Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I am interested in starting in aquaponics. I would like to start with a smaller system to get my feet wet, not literally I hope. I was wondering what I could reasonably expect from a barrelponic system. I would like to go with yellow perch or tilapia. What should my fish stock rate be for a 55 gallon barrel? I plan on 2-4 grow beds, 55 gallon barrels cut in half length wise, and possibly some runs of NFT. I have read the barrelponic manual but it does not indicate what to expect from the system output wise.

Maybe 5 - 10 fish, and some vegies. You can only grow so much in barrels.

I would advise swapping the sideways barrel for a stock tank fish tank but that is just my personal feeling cause I have difficulty seeing into the barrel fish tank.

Anyway, rule of thumb amount of fish that a system might support (figuring by planned grown out size)
5 lb of fish per 25 gallons of grow bed
so for each half barrel grow bed, you might be able to support 5 tilapia if you are planning to grow them out to 1 lb each.

I don't know how well the perch would do in small tanks or with minimal aeration so I won't venture to recommend numbers of those.

However, tilapia are gonna need warm water. Where will this system be located? Will you be heating the water?

I'd go for a bigger fish tank to start with. You can allways add more gb's and the fish tend to get larger in a bigger tank.

Yep, definately go with a bigger tank if at all possible.

Thanks for the replies. I have had reef aquaria for about 12 of the last 15 years, so I understand that larger is always better when it comes to aquatic life. Unfortunately I don't have the funds at the moment to acquire or build a larger tank for the fish. I do have a nearly unlimited supply of free 55 gallon barrels and pumps, heaters etc. from the saltwater systems I am no longer running. I can basically get a system up and running for the cost of the gravel, plumbing and fish.

I realize the tilapia would need to be heated, I intend to keep the fish in the basement and the grow beds along the foundation. I may have a grow bed or two inside under lights during the winter. The grow beds outside are along a south-west facing, dark stone foundation wall that will be covered via hoop houses or coldframes. The basement window will open into the coldframe to supply additional heat in the winter. What are the differences in care, feeding, water condition etc. between yellow perch and tilapia?

Hum, So long as water can be kept warm, tilapia are rather easy to keep (they can survive some of the worst conditions though they won't grow fast under those conditions.) Mixed gender tilapia are likely to breed and that will greatly slow growth of the females especially.

You might have to do some research into the conditions for yellow perch. I can't remember for sure but I think GotFish? from Iowa might have tried yellow perch. I would have to search his thread though to be sure.
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=480
I believe they require a bit better circulation and aeration that tilapia (but then again almost all other edible fish do.)

Thanks for the link...that's one long thread... It seems the more I read, the better tilapia are sounding but which type to use? I'll start another thread on that topic.

I vote bigger tank. An 8'x2' round blue poly stock tank works great and gives you 625 gallons of fish tank space.

I currently have a 150 gallon rubbermaid FT with 3 split barrel grow beds filled with cinder and 1 split barrel as a DWC with float raft. I plan on adding one more 1 more DWC float raft when I get bulkheds in. That will give me around 125 gallons of filter medium for 150 gallons of water, pretty close to ideal 1:1 ratio. I couldn't find a supply of tilapia, so I have 10 koi in the 12-14" size in my FT. I won't be eating the fish, but the do provide with an abundant supply of waste and have my -rates in the 40-80 range.
In my GB I have several different lettuce, parsley, green onion & basil out the wazoo. A cherry tomato and roma tomato in the corners of the GB away from the drain are pretty prolific. Cucumber is growing well but not blooming yet. Rainbow chard did well. Bok Choi grew but stayed small. Strawberries are growing but no blooms. Parsley is going well, but for some reason I can't get cilantro to sprout. I just started 6 bell peppers that have doubled in size in 2 weeks. I'm starting some squash, local pumpkin and other vine vegi in corners of the GB and plan to let them hang over the sides.
Now that I have an abundant -rate I figure its taking about a month to grow a head of buttercrunch lettuce to picking size. I can cut a handfull of basil every other week. Pick maybe 6-8 romas a week, double that for the little cherry tomatos. I can go out and pick enough side lettuce leaf for a salad every week. Every 2-3 weeks I cut my green onion stalks that are probally 12-16" tall and as thick as my pinky and let them regrow.
With barelponics you need to be careful to keep plants with massive root system away from the drains as they will clog them up pretty quick. I learned the hard way with my first tomato right next to a drain and it was a constant battle to keep it draining properly. Now I just plant lettuce near the drains.
I'm probally at my limit as far as grow space with my small FT, but as far as my first small system I can tell you I'm pretty impressed with what I am harvesting, not massive, but enough to put some vegis on my table and still share some with family and friends. I'm definately planning on a bigger system, starting to eye a unused old jacuzzi that is probally 500-600 gallon capicity. Now that will produce some poundage of vegis if I ever get it up and running.
Good luck with your system. I would definately go with a bigger FT, 150 gallon at minimum, but after you get going you will wish you had a bigger tank. But you can plan on sucess with a 150 gallon tank and 4-5 GB will serve you nicely as a beginner system.
Sorry I have pictuer of my system, but my card reader isn't working so I can't get them on my computer.

Good luck.

Peace,
Cory

finally got the driver for my card reader working and got some pics for you of my barrelponics..........cory