Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here are some shots of my system in its various stages of 'development'!
Here hubby and friend are lining the pond - it has a standard liner and several layers of blue tarp for extra protection. Karl is buildng up some cement blocks which will support the ends of two massive sleepers which the grow beds will be placed upon, over the top of the pond.






These are more cement blocks on the other side of the pond. i couldn't get sleepers long enough to reach past the outside of the pond so the blocks had to sit inside the pond - hence all the layers of liner. Originally I placed a piece of treated pine at the bottom and then, realizing it might poison the water, and being unable to remove it, i had to cut up some of the tarp and wrap all these blocks up in it so the water didn't get contaminated.






we then placed two sleepers on the cement foundations and placed the grow beds on top with a space between the sleepers for the drain pipes to fit through. I have used kiddie sandpits for beds - one sitting inside another for extra strength.




Heres the worst part - cleaning the 10 ml scoria. Now I know why we're in a drought - I used up the nations water supply cleaning gravel - and I STILL have heaps of it in the beds. We set up a wash station next to the system and used wheel barrows to move the gravel from the road where it was delivered into plastic bins filled with holes where we would scrub it clean then pour it into the beds- we went through about a dozen pairs of gloves in the process.







Here are the grow beds complete with drains and gravel. i added black plastic garden bordering around the beds to increase the volume of gravel however I had to remove them as the water just came out the sides anyway and I couldn't be bothered trying to seal them with silicon.






Here is the system almost finished. it was a great relief to get to this stage but we still had to add the pump and irrigation. I asked Murray from Aussie Aquaponics to design some pipes for me and he very kindly sold me one of his experimental pumps for a great price. Cheers Muzza!





This pump has an orange float switch for a flood and drain arrangement but we have our system on continuous flow as its what I'm used to.




Here's a nice shot of the beds with some seedlings which managed to survive throughout my pregnancy even though they were severely neglected. You can see Murray's pipes here and there is a valve placed at the top of each square to control the rate of flow in each bed independently. We had to make sure there was more pressure going into the beds than draining out so the water would build up in the beds and reach almost to the top of the gravel. Thanks Karl for installing the irrigation and valves - you did a fabulous job ( although i had to get up there and re- silicon the lot after we had a pipe blowout and lost all the pond water - lucky there were no fish in there!




This morning I added 25 silver perch and 30 goldies into the pond, which will first be their friends, and then be their dinner and eventually the silvers will be our dinner. Its a sick and twisted food chain, really.




Ta da! The finished system pumping along. The lattice protects the pond from the harsh sunlight .

Looking great! The multiple liners is probably a good idea, better safe than sorry! What's your GB/tank/fish ratio? What are you hoping for in ratios?

Congrats, BTW!

Goodness it looks fantastic! Excellent work. Is there any color you dont have there? Love the pond.

Great stuff Aeon and Karl, another fabulous example of ways to use everyday low cost products to produce your own food in your own backyard.... well done

I love the rain bows



It is great to finally see some pictures of this system.

the plants look to be doing great. Well done all of you!

Well done to you both, another clever and smart looking system.

A beautiful looking system! Well done

I couldn't tell from the pixs, does the pond have supporting walls or is it just dug into the ground? How deep is the pond at it deepest?

Those fish will no doubt have a great life, right up until they are dinner atleast

Light and bright Aeon, looks like a place to really lift the spirits. Really good to see your pics!

Beautiful! Well Done!!

nice looking system seams very well thought out!!!!!!!!

I am loving the neatness and simplicity of the build... Nice work. Keep us posted on the results.

Aeon: love it love it love it !!!

real nice

Looks good. Are you using the tarps as an inside liner, or sandwiching the liner between tarps? They definately have their advantages. Let us know how they work! I was thinking about using tarps and plastic in place of pond liners. Would be nice if they work well.

Excellent work over there. I like the size and simplicity.