Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ok iv been putting a lot of thought into this, as i want to keep my Trout and maybe get a few more, iv now been designing a new system.

Iv got an old Chest Deep Freeze, approx 400l, we got a new Greener one as this is a little old.

Now i would Set this up under my Pergola that has Full Sun most of the day with 90% Blockout shadecloth and a breeze that flows through all day.

The idea:

setup the Freezer as a FT, 1000lph pump out too 2 Barrels that are Upright approx 170l each as i would cut the top bits off them for more Grow area, Completly full of Media running Constant Flood back to the FT. both barrells would be Wrapped in r32 Insulation and Some soft of organic Wrap IE Muslin or Hemp, natural cotton for wetting on hot hot hot days

Now with the Large amount of Depth Vs Grow area, im sure this will stay cool, and Filtration will be ample.

The best bit about this setup is if the water warms up, on go's the deep freeze to cool the water down, with temp monitoring, im sure i would be able to setup a plan on when to run it and for how long but im guessing it may be a few hours over night on those Big Hot Stretches, idea would be to keep water temp around 15c-18c.

some of my Theorys:

the large depth of media would store the Cool temp and would take more to warm up as the Sufcace area is minimal

i would grow Hardy Leafy plants i reckon a Selection of Mint would be ok, as its hardy, and very nuterient hungry to keep Nitirites down, i would be able to research experiment with other produce, im sure lettuce etc will go nicely.

The Next idea would be in winter to Change this over too a Warm System, with some heating of some type (possibly a small potbelly style Burner to burn all the dead wood i can collect from the fire tracks etc. Same theroy with the large depth of media would help store the heat, exp if i insulate all piping as there will be Minimal Piping anyways, this wont be hard. if it was to be warmed up 2-3 Nights a week over the Coldest months to 25+ it may stay warm for a while before needing to be warmed again.

with a system like this i would be able to Winter some SP's for summer and Summer some Trout for winter, this would be efficent for fish eating not always trying to buy Mature fish to grow out, would be able to keep a wide selection of sizes too keep a continuous supply of fish to eat

Hope the freezer has no leaks. Anyhoo, you could get one of these or make your own as you know this stuff i think, and set and forget. I have one controling my fermenting freezer to keep the fermenting beer at 16C
Sounds like a good plan
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=2592

mmmm, sounds complicated and partnered with a big power bill - neither of which are nescesarily reasons not to Although Manto's comments do remind me I've got a Coopers Pale Ale brew kit to get on this weekend...

I don't think the actual freezer would need too run all that much but it will be a fun experiment.

Plus I'm bored and I wana eat my bloody trout

Sounds like as good a reason to me!

SWMBO doesnt really like the idea of this system and i was looking at the freezer and its got small brackets which are holes, and it has a join line so i think i will scrap it.

but still work on the same idea of some deep GB's and a fully insulated tank that may be able to have a few ice blocks thrown in it over the summer months to keep the temps down

maybe a kind of barrelponics setup. i seen some barrels the other day i might suss them out.

Yeah, freezers dont make really good fish tanks, they are mostly not strong enough anyway.