Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have been thinking about a 1 barrel system for a while. I had a look at yabbies system on murrys forum but thought it would be a bit better with a 1/2 barrel added to it.

Looks good. It appears to be holding the weight of the top barrell with expaned clay but what about when it has water as well - that would be my only concern.

It reminds me of the BYAP Balcony System.

yep id be worried about the GB blowing out when it is full. looks like he had sand in there erbe for the weight of water. big thumbs up Zman

I thought they were all hydroton - then I looked at the pic again after your post Freoboy - "Washed Sydney Sand" - I guess it is strong enough.

Just needs a bit of strength added to stop it bowing out a nice edge and that will be a very nice, neat and simple system.

Well done ZMan.

May need some support across the top of the GB so it does not spread. It may handle the weight as per the photo but when full with hydroton and water there will be significant sideways pressure on the GB.

Neat system though

Thanks guys.

It has 3x 20kg bags worth of blue metal, 2x bags of 20kg sand and 1 bag of 50L clay balls in the GB. In total probably 120+kg worth of stuff in the GB at the moment. I put them in to see if they will cause the sides to collapse.

I think because of the slope of the GB that the majority of the weight is in the center i dont think i will need additional support. I will add it if need be though.

yeh weight is one thing, now fill it up with water, and see what happens. water pushes on the sides too

Forgot to put i will be putting in glass shrimp / guppies in here to breed to feed the silvers/trout.

But it might be a good system for people that want to try out aquaponics with little outlay as well.

Yep I wanted to see if it can handle the weight firstly (with the windows i didnt know if it would buckle or not). I will be filling it with water and clay maybe on friday and see what happens

subscribing... I'd like to do something like this for my balcony

Looks cool, if you are worried about bowing out you could drill a hole on both sides about where the X is marked or a bit higher, then put a strap or wire through it, to the other side.. You might have to fiddle to get it the exact right length but should work.. The trick will be to see how it goes when it's hot, when the plastic becomes more supple and pliable.

this is pretty sweet, to grow feeder fish or whatever.. may have to do this eventually. Couldn't you put a plank of wood under the horizontal GB for support/weight distribution..don't know that it would help much when it gets hot in fact it may be a hindrance due to the added weight.

So when are you filling it up Zman?

Probably on Friday or Sat as i need to get a 500L/h pump.

You want some pics?

Yep...thats a great idea