Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi, I'm simeon and live in Joondalup, WA.

I'm converting my hydroponics system into an aquaponics system. I'm using it as a trial system to get some experience which I plan to use in the design of a later 2nd system incorporated into an extension I'm building to my house. I plan to keep fish in tanks in a celler and grow plants on 1st storey roof garden. The extention i'm building will in the future be an independent house when the lot is rezoned (currently waiting WAPC approval). Thats why I'm utilising roof and celler as it will eventually be quite a small lot. The disadvantage with this is my power costs pumping from celler to roof garden. I plan to minimise this disadvantage by doing all my biological filtering within the celler on high volume pumps. And then use much slower (lower power pumps relative to water head) for feeding plants on roof garden. My hydroponics experience tells me the plants will be quite happy with this. I'll then run my water back down a living wall garden back to the celler so I'm making the most of the water on the way back to the fishes and not wasting any of the height i've pumped the water up. Have a very interested architect working on this with me and will be putting plans to council over next 3 months. We are planning on using Zego (Polystyrene blocks with reinforced concrete) to construct the extension/house which will give us very good insulation (easy to control celler temperature), allow me to hide 40mm pipe work in the walls, and provide good support to wall planting system.

Anyway thats my mid-term plan, but back to my trial system (converted hydroponics) i building this weekend. I have a Nally bin, and am considering contouring the base with concrete so as to direct, settled solids towards the pump. Is concrete a bad idea? will it make the water to alkaline for the fishie fishies? If so any other suggestions on a better materials i can use to contour the base.

cheers

Simeon

Gday Simeon...

I wouldn't bother trying to contour the bottom, you should be ok. I have many flat bottom tanks with fish in them and hardly ever have troubles with solids. Some times solids settle where ribs are on the base, but a flat bottom should be fine..

Sounds like an interesting house project...

Ok, thanks 'back to earth'. Will try out as is first

Lets see....converting from Hydro to Aqua

Remove chemicals
Clean tanks
Add fresh water
?
Profit

Bang a few growbeds and filters.....

Whats so hard and mystical about that?

What "chemicals" would that be?

Nutrients/Chemical...

NaCI/Salt?
NO3/Nitrate?
H2O/Water

What chemicals are used in Hydro?

Just brandylorton resurecting an ancient thread that had the word "hydroponic" in it

The post contributed nothing to the conversation - I deleted it

Love ya work