Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Like this (not showing floats to hold planter up), water has to go out the sides of the round planter through many holes.

I.e. like an aquarium sponge filter but with the sponge at the top rather than the bottom, and with plants in it.

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It would require a plant that doesn't mind constant water but I think I've seen sort of similar things done before. Might need extra aeration to make the bio filter more effective but for a very lightly stocked aquarium it might be fine.

BTW, this could be implemented with two wheelie bins (trash cans) and a few planters (plant pots, buckets, or tubs). Small continuous pump, constant height and flow in both bins. Air stone in fish bin and in drain tube.

Simple system made this way:

Wouldn't it be a damn lot of work ?

Would it? You only change planters at feeding times. Also the planters are not full of gravel, they would have something lightweight in them instead.

Take them in and pull them out every day? Really adds a load more tasks that need to be performed, how would you leave the system by itself if you had to go somewhere? No using an automatic feeder.

I'm not knocking you idea, don't get me wrong, I just don't understand the need :S

Hey Abdul, thanks for the comments:

Tasks:

At feeding time:
1. Get new/next planter
2. Swap old with new planter
3. Feed fish
4. Put old planter back where it goes

There are several benefits from a setup like this:
1. Modular, both in space and in time. Can easily add more filtering capacity (add one barrel and X planters). Can easily adjust planter numbers and schedules depending on how much or little solids are needing to be filtered. Small modules encourage tuning plantings to seasonal variations.
2. Small core footprint.
2. Simple equipment requirements
3. Small continuous pump
4. Constant flow and constant water levels
5. Core system can be located in a dark place
6. Plants can be in a bright place
7. Plants can be distributed widely, not just next to the core system
8. Plants can be shared but still part of the AP system

Regarding #7, I can have my fish in our dark concrete basement that has stable temps. If the system leaks down there it is not a disaster. The only indoor places in our house that are reliably sunny are the living room and kitchen, which are on the SW sides of the house. Those rooms have wood floors which I will never ever locate an fish tank or plumbing lines on. But with this setup I can have the fish safely in the basement and the plants located where they will be happiest. When the weather warms up in the Spring I can move them onto the deck and into the back yard. A trip up and down the stairs with a planter in hand will not be a hardship - I will be making that trip anyway to feed the fish. If the planters are difficult to get to then that could be a pain, maybe if they are large, or the planters are heavy that may make it more painful. I actually need the exercise though.

This setup does not have to be the entire system. I might use a stock tank for the upwelling biofilter, and plant plants into the top of it. Those plants would be fixed. The water after the filter has the solids filtered out of it which would be good for NFT channels or rafts.

For now I think this will work well for having an AP system through the Winter without an insulated greenhouse.

Hum
Intriguing (dang how the heck did I manage to spell that right?) idea.

I seriously doubt I would have the discipline to make that method work though. One poor planter would get left in the basement being waterlogged as the rest get parched out in the sun.

Nope, I gotta automate it some way. I can't even keep seedlings properly moist for more than a couple days is I don't work out some automatic method.

Like TCL and Abdul, I don't want to be putting a bummer on a new idea, but I also reckon the work would put me off. I feed my fish during the week and that's about all I got time for. I really on fiddle/maintain the system on the weekends. May be a different story if I was retired or worked from home.

Not sure if it would be picked up much in the backyard world, however, I do believe that the flexibility provided may have application in a commercial setup !

Hey DD, I see you've put a lot more thought into this idea since you spent the whole night dreaming it up

Wouldn't you have to carry a whole bunch of planters down the stairs every day at feeding time then? The diagram you put up has a whole line of planters na? Carrying just one planter wouldn't be so much work I guess, as long as the plants in it were small ones.

Sorry again if I'm eating your head, just trying to get a clear picture :]

hey DD neat idea really looks like it will be a way of sharinf AP to a greater community (i.e. work collegues) and jopefully drumming up some new systems

your growth rates might not be so great, seeing as the plants are out of the water for a few days at a time??

and how many fish do you have stocked in it atm?

DD set your pots up like the self watering pots below or use pot within a pot wick system. You'd have to alter either of these to work with your system or just use one of these and don't worry about moving the pots to the aquaponic setup.

Here's a good example of a diy self watering planter.
http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-mak ... -container
probably just use leca instead of the compost and still have it work