Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

After looking into aquaponics for a while, I finally took the plunge and built an ibc system to start having a play. I've used the website and forums plenty of times for research, so thought i should finally get on board.
I pretty much followed the ibc of aquaponics with a few mods and extras to get it looking the part to sit out the back where everyone can see it.
It's been up and running for 2 weeks. I added some seasol and few buckets of pond water, then cycled flat out for a day. Day 2 I added a couple of bronze commets to test the water and some seedlings. After a week I washed in some filter pads from a biological filter and added 10 yabbies. Unfortunately I lost 4 in the first few days, i'm thinking it was poor stock as the rest of them seem happy and it happened in the first couple of days.
I found the water splashing back into the FT too loud so sunk it below the water level. What's everyone's thoughts on this in regards to aeration, it's blowing a lot of bubbles and i'm running the pump 15 on 15 off, will it be enough when i'm more heavily stocked or should I look at other options? I've got a few ideas that should work.
I've also had zero readings on ammonia, nitrite and nitrate with ph 7.8 to 8.2. Testing about every 3 days, should I try and induce a bit of an ammonia spike or keep taking it slowly. I'm thinking of adding 6 - 10 silver perch finglerlings and a few more yabs shortly so it should help but I don't want to be jumping the gun.
Take a look at the pics, any questions or advice would be appreciated.

Very neat and tidy system, looks great trentus.

Looks very good Trentus. I would add 10 perch fingerlings around 10cm in size. I wouldn't' add any more yabbies, make sure they have hides.
What size pump are you using?
In time you may like to consider a battery back up air pump in case of power failure.

Hi Trentus,

The system looks great. I would say go ahead and add the SP. if the system has been running for a couple of weeks it will be ready for extra fish. Regarding oxygen levels in your tank I get the impression that less oxygen is making it into the water due to the way in which you are returning water to the tank, and assuming you're in aus, as we're heading into summer, o2 levels drop in warmer water so it wouldn't be a bad idea to install a bubbler.

Hope this helps.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-32.019037,115.857510

Nice trentus... does it move on the wheels when full off water or is it a bit heavy?

Looks great, love the timber trims! They do tend to be a bit noisy, my setup is similar with the addition of 4 x half blue drums. So far no-one has complained of the noise so i just let it go, however on my indoor aquarium I did introduce a bubbler for o2 because having the spray bar underwater to reduce noise doesn't oxygenate very well

Looking good. Have you thoght of setting up a "spray" bar for the return so it does not dump in one big lot but is spread out? This may lower the noise and give you really good aeration.

Thanks for the feedback and advice.

I'll drop in some SP this weekend assuming I can find them from somewhere. Any suggestions close to Perth on where to buy? Called golden ponds a couple of weeks ago and they wanted $4 / fingerling. Got about a dozen hides for the yabs. One had berries when I got it, so going to bundle up a bit of shade clothe and throw in to keep the little ones hidden if they hatch.

The pump is one of the 3000lph BYAP jobbies along with the ibc kit for the GB pipework.

It goes alright on the wheels but bit of a struggle with one person and full of water. I was moving it around fine when half full. There's 6 x 200kg castors supporting it (2 lockable).

I'll have a play with setting up a spray bar, does anyone know a good example on the forum on a simple one that works well? I might have a go at adding a valve and tee with a venturi depending on the noise and invest in a bubbler later on.

I got my SP from Trevor last weekend (Trevor 0402 725 337). Good price, he delivered the fish and a decent size. Plus he's a good bloke.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-32.060363,115.861891

Thanks jon, got 15 delivered saturday. Might be a few too many for the system but should be fine while they're small, good excuse for expanding later.

Haven't changed much with the system, did some tidy up with the power lead and pulled the short piece of drain pipe that drops below the water level, the 45 deg elbow remains, it gets the water moving a bit more so assuming it's providing more aeration, still a bit noisy though.

A couple of pics showing seedlings at day 1 of planting and now 3 weeks on


Also got a few seeds sprinkled around, some have sprouted.

In the water tests pH is sitting at 7.8 and still zero readings for nitrates, nitrites and ammonia. I expected to a see a few fluctuations and the ph drop as nitrification developed. Anyone got any thoughts, or is it fairly normal? Maybe things will change with the fish added.

Looking good mate. I also have 15 SP in my IBC system, but I don't think there's much risk of the FT getting overcrowded. How have you managed that much growth without any fish? Have you been using seasol?


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=-32.060345,115.861936

Im gathering from your posts you dont have an aerator Jon, maybe try running a spray bar like mine, it obviously has a splashing sound , but seems to be more subtle than just the stand pipe return. It also helps take pressure off the pump. Might be an option. I just drilled 5mm holes along a length of 25mm pipe. It would be safer to have good aeration through summer with SP.

Couple of pics.

p.s. I did notice your day1 pic has very wet media and then your week 3 pics shows signs of wet media around the edges...what level is your water coming up to? Just be careful not to create an algea issue or also you may get evaporation issues aswell. Keep your water level around 30mm-ish under the media. Just a thought.

I was happy with the growth too but you found me out. Added seasol on day 1 about 100mL, must have got them off to a good start.

Hey Charlie, thanks for the spray bar pics, that explains it well, will plumb something up similar and see how that goes.
Well spotted with the wet media, the water level is about 15mm down from the top, I have chopped the standpipe a bit after the day one pic but the hydrotron isn't as deep around the edges. There's still a bit of GB wall left so plan to get another bag of media and spread it around, the more the better to add to the filtration i'm guessing.

Sad day today, first SP found floating after a yabbie took a few chunks out of it, hopefully don't lose many more.

Ive lost countless SP to yabbies.