Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have been reading about AP stuff for about a year. I have had a koi pond in the backyard for about 10 years. A FW aquarium for about 5 years, a saltwater aquarium for a year, and then cherry shrimp in my kids FW aquarium for about a month.

I am planning on revitalizing my backyard, since the landscaping is about 10 years old. I have a 6 year old son and a 10 year old daughter. Both will probably find it all very interesting. I'll be taking out the koi pond from one space and using the pond as my fish tank. I bought a second preformed plastic pond 275-300 gal and will be using it as my sump and grow beds. The lower portion will be the sump, and the upper portion will hold my grow beds.

I also plan to incorporate a black soldier fly colony to feed the fish, a rain water collection system, and a solar water heater. I already have the two ponds, a few pumps, and two solar water heaters. I had been planning the rainwater collection for a few years, so that will be nice. I am drawing it up in google sketch up and plan to put together a build thread.

The current battle is against 2 old ash tree stumps that I am chopping, chainsawing, and digging out. The fish tank will go in that hole.

I dunno what kind of fish I will employ. I'd like to use tilapia, but might also consider sunfish/bluegill/perch ect... Or maybe catfish. It looks like the oonly tilapia I am legally permitted is the mossy tilapia. It would be nice to go catch them, rahter than buy them, but oh well.

Richard

Here is a picture of the two stumps that I have been battling. they are in the corner of the yard that I plan to put the ponds in. I did some pretty extensive surveying and built a nice model of the back yard in google sketchup. I drew in the neighbor's fences and relevant trees. This corner of the yard is not as shaded as the rest, so that's a big part of why it the new location. I'll also post the new and old ponds.

This is my pair of ponds. I'll call them the "big" and "small" ones. The old one is the small pond. I have had it for 10 years and don't recall its size. I have a few goldfish in it, and a bunch of mosquito fish (just minnows, more or less). There is a bunch of anachris, some pickerel rush, some other plants I don't recall the name of, and some lillies. I'll probably toss the rooted plants and had thought I would dump the anachris, but now I am thinking that if I go with tilapia, that they will probably want to eat those water plants. Dunno, what do yall suggest ?

The "old pond" will turn into my fish pond. It will have an outlet in the side of it near the top rim. It will flow by gravity into the "new pond".

I plan to make the lowest portion of the new pond the sump. I am thinking of putting some upside plant pots in it on the bottom level and having them support some custom trimmed plastic shelving that will "fill the gap" and permit the grow bed containers to sit on the upper pond level, if that makes sense. they will have siphons and drain directly into the sump.

Here is my super cool google sketchup model. I hid the back fence for visibility. The sun rises from the yard behind me and sets in my front yard. My fence that the ponds are along is parallel to the path of the sun.

I am a little concerned about lack of sun in this area. The oak tree and the two holly trees will provide afternoon shade. I'll probably trim the red oak to let a little more light in. At this time of year, the location where my fish pond will be is fairly shaded. I guess thats good.

That's some nice Sketchupping Richard!

Thank you. I enjoy workign with sketchup.

Well, an update. I just came in from having defeated the two stumps. they are in a pile on my pavers. I'll burn them next weekend when I go camping with my kids. Its the first time I have pressure washed firewood. Its winter in Texas, and a cold one this year !

I dig the holes tomorrow. Unfortunately, I'll have to fill in the crater where the stump was, and dig a big hole right next to it. The fish tank goes over the stumps and will be required to sit higher than the grow bed pond, which will be the new hole.

Wow, that is some good sketchup work... Don't like the look of those stumps though, just looks painful.

Great new word Dave. I look forward to seeing the progress.

I dug the big hole for the grow bed pond and then filled in underneath the rim and ensured that it is well supported udnerneath. Its fairly level.

I'm most curious how the slide is going to be incorperated

Hook up a small pump and waterfall for the fish, and water slide for the kids.

Like your idea TheNative, pile some rocks on the slide/waterfall, will further aerate the water. Kids might not like it.

Yeah, that whole area is "destructed". Its got mud all over it, since I was pressure washing those tree stump roots, then pumping the muddy water out of the hole with a five gallon bucket. I pressure washed the cut up roots in that yellow slide so that the mud ran back into the hole. I moved the fort over next to the sandbox, the slide will go there too, I guess.

Although, I have read that catfish really enjoy a good slide, as long as its muddy....

I am going to go camping this weekend (burn the stump and the moster roots) and perhaps do some fishing with my son. I am hoping to bag some small perch, sunfish, bluegil, etc... I'll probably drop some in the tank to see how they fare. I am currently considering a few perch types, a couple small catfish, and some mozzy tilapia a lil later this spring. I don't want to drive two hours to buy fish. BTW, when you go to Overton's, how many Tilapia do you get when they are $10 a pound ? sounds awfully expensive, esp when they are $1.79 a pound whole a Krogers. Does $10 get you 30 fingerlings ?

Lets compare my sketchup to real life. The reaf life is dirtier...

My friend Mike came over and we did some work on my system. We drained the existing "koi" (no actual koi were found) pond and dumped the water into the sump. We then figured out the level for the fish tank to sit and and moved it into place. I filled the lower portion of it (fish tank in new spot) with maybe 40 gallons of tap water to let the chlorine "cook off".

Q:: So, in my sump now, I have the old water, snails, mosquito fish, and a bunch of Anachris and some old leaves. I am thinking that the Tilapia may eat the anachris ? Is this right ?

I disposed of the stump and all the roots in a campfire ring over the weekend. I also grabbed some duckweed that i plan to farm in a kiddie pool to feed the Tilapia.

Mike and I also tested some parts form Lowe's that I am using to make an affnan bell siphon. It worked well, and I am hoping to make 10 or so if them for about $4-$5 each.

I need to build up the area around my fish tank to better support it. Then, I'll add fish and start things up for real.