Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi folks,

Time for a post on the barra system,

We have been growing and eating spinach for a couple of months now,a couple of nights ago I harvested our first broccoli,I think I left it about a week to late but we already had heaps of veges in the fridge to devour.It was just before it started to go to seed.Tasted yummy a bit of a cross between baby broccoli and normal broccoli.I didn't tell the family I harvested it and they thought it was from the fruit and vege shop.I asked them all what they thought about it and all agreed it was nice and I then told them it was from our garden grown from fish pooh! I promptly got a chorus of oooh Daad,I laughed and said it was from our vege patch,and the fish helped to grow it,they all liked it.I liked it but I agree with my daughter who said she could not taste to much difference,and I said but the good thing is you know no harmful things have been sprayed or whatevered to it.They all agreed.


Cheers.

How did you get on with the barra? How big did they get? Did you end up putting a heater in?

Hi King Erik,

Oh yes,the barra,

Still doing OK about 270mm and not growing a lot right now,sometime they feed,and other times not as much.Moving fairly slowly some mornings.

I split the original system into 2, 500 litre on one side of the pergola and the other next to the barbie on the other side of the pergola.both have hospital tanks 200 litres the one next to the barbie is now a separate trout system and the 500 litre tank in the original position now has 2 X 300 watt Draeger Aquarium heaters in it 2 150mm air stones and a 6000 litre per hour float switch operated pump to the original 1000 litre grow bed.

You know how wet cold,windy and miserable it's been this winter?well,my barra tank is standing up to the elements very well indeed and keeping the tank at 18-20 C overnight.The Barra are just going to have to put up with that for another month or so.

Some really cold nights I turn off my grow bed and the next morning the barra have their Speedo's on sun baking at a pleasant 28 C.Just got to minimize the amount of time I turn off the water for the sake of water quality. but it does work well.

Cheers.

Good stuff bigdaddy, I'm sure the veges and the plate size fish will get that 'malicious cow' to stop dropping her plant droppings into your yard

Nah Abdul, wouldn't even give her the the steam of my p!$$......stupid bag.

I've been away for ages and thought I'd update yous all on what I've been doing with my system.

Harvested the 18 trout,sizes ranging from 260 grams to 490 grams,not bad for a few months grow out I thought.

Took that 500 litre container and rejoined it to the barra system,It's on the right of the one shown.

The white bucket is a home made skimmer box with a 40mm DWV going into about the middle of the tank via a 45 degree fitting,then another drain comes out of the bottom of the skimmer box to the swirl.

This has cleaned up the tank,with the pump out of the fish tank and in the sump(far left),now the only thing in the fish tank are a 45 degree suckerupper,heaters and air discs.

Moving from right to left.

Made up a home made swirl filter and added it

Added a sump.

This is a picture of the skimmer box,

when water drains from the grow bed into the fish tank there is enough head pressure on top of the water to force water up the suckerupper through the hole on the right then down the grated hole on the left,some solids get caught here but it is really made to capture larger object like any dead fingerlings.

Water then goes down the hole on the left to the swirl filter then to the sump which gets pumped onto the grow bed.

Had some trout the other day,5 vacuum packed trout out of the freezer,washed in a brine solution in the kitchen sink,cleaned up well, individually wrapped with alfoil nothing added ,next time will go the full monty, low roasting tray on top of barbie 5 trout on roasting tray at 180 C,out after 15-20 minutes went up to 250C.

Home made potato salad with home grown parsley and chives.

Cheers.

Ahh, now I know how the suckery thing works. Does it keep the floor of the tank clean??

Yeah it's brilliant Mantis,

I found the closer to the middle you can get the bottom of the pipe near the floor, and with the "swirl"principle happening up the top from the drain of the grow bed,the solids tend to move close enough to the suckerupper to suck them up und oot.

Cheers.

My barra that I have nursed through winer are still going and are still about 300mm,purchased 40 new 100mm barra babies the other day,teenagers in the left fish tank ,babies in the left tank going to 1 1000 litre grow bed.

Cheers.

wow

nice work. What did you use for heating to keep the babies warm?

Thanks shaker,

I have 2 X 300 watt Dreager aquarium heaters that I have used in 1 500 lire fish tank all winter,now I put 1 300 watt heater in each tank,It is adequate,just,but that is all they are getting.

I also have a $69.00 car shelter from Kmart over the grow bed,that helps a bit,now that it is still cold.and it should be hot grrrr.And sometime I will build a shelter around the tanks but that is still going to have to wait.

Cheers.

Nice. Cant wait to see fuller sized Barra being culled

I see freoboy is thinking of using old mattresse for insulation. I agree it should be hot now. Funny though 2 years ago Perth rained into December(or late Nov) I remember because junior cricket was interupted most weekend.

It's funny you should say that Shaker,

This time last year,we were coming out of a week of heat wave conditions,tomorrow I reckon we'll be lucky to hit 21 C,that was about the coldest night minimum last year during that heat wave,I reckon.

Stupid weather,who knows what it will do.

Hopefully we'll get the barra though to Chrismas,I'm looking forward to that as well.

Cheers