

to keep the water level in the fish tank from fluctuating too much. If you have a 100gal FT and a 200gal growbed it will take about 2/3 of the fishtank to fill the growbeds: too much. On the other hand, with low stocking, the growbed can be small compared to the fishtank and the level change tolerable.


Maybe. Store-bought pea gravel seems to sometimes be coated with weird stuff. The stuff from a landscape supply place is much more likely to be clean. I have about 20yards of pea gravel filtering our pool right now. The trout are happy (my nephew caught two 1lb trout yesterday) and I hope the water clears as the PH drops.

[quote="Dank Fish"]where in palm springs did you live? ive been here all my life, wondor if weve met?lol that would be funny./quote]
It would be, but I've just been passing through a few times when I came down in cool season to enjoy Borrego Springs, the Salton Sea, and Joshua Tree. If I get down there again I'll drop you a line.