Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I thought of starting a thread so members can see and comment on my progress as well as give advice.
Grow beds

Drip system

150 gallo pond


I started with planting the greens, as well as instaling the hose. The tubs hold about 15 gallons each, total of 30 gallons of grow beds. I have 15 gold fish, 3 adult minnows and some fry in the pond. The system is a continous drip so it flows straight back to the pond.

This is a work in progress so I assume alot will change, and I may not have everything as it should be.

Any adivce would be appreciated.

I just posted that so you could see what I have been working with. Since then I have added a new tank, and I discovered today that I had everything to convert to a FD system rather than CF so I gathered more gravel, took all the plants out, and made the bed even deeper.

I dont quite have a true " sump " tank yet, just 2 fish tanks, one being a 110 gallon trough, and another 150 gallon pond as you can see above. Both do flucuate some, but ever since I added the 110 tank there hasnt been much change in water depth ( acctually helps with evaporation) I don't have updated pics yet since I am still in the middle of the change, and I am more worried about the stress to the plants

I will get pics asap, once the plants are back in the ground, or would it be gravel?

Am I correct in thinking that you started a second system 15 minutes after the first, I think that is a record. You have enough hose for more growbeds The plants look really healthy and the turtle looks cute, thanks for sharing no. 67.

lol,...no I just wanted to share what I have been working with over the past week, ( if you have seen my numerous postings) I know it may be a bit misleading, but I have been having issues with the constant drip system in fear of the plants only getting minimal amounts of water to survive. One day I turned the system off for a couple of hours and some of the plants wilted and later died. But my pump may not beable to work for constant flow if a continues mist is what I needed. I tested the new system and it works great, fills up quick and drains slow, but at a constant, steady pace.

Only thing I am missing is a timer for the pump. Would anyone ahve any suggestions for what they use? I should have pics up tomorrow of the entier setup.

Oh and thats acctually a species of tropical tortoise, she just happend to be strolling through the pond when i snaped the shot.

Seems like everything I have spent less than $20 loses time and I have to correct it a couple of times a month. However, this doesn't matter if your flood/drain schedule is not dependent on the actual time of day. I have a cycle timer by titan: http://www.amazon.com/Titan-Apollo-Shor ... B0040RH5JS ... from what I can tell with my stopwatch, the timer is very accurate. I am likely to trust their other products. You should be good to go with whatever though... as long as it's not from harbor freight or the GE "heavy duty electronic outdoor timer" which resets itself for no reason.

Thanks,

I've used timers for other things before, but they were always the timmer with 2-3 settings instead of having the settings broken down by 15min blocks.

How often do you allow to flood, and how long should it be flooded??

The bottom drain will take much longer to drain so If I just fill it up It should have enough time between flooding and draining.
I may also pick up a valuve today to control the drain properly instead of improvising wtih papertowels or plastic bags like I have been. I will also probably leave the pump on till I get back so the plants dont dry out like before. I also added approx a cup full of sand to each plant in the bed to prevent them from completely drying out. I havent had issues with sand yet since its only in the root ball. The drip-system did not work with this since the water would just wash the sand away. But overall I am just using river rocks for the bottom where the water sits ( below the bottom drain) then 4 inches of gravel on top of that. Once the plants grow I may just fill it up to the top and pull the plants up alittle.

also should help with root growth. ^^^

I over looked something extremely important,...my pump.

I have been having issues with the pump having to be "manually" started since the blades in the pump get stuck and have a hard time getting going, but once going it is fine. I am soaking it in viniger right now to hopefuly loosen things up. ( incase it is just calcium/mineral build up)

That shows the grow beds and the extra tank they drain into. I could not get a clear pic of inside the tank. Its 110 gallons. The growbed on the right is vaccant and not one of the 2 with plants in it. Total of 3, only 2 being used. As you can see it dose not have a drain. I just needed a pic with the tank.

I liked this pic cause it shows how full the grow bed is. Up front is lettuce, in the back is collards. I will be adding mustard greens soon once the sprouts grow.

Shows both beds flooded. Bed to the right has 2 tomatoes, 1 cucumber and a cabage head. No, the cabage was not sprouted. I found a old head in the fridge with roots sprouting out the bottom. I just simply laid it in there and aweek later tones of roots.

The pond has not changed since last post. I do not have a sump tank ( yet) but not much water is taken from both tanks to make a significant difference.



If you compare the first post and this one, there has only been 11 days of growth for the collards and lettuce.

Ah, here are the pics!

yes, I also posted a link on the other thread. lol.

Hey is that a stand in stunt cabbage in the bed on the right..

I dont think I understand what you mean by that??

also, just to clear up some things. The water is pumped from the pond to the bed then drains to the tank that drains the extra water back the pond.

Do I understand that you are using water that is home to a turtle to feed your growbed produce? Check out the forum for issues regarding reptiles and possible salmonella.

Don't get me wrong, I like the looks of the young lady, but nobody wants to get sick.

If you listen closely, she may whisper turtleponics into your ear. It's quite possible that you can keep the two systems water separate. One for the lovely lady and plants for her very own consumption, and one with fish and plants for human consumption.