Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello to all, I have been poaching info off this forum for a while now so I thought it was about time I joined. I have attempted to attach some pics of our very rustic/recycled system. Its a simple flood and drain type set up with auto siphons. One growbed has strawberries and the other is mix of seedlings pinched from my wifes vegi patch. There is currently 30 trout in the tank growing very happily towards a date with the BBQ. They are roughly 6-8 inches long. Unfortunately I found this forum after I had already built most of the system so I have since realised some bits probably aren't quite right but I guess I'll just have to build a bigger better one next time!

Cheers for all the great info,

Chris and Amanda.

And they just keep popping up!!

Tell us a bit more about your set up Chrismoo (santacow?)

no standpipe, how do you get water height in GB?
is that what that loop in GB to FT is ?
is that a galv or new sort ?
looks good , what is the orientation to sun, north facing ?

A bit more info...

Located on north facing side of shed. Water height in GB is controlled by position of the top of the siphon loop. It fills the GB until the water flows over the top of the loop and starts to siphon. If it all stuffs up (hasn't happened yet) and doesn't siphon, it just overflows out the pipe fitting back into the tank.

Tank is galv but the bottom was rusted out so I put a pond liner in it. Tank was a freebie as it had blown off a tank stand and the top (which got cut off) was all smashed in.

Actually I have been meaning to work out what the total cost of system was, I'll let you know but should be under $500.

FT is a bit over 2000 litres and GB's about 600 litres combined. I now know this isn't ideal but it seems to be working fine.

Theres something very satisfying about throwing in a handful of feed and seeing the trout go beserk! So far the only problem has been birds eating the strawberries.

Welcome Chris and Amanda.... doesn't look to be too much wrong with what you've done...

Do you know everyone in this universe Rupe??

Well it does say Chris and Amanda in the first post lol.

Apart from needing more filtration, the only thing I'd be doing is making the water inlet to the growbed less splashy. Not a problem at this time of year, but in summer you will end up with a horrible algae mess.

Hi Chrisamoo,
Nice looking system BTW.
Good to see you have it in a Northern aspect.
Just a question out of interest, you say you are doing flood and drain, does your pump run 24/7 if not what are the intervals, just curious to see how it works with the syphon loops.

Thanks for the advice Outbackozzie, any ideas on how to make it less splashy? It had just rained before I took those photos but it does splash a bit. Maybe I could bury the outlet...

skipd, the pump is on timer and comes on for 15 minutes every hour. Once it starts to siphon the amount of water coming in pretty much matches the amount of water going out. It seems to fill consistently to about 20-30mm below the top of the gravel. I have to be a bit careful not overfill the FT above the end of the siphon loop otherwise it seems to get an airlock and wont siphon until enough water has pumped out.

Looks alright Cris.... Only I reckon you might want look at putting something in where your siphon outlet is, so you can access it.. Roots will grow down into the siphon pipe pretty quickly and block it... A bit of 90mm pipe with lots of holes or slots allows you to access the entrance to the siphon at any time to remove those adventurous roots.....

You'll never think any amount of filtration is enough OBO...

Wagin hey....well your doomed then



G'day chrismoo nice system, but now you will be expanding in no time, not doing anything else around the house and getting in the manure with the wife....don't say you weren't warned

Regs Nashy

Thanks for the warning Nashy, although I have a sneaking suspicion my wife is getting into this more than she would like to admit.

earthbound, I have got a bit of 50mm pipe with slots cut in it laying horizontally on the bottom of the GB to try and stop the roots, but its hard to access. With the 90mm pipe did you mean to have it poking out above the gravel so you can reach down to the siphon outlet and clear it? Could be a good idea because I moved a strawberry plant recently and the roots were massive.

If I knew how much interest this AP thing would create I would have put an entry fee on my back gate.