Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi people , here is a sketch of the dream so far , can't belive how quickly it's coming together .

The canoe is 5 m by 40 cm deep and 90cm wide at the middle .
The tank is 175 cm diametre by 65 cm deep .

I plan to run the pump from the tank to either end of the grow bed , and to have a loop siphon to drain the water back into the tank . I also liked the idea of a tap just above the tank to slow the pump a little and ad more airation . My main concern at the moment is how much rise and fall there will be in the tank . I will fill the canoe then add the water to the tank to see how much variation there is . But I really don't know what the fish will tolerate ( Most likely silver perch ) .

Now I need to by a pump and find some pipes

cool

IF my reconing is correct you have about 1-1.5m cube GB to 6 of FT. the rise and fall of 1/2 a cube of water in the GB shouldnt be too much of a worry...
Looks like a great system!

um, is the tank the cory tank I see in the background of your picture? Is it aqualined? I only ask because the zinc leaching from a galvanized tank can become toxic to fish. Such tank should be coated to lined is some way for use with fish.

Now I'm not sure how to calculate the total volume of a canoe but if the total volume of the canoe is the same as or less than the total volume of your fish tank, then once you add media to the grow bed you should only see a 30-40% fluctuation in the fish tank during flood and drain. If you find that the canoe is too big for the fish tank to handle flooding and draining it once it has media, then you might do away with the siphon and run it as a constant flood bed.

That is going to be a cool looking system.

Ahhh I didn't think about the grow media taking volume . Well things are looking bright again , very bright .

Apart from the zinc leaching thing , how much of a problem is it ? have many people had touble with it ? Does it affect certain fish ? can I coat it with something ? I am so tempted to not worry about it .

pond liner works best

There are coatings or you can use pond liner. Some types of fish are more affected than others but in general you really want to avoid any metal other than stainless steel in direct contact with fish water or you will likely find yourself struggling with otherwise unexplained fish deaths several months after getting the system going.

Potable water safe bitumen has been used or there are the swimming pool epoxy coatings or you can just get a chunk of pond liner.

In regards to the galvanised tank leaching zinc, I think recently, from memory, someone managed to keep goldfish for quite some time but then had trouble keeping trout in the same system. May depend on the tolerance of the fish.

Very true... trout are quite susceptible to zinc...

Wow , here it is in the ground . I have watched my bell siphon kick in I don't know how many times and it still keeps me enthrawled .
I had a little trouble with it at first ( not kicking in ) then I stuck a piece of inch laundry hose inbetween my two elbow joints at the exit , and it goes every time .
My tank was aqua lined so leaching won't be a problem . I have used red scoria for my grow media .
I have only got half a dozen goldfish in at the moment . Still got that stunned mullet feeling as I watch it all work .
Anyway I know I have a lot to learn . Thanks for being here ap people . My next question is what to put in the tank . I am in northern nsw ( Wooli ) . Thank you so much again to everyone who contributes to this site . Here is some pics .

hahahaha..... I love it.... Very innovative...

Hiya and Welcome..

I noticed in the Picture you have the tank end of the canoe on Concrete Block in the pond.. How old are the block's..

Keep an eye on the pH..

Juergen

I have been wondering for awhile about using an old boat.....i like it!

glad you went for it!.. i've seen a couple canoes and thought about using one..