Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ok let me start by explaining the name. So my somewhat skeptical and usually mild-mannered wife got pissed at me the other day about my AP plans, and in a moment of anger (mostly related to a certain time of the month) called me a selfish bastard - and hence the name was born!!

So I am excited to say my AP room is close to completion. I built a small (much smaller than I had hoped) room in the garage. This room is serviced through the HVAC so it will be a constant climate year round and safe from the elements and critters. Here are some before and after (current) photos:






I guess I need a wide angle lens since the room is so small. It's 7.3 feet by 8.5 feet.

I still need to tape/bed and paint.

So you can see my 300 gallon IBC (which will be cut down to a capacity of 250 gallons). I have 4 double 4 foot T8 fluorescent shop lights with 6500k daylight bulbs. I also have a 55gal barrel for my swirl filter. Now, I need to build my grow beds and line them with pond liner and get a water and air pump. Then plumb everything.

Here is my plan for the system: Please give me any and all feedback on the design. Obviously space is a huge consideration right now. The grow beds will be stacked roughly 3'x7' and about 18" deep (15" of water).



My main concern is to prevent flooding if the pump or power goes out.
Also, there will be an air pump, aerating the FT and both grow beds.

Thanks alot, I am very excited about the adventure, and hope to have water in the system by early March!!

Something tells me she will enjoy the fruits of your AP endeavers. The room looks great. The plan looks great. I would put a grow bed with media immediately after the swirl filter. The swirl filter may settle out the majority of solids, but won't offer a substrate for all the good bacteria to grow. So your plants may thrive, although I suspect fine solids will accumulate in your raft tanks, maybe not. The water quality for your fish will suffer over time. This is from an aquaculture perspective. More experienced APers may correct me.

To gain more filtering, maybe you could put a media filled growbed above the raft tank?

Welcome SB!

Your setup looks similar to the Otterponics one, you might check this out:

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8628

Is there a way to put in some solatubes or skylights to get free sunlight into the garage?

I was thinking about some form of mechanical filtration. I would like to use a media filled grow bed for this purpose (or maybe just a canister filter). I did like the otterponics setup, and those trays were pretty sweet! The thing is I was trying to avoid putting in an additional sump tank (as floor space is limited), but that might be necessary. And yes the thought of solar tubes did cross my mind

Thanks for the input

Making sure to plant some of her favorite plants in the grow bed (whether fruit, veggie, herb, or flower) will go a long way toward winning her over!

Yes, I'm sure she will be happy once the veggies start rolling in. Although she hates fish, so that won't win any points. I have an optional plan that I have considered but is more complex.



Thoughts?

Either a vacuum will form in the biofilter (if it is sealed at the top), or Raft 2 will overflow from FT water I think with this setup.

The biofilter could be an upwelling type, so that the swirl filter outlet doesn't have to be much higher than the biofilter inlet. The outlet from the swirl filter would go all the way to the bottom of the biofilter, with water then coming up through, and out near the top of the biofilter. I've been wanting to do something using one, to me upwelling biofilters are very helpful with vertical fall issues, and the top of the biofilter can be planted too! Maybe try putting one in there and see if that helps.

I think I'm wrong about the vacuum etc.

Here's the flow with an upwelling biofilter:

Very rocking idea Wolgie!

I can't wait to see how it turns out. A couple of things: make sure your T5 lights are on a chain system that can expand/retract. Seedlings grow sooo slow if the light isn't lowered for them. I'd definitely have more filtration than one swirl filter (I come from the pre-filter camp). Maybe you can setup multiple swirl filters or have a filter (or 2) with medium after the swirl filter. Make it look good and your wife will enjoy it-mine does!

Thanks for all the posts so far, I will have the grow lights on chains, and probably need to add even more lights. I originally was going to cut the IBC down (a little) for easier access for cleaning and harvesting, but, I know once I do, I will regret it or will need that couple of extra gallons or inches. So I think I will just cut the top out (close to the edges) and build a small step or two for the above reasons. I think I have a more elegant solution for the mechanical filtration than that last sketch. This way there shouldn't be an emergency overflow problem, and far less plumbing and maintenance.



The 6 foot 6" sealed PVC pipe will start with coarse gravel, then smaller gravel (in a mesh bag), then some filter pad material for the final stage. Each end will have a screw on cap (or something) so it can be removed and cleaned periodically.

What do yall think?

When I said more elegant than that last sketch I was referring to my last sketch (not the upwelling biofilter sketch). I like that idea as well and will keep it in mined, have not heard of that before.

That all depends on how much time you're spending endeavoring, not tending to her concerns.

Don't ever let her see this thread. You'll be in the doghouse for sure if you put that "SBAP" logo on the side of the fish tank.

A way to make this all a bit more simple, just make the upper grow bed a media filled bed, it will give you a good bio-filtration and keep the water a bit cleaner before it goes down to the bottom bed. Or you could simply have both beds constant flood with media in it. Otherwise you will be severly limited as to the amount of fish you can keep because a pipe of gravel won't provide that much bio-filtration.

You can overflow if the 6" pipe clogs If you can put it slightly above the grow bed, you can cut out the top (down the length of the pipe) so it's open and the media is easy to change. This way a clog would allow water to run over the media and still into the growbed.... much better than on the floor.

I forgot to mention I like your avatar. That is one of the best movies ever filmed!

What software and you using to drawl your diagrams? Would it be possible to have a settling tank about the same size as the swirl filter next to it? The settling tank can also house filter media.