Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All First Post

I have a few questions that I am unsure about after alot of reading.

My first system will consist of 150 litre tubs (Probably 2 ($20 from Reject shop) plus grow beds).

Is it best to stick to something simple or experiment (Fish wise, ie perch, barramundi or marrons, etc etc), suggestions? As i will only be using 2 150 litre tubs max fish? As the tubs are clear would I need to wrap them in something to block light?

Grow bed media? As the system will be done on a low budget, any suggestions for cheap bed hardware, and rock/stone?

Grow bed location? Full sun, partial sun or couple of hours a day of sun? I am on a dual occupancy so space is limited but can put something together in a cascading type arrangement.

Best place to buy fish feed in Victoria? Fish in Victoria (Small amounts as I will obviously need less than 100 looking for something less tahn a $1 per fish, though thinking about it probably unlikely).

Any other suggestions for a tiny system?

Thanks

I'll leave it to the fine folk of Victoria to advise you of pricing and things NV.... but welcome to the forum and the mad world of AP

Have a look around for blue barrels, especially if you're out in the burbs or country... you can often get them fairly cheap and they're easy to work with... failing that there's always the "B" store....LOL

"B" Store? Also do blue barrels cause any problems? I know their deep, but confined width?

Welcome nv...., I will answer most of your questions and from that you will probably have more, but we can tackle them later

"B" store - Bunnings
Blue barrels are normally cut lengthwise so you have 2 grow beds
Cut out the light to the clear containers, this will reduce unwanted algae growth
Veggies need sunlight but growbeds can fill and overflow the fish tank during storms, so you need to compromise
I started with 10 goldfish in 180/200 litre tank, they are near on indestructible
Fish feed - for goldies, flakes from any aquarium, other places in Vic I can't help you on.

Don't worry about throwing up questions, answers will follow to point you in the right direction

"B" store =bunnings, but we don't mention it here, don;t remember exactly why. Normally the blue barrels are cut in half along the vertical axis. This makes it more difficult to hold in place but does make it easier to attach pipes and so on. Have a look through the members sytem and hae a look at joels(earthbounds) blue barrell system.

what area are you glenburn fish are good they deliver to lillydale blue drums excelent around $10.00 max price bath tubs average $10.00 look in members systems for idears

yeah bathtubs are great. You can even replace the drainage plumbing and they can fit in perfectly with the plumbing most of us are using. I have a bath tub and it is a beauty. Try the local dumps or recycling centres, also look in the trading post where they have them advertised as horse troughs.

Thanks,

Can the barrels be used for fish tanks? Whats best to cut them? For the grow beds would you use a constant flood method or pump water onto top allow to drain to bottom and pump back to fish tank? How do you stop the fish being sucked into the pump? Is there a way to purify tap water or length of time needed to cycle or sit? As Ell said more Q's will follow.

FF can you explain further, I am a bit confused, Glenburn fish deliver to Lilydale blue barrels at $10 max?

Yes can be used for tanks - cut in half height ways not lenght ways for this. You would only want to have small fish in this type of thank though (say goldies).

Circular saw or jibsaw.

Can use flood and drain (with auto syphon if you can get one to work - or timer setup) or continuous flow.

I have a hydoponics basket over my pump to stop fish getting into the pump.

Tap water that has chlorine but not chloramine in it can be aged by sitting. Chloramine is not so simple and you should use a neutraliser for this. Neutraliser is pretty cheap - can get it from woolies. If you have an airstone in your water or have it in the sun, the chlorine will leave quicker.

The barrels can be used for tanks but you may consider hooking them together to get more volume of water. If you were using low volumes of water say less than 400-500 litres it would probably be better to use continual flow but having said that IMHO flood and drain is the better option.

It uses less less plumbing and is more effective, agian IMHO, for plant growth and filtration.

I believe that the blue barrels are cut using a combination of grinder with a cutting disc and a jigsaw.

With the tap water just put it in the barrels and give it a couple of days, someone will make mention of wether you have chlorine or chloramine and this is important as chlorine will gas off after a day or so, but chloramine needs to be neutralised with products available from the pet stores.

I personally just top my systems up straight from the tap and add no neutraliser. But my system is cycled and I have a lot of organic matter in the bottom of the tank and I think this helps with the Chlorine/chloramine. But thtat really is my humble opionion.

Sorry glenburn fish are suppliers of fisk [ google fish in farm dams] Up to $10.00 is what you will pay for blue drums if you are close to sunbury they are cheeper suggestion come to the victorian meeting on sunday 28 jan there will be at least 16 knowledgeable people there your welcome

Have big fish or small pump, I have used a 2,000 and 3,000 lph pump and have had np problems with my goldies (bought them small)

Most/some of us use flood and drain, flood the grow bed to a predetermined height then drain the grow beds, 2 major ways of doing this is:
a) use a large pump with a timer to switch the pump off and on and have continual drain with a small pipe

b) use a smaller pump on continuous flow, have an autosiphon using larger pipe size so that it cuts in at a predetermined level and drains faster than the input flow

Figures touted for chlorinated water is to let it stand for 24 hours, this can be reduced by putting in a bubbler (haven't seen any figures on this tho)

NV another option for tanks (about 1000ltr) are IBC tanks... thats the "industrial bulk containers" cube like plastic containers enclosed within a wire mesh surround.... used for all sorts of purposes so be careful what's been stored in them previously, many threads here to search on.

Typically they can be bought for between $150 - $250.

or as little as $80