Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ok - I'm looking for two types of test systems at this stage.

Setup 1:
Will be indoors away from direct sunlight, there is plenty of natural light into the room just not near the windows (brother's Fishtank), I saw someone else with a similar setup suspended over their fishtank and some PVC tubing.

What sort of things can I expect would be able to grow?

Setup 2:
Fishtank will be indoors with window propped open enough to feed piping outside into an external grow bed just outside window.
Window will be locked in position etc. and proper boards in place with pipe holes etc. etc. (but I digress).

The area will be shaded most of the day except for the afternoon where it will get the afternoon sun.
During the hotter weather it is comfortable to stand/sit there as there is a small free-standing carport (not used for a car though).

During the colder weather / frosty mornings it doesn't feel as chilly as it is sheltered from the cross-drafts nicely due to the fence with shadecloth over it cutting down on strong drafts through the area.

What can I expect to grow here?


Third Question:
Parents have oodles amounts of spare piping that you would use in a home garden water setup, would this be suitable for piping the water around? Means it's quite flexible and an inexpensive setup as only need to buy some materials to make a complete system.

I don't have specifics on size of fishtank etc. at this point but just general questions.

Additional question.

There is no licencing required at all in larger setups? Esp when fish such as Bream, Trout etc. might be growing?

In WA you can grow Trout< Bream ETC without a license, license is required if you resell them, from what I have read all states are similar, I think to be sure check your local fisheries web site

I think with Q1 not much without a grow light
Q2 what ever is in season, but we couldn't leave a window open in my area locked or not,
Q3 I have a small system that I use poly pipe for plumbing without a problem, your main problem with an external GB and an internal fish tank will be enough water in fish tank to pump into the grow bed, it maybe more practical to have a small tank and GB outside, you can use a 205lt drum for instance or even an IBC that you can get cheap or even free if your in the right place at the right time, but a 205lt drum laying on it's side with hole cut along the top is a good start, make sure drum is extra clean, try and get one that hasn't had chemical or fuel in it

Righto - I'd probably go gold-fish initially. As cheap and simple and I know them >.<

I'll look into a grow-light for the first setup.
As for the second I suppose I should clarify, what sort of ratio of water -> growbeds should I be looking at?

So based on volume of 1 part fishtank size -> 1 1/2 parts growbed? or some such comparison?

Just to put it into laymens terms for myself that is.

if you had 100lt tank then you ideally have 100lt GB but then you have no water left in the tank, in the wifes bathtub system we have a sink as GB and water runs in the top and out the bottom so not much in the GB at one time, probably the best way to go, just make sure you have water running all around your GB, still may use half your FT of water when pumping, is many FT systems in here try looking here at a couple of idea's viewtopic.php?f=18&t=1617&start=0

Yeah been looking at those.

My first test system will now be at parents. As my mum pointed out, she currently has a bath-tub with 3 goldfish in that she hasn't fed for a long long time. There are various types of plants in it and the system has been in place for many years already so pretty mature aquatic life there I feel.

Going to use an old weber bbq that's currently a planter at the moment as a Grow Bed...

I think the weber will work, it would make a good GB over the Bath tub, a 1000 litre per hour pump would serve it well, remember theat the amount of pipe you will need will cause the pump to circulate much less check out this one http://cgi.ebay.com.au/1000lph-New-Aqua ... 5d289410dc a good tip is if you are buying a pump then get an even bigger one than you need to allow for when you ultimately expand

I highly recommend reading the Basic Info Section and the Useful info section of the forum to answer many questions about aquaponics and tip you off to the next questions you will need answered.

The weber bbq, is it metal? Beware metal and aquaponics since aquaponic water tends to be corrosive and many metals will leach into water and can be toxic to fish. Generally best to avoid metal in contact with aquaponic water unless it is iron you want to rust away or food grade stainless steel which won't corrode.

for an indoor system you need a grow light unless the system is so lightly stocked that houseplants can take up the nutrients (few systems are ever that lightly stocked though.)

The outdoor system, yea what's in season.

If these fish tanks already have adequate filtration (like if they are aquariums that have been operating long term and you are just trying to use up the nutrients to avoid having to do water changes, then the ratio of grow bed to fish tank doesn't matter so much, it will be how much plants you need to use up the nutrients. However, if these are new planned Aquaponics set ups. The Golden Ratio for flood and drain Aquaponics would be 2:1 That is twice as much grow bed as fish tank. You guessed it though, if you have 200 liters of grow bed and only 100 liters of fish tank, your fish will run out of water when the grow beds flood. For such a 2:1 system you would need either an additional sump to contain extra water to deal with water level fluctuations or some means to sequence the flooding of a series of grow beds to minimize the fluctuations in the fish tank. A simple 1:1 system can have the grow bed flooded and there will still be more than half of the fish tank volume left so a simple 1:1 system can still work as long as it is only stocked according to the volume of grow bed. Recommended stocking levels are something like 2 kg of fish per 100 liters of grow bed.

I have tried a system with pipes going out a window before. I don't really recommend it. Is there a reason you wouldn't just put the fish tank out under the carport with the system? Keeping a fish tank inside when you have flood and drain grow beds outside won't really help temperatures much either way and may simply cause you extra expense on the HVAC in the house along with possible messes, spills, overflows in the house. Granted, if this is an established aquarium set up then there are probably other things to take into account since a display aquarium, you won't want level fluctuations and a sump will probably need to be involved. In which case some water exchange regime between the aquarium and the AP system might be the easiest thing to do but you need to make sure not to use any aquarium medications or threatments if you intend to eat the fish or the produce.

Good Luck in your research and design.

Hurm.

I like it...

Need a good spot that has a chart (and pictures) of size of pumps you'll need and the sort of setups you can use them in.
Be good if that was on the wiki >.<

That pump will do around 200lph at 1mt head.
Good advice TC, webers are generally steel with an enamel coat, I think totally safe,

What does it mean by "Max Head Height"

Is that how high the pump can pump the water up vertically?

The Maximum Head is that elevation from the free surface of the water being pumped (pushed) to the Height at which the flow rate becomes zero.
It is a linear function (relies on the Density of water and Hydrostatic head) so you can easily extrapolate what flow you get at any height above the free water surface. Note that this only applies if you have a straight length of pipe without fittings etc. Each fitting, bend, elbow or valve adds the the pipe friction as well as the pipe itself! and lowers the effective available head the pump can acheive.
Net Positive Suction Head is that height that a Pump can 'suck' from a free water surface. The maximum suction head (NPSH) of a perfect pump for water is 10m (32 feet) after which it won't go any further and a vacuum forms in the pipe, the pump cavitates and normally shits itself after a while.
Also note the differences in performance of non-positive displacement pumps ( i.e. Centrifugals, turbines. flick pumps etc) as distinct from positive displacement pumps such as Gear within Gear, piston or membrane types for example.
You will normally be using Centrifugals for AP supply etc and Membrane or Piston for Air supply.
Cheers IanK

Nice - thanks for the info there Ian!

yes Vic and what Ian said, best pumps are the design I posted, Resun type and Tornado by Jebeo, they are very low wattage for good volume, for instance my 12,000lph pump uses about 150wts, the one above uses around 25wt

Ok - going to get started on first aquaponics system this weekend with luck.
Now parents have a current bathtub with plants + fish.
Mum hasn't had to airate / feed them in a LONG time now and there are at least 2 fish in there (it is quite full of various plants).

We would have to move the plants out of the tank and leave the fishtank only for the fish in a Aquaponics system yeah?

I'd imagine the water would be quite full of micro-organisms as it's been in place for a good 10-years... just during the warmer weather she needs to top up the water as it Evaporates, so the last couple of months she has barely filled it due to the cooler weather down our way in VIC.

I'll get some pictures soon if I can.