Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So I'm planning my system right now and this is how my backyard would look with the system setup.



So the red colored beds I've calculated to be 635 gallons.


11'x3'x1.416' = 47 cubic feet = 352 US gallons
(9'x2'x1') + (2.75'x1.5'x1') = 22.125 cubic feet = 166 US gallons
4'x2.75'x1.416' = 15.576 cubic feet = 117 US gallons
(I rounded up on the numbers for gallons)

If my math is wrong sorry, but that's what I used calculate my grow beds. I have them already made and they are filled with compost right now, so the only investments I would need is pond liners, pump and plumbing to the beds.

But what I want to do is, to the beds that are black/brow (these are raised beds around my home) I was trying to figure out a good method to catch the water on Flood and Drain beds and use a pump to use the fish water over my plants on the side of the house. So I figure all in all I'm going to be using water why not use fish water and fill the fish tank back up with fresh water (I'm sure I'll have to test my water to make sure the chemicals are low, but in my city there is very little anything in the water - well it taste damn good w/o a filter). But obviously I wouldn't even begin using that water until I test it properly. The water tank would be roughly 1350 gallons (I was gonna use a cheap pool). Also the blue barrel next to the red growing beds represents a 55 gallon drum that I wanted to use as a Vortex filter to catch the fish waste for a fertilizer. I haven't gone through looking at pumps yet but I've checked a few, and from what I've read it has to push 1350+ gallons (at minimum) per hour.

I'm in the process of adding an additional 114 square feet of gardening space. That will also be part of the watering system (this is not represented in the picture).

I've also seen the methods where people use 55 gallon drums cut in half for aquaponics (I'll probably add that as well too it)

So what I'm asking is my system viable (excluding the regular garden)? Then adding the garden how viable would that be?

So what is your opinion on the system, what would you change recommend (pumps), also the space between the pool and the red bed is a 29 foot campin trailer, so I may have to plumb the pvc in the ground a few feet so it doesn't get crushed when I move the trailer around. I didn't give this information - all the planter beds are irrigated, so it would be really easy to tie the irrigation into a pump from the fish tank.

Just stock fish to the amount of growbed space you have and you will be fine. I would not use a vortex filter just let the solids go to the growbeds (assuming they are filled with media). Yes you can draw off water to put in the planter beds but it might clog the irrigation system, if you use it to transfer the water. Probably easiest to pump from the FT but put the pump on a timer so you don't forget what you are doing and pump the tank dry.

Personally I would run the whole thing constant flood - eliminates the siphons and makes the setup go faster (Seems to make very little difference to plant growth based on BYAP trials)

I was reading some information on the website of GB to tank is 2:1, so does that mean I have my ratio backwards? And having it backward would negatively affect my Grow beds? I'm wondering because if this is the case I'll just increase my grow beds later. If I run it CF I would have to have some type of aeration for the fish no?

the ratio it fish to media


if any thing CF aeration is better but a battery back up air pump is always a good idea

I'm trying to focus on a one pump system, that provides enough oxygen from the water moving. I want a vortex filter for the manure (for my raised beds). But it looks like my system is going to require a 2 pump system if I don't take the fish tank down to or close to ground level.

Don't be concerned with the FT/GB ratios to much. Just keep in mind that the growbed capacity needs to be adequate to treat all the fish waste being produced. Then keep in mind that since this will be a new system stock lightly so things have a chance to get going.

Regarding your pump. One should be able to do the job. Turning the tank over once per hour is a good goal. To be able to water your regular garden just put a branch coming off of the main line from the pump. Size this branch for connection to a garden hose. Put ball valves in both the main line and the branch (one opens the branch and the other restricts the flow if needed).

You can either have the FT be higher or lower than the growbeds. If it's higher than the growbeds then you will need a sump large enough to handle all the overflow from the growbeds and the contents of the piping if you have a power outage. Your pump will be in this sump. You could use a Solids Lifting Overflow (SLO) to get water from the FT to the Growbeds and you would have a stable water level in the FT even if you pumped the sump empty.

If the FT is lower, the pump will be in the FT and no sump will be needed but you could pump the FT empty if a pipe broke or the system sprung a serious leak somewhere.

It's ok for the pipe runs to go below where you want the water to wind up but it's a good idea to install a clean out if you do this. The end of the system with the higher water level will always be draining by gravity and the pump will always be at the end with the lower water level.

The only part I have any difficulty with is the vortex filter but I don't use one because I don't think it's needed (might help if you have to many fish though). I Just pump water from the FT to the garden with a spare pump. In my first system I did it the way I outlined above.

I hope this make some sense.

Okay, let me understand Sump Tank, is this in reference to an additional tank that would have water in it for the pump to move? I was going to have the pump with a pvc pipe running along the bed so it could suck as much solids as possible to move to the GB. Then I could either do the siphon system OR the CF method. The only reason I want to have a Vortex filter is so I can have fish manure on tap, that doesn't mean I need to pull it. But instead of buying it for my raised beds I would use my own, but if put a Y connection with a on/off channel then I could completely leave out the Vortex Filter. I've actually been deciding how to setup an irrigation setup for my Raised beds, I already have one but I'm having issues with those cheapo deepo water timers. So I wanted to get something a bit more reliable. But after thinking about it I can just connect the water timer to the y connector with a valve. I'll need to think of filters though as I think it may be really easy to plug up a ¼ inch line (that comes off my 1/2 irrigation hose). Now what would you do bring the fish tank to ground level or raise it above the grow beds. The grow beds are currently a good 35 inches off the ground, so I'd have to raise the FT quite a bit, I think that might be quite costly lumber wise. So I'm thinking about breaking out the good Old shovel and digging a 2½ feet deep by 12 foot radius. Question - Would you opt to have two 8'x30" tanks or a single 12'x30" tank?

Don't have much time to answer your questions so if I miss something you may have to wait for someone else to post.



Yes it would catch the drain water from the growbeds and then pump it back to the FT.



Do you mean within the FT? Usually the pump is the end point for the pipe so I think I'd have to see this to understand.

I wouldn't connect the water from the FT to the irrigation setup - I 99% certain it will clog. You'd have to have a filter and it would have to be cleaned regularly.

I had an existing mound of earth that I dug into. At the base I put concrete blocks in a star pattern. I backfilled the hole up to the top of the blocks and packed it in then placed the tank on this. Then just filled around with earth and surrounded the sides with cement blocks that I was lucky enough to have on hand.

Here's my thread; http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9511&hilit=scotty%27s+second+system

Go with two tanks. Easier to clean and you can move fish around for sizing and things like that. Might even want to make two systems later on.

Cheers.

I'm gonna have to do a bit more thinking as I decide. The 2 tank ideas seem to be the best. I was thinking it would be nice to separate the fish by age and maybe try different feeding methods etc. I want to try to avoid buying food. I'm gonna try the duckweed/bsf and I am looking into other easy things to manage. Thanks for the help. If your busy there is no rush to answer as I haven't bought anything yet.

So this is the issue I'm having and I just wasn't explaining it right (I posted the last reply at work so I couldn't measure). The height of my pool and beds are going to be roughly the same, what I'm trying to do is make sure I don't use a 2nd pump, and I want to make sure as much if not most of the solids are pulled off the bottom so I can have as clear as possible. I'm probably over complicating this but... it seems I'm an expert at it . So after looking at a few additional setups, and reading about the sump tank setup, I'm probably gonna have to go that route, I definitely want to stick with ONE pump. I actually right now have a harbor freight sump pump that does I wanna say 3,000 gals I bought it for something and now it's in the shed. So using that as a pump "for now," has crossed my mind as I figure out what fish I want in the tank etc. I'd at least be able to let the system cycle and give me some more thinking time while I scout fish out.

Regarding the Harbor Freight pump. Check the specifications. If this is the pump I think it is, it's not particularly efficient so you will wind up spending a great deal to pump water. It's probably fine for starting up but I'd switch to a different, more efficient pump and keep it as a back up.

A couple of things to think about;

If you run CF you can use a much smaller sump than if you run Flood and Drain. On the other hand with the larger sump you can run either way.

Since the pump may be able to pump more than can flow from the FT by gravity, you will need some way of directing part of the water back into the sump if this is the case.

When I get home I'll show you what's going through my head. I'll make a drawing with sketchup. So let's say for example I use that harbor freight pump and it does 3k gallons per hour couldn't I set it up to run on a period lets say 20 minutes per hour. I was thinking of letting the line from the fish tank gravity feed into the grow beds, and having the sump tank at the exit flow of the GB and having the sump pump located there. So it would turn on when the water reaches a certain point. So say for example that something happens, the pump couldn't drain the FIsh tank from the sump. The beds could over flow but only till it reaches a certain level.

But with this setup I'd have to have the fish tank to some extent above the grow beds. So the problem now is I'm not sure I want to increase the tank size. It's hard to find a tank that's 4 feet tall and 8 feet around with out building it. As many know pond liners ain't exactly cheap, but at the same time they will last much longer than cheapo swimming pools so now I gotta think on what I want to do concerning this setup.

The next scenario would be I dig a 3 foot by 12 ft hole, I have a few buddies that'd help me out in a heart beat but the location I would be using would be under a walnut tree and I'm sure I'd run into a ton of roots, I'm wondering if at some point if they'd poke into my fish tank (I'll be using a tarp around it) and give me leaks. So that makes me a bit nervous, but with this scenario I could definitely use gravity for the return line. I've been looking into hydroelectric to charge a car battery in attempts to run an aerator just for safety sakes should power go out (doesn't go out often and when it does not for long) plus I just love tinkering around and I feel I could put it to use at least in this way.

What you're describing is called Chift Pist - Constant height in fish tank Pump in sump tank. Many systems use this and it's a very safe way to run the system. Look it up and you'll find lots of information.

You could just raise the fish tank by making a base under it - it's no harder than digging it into a hole .

I'm sorry, I'm sure this information is all over the place, I'm just thinking and thinking and this stuff is just coming to mind. I'm just sitting at work watching videos (don't tell anyone), and I can't help thinking abotu this stuff
Btw the inside material I figured would be 1/2 plywood or something along those lines, I left the one side open so you could see the plywood.


After doing some thinking and pricing I think something like this will be superior for my needs. Inside of the tank would measure 11'5" long by 4" wide by 4' tall, I get 1165 gallons. So with this system it would have over a 1 foot of height on my beds so I could use a gravity flow system to have CF beds, and after the end of the beds will be a sump tank with a pump to move liquid back to the Tank, now where would be the best place to refill the tank, from the bottom or the top? I was thinking of putting a drain at the bottom for solids to move to the grow beds, and I could have the pump shooting water in from the side at the bottom of the tank, to create a current at the bottom to move solids towards the drain to go into the grow beds. But besides that, would two 12'x10' pond liners fit? My math says yes, so what I did was since the bed length if I laid the cubic box flat would be 19 feet 5 inches length wise, and 12 feet width, does that calculate properly? I would be able to have a 7 inch over lay between the two for tape/glue whatever I use to bond them. Because my head says it should work together but that doesn't mean it would. I have tons of 4x4x12's right now (got them from some family as they didn't want them anymore), cause I use pond liner calculators and I'm getting 25 feet x 15 feet and I wonder if that's cause it's the closest size they offer and in addition they may recommend over hang? I planned on just stapling it to the 4x4's at the top. Any comments would be great on if something is messed up here. I'm going to continue with google sketch and add more detail to the sketch.