Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I already posted a couple pictures in the sticky thread, but I've been fussing over the design, and I'm not so sure about what I'm doing now. The vitals are as follows:

-45g/170L storage container as a fish tank.
-Two 30.5in x 4.5in x 5in deep (6 gallons total, approximately 22L) window box planters for the beds.
-40gph table/concrete saw pump.

It's continuous flow, pumped from the fish tank into the pipes above the grow beds, then drains directly back into the fish tank from the grow beds, without a sump. Is there anything I'm missing here, or is this as beautifully simple as it seems to be?

From looking at other peoples designs, I'm thinking I'll need more grow beds for this size tank? And I'm assuming goldfish is a solid choice? What should I feed them?

I've already gotten a lot of great ideas from browsing the forums.

Also, I've reworked the drains. Instead of it draining straight out the bottom, like you can see in the first two pictures, it'll drain through a couple of lengths of hose I've put through the bottoms of the planters and glued in place with about 3 inches sticking up from the floor of the planters (as you can see in the blurry shot).

I think that light is going to be an issue for you there, veggies and herbs need a decent amount of light..

You're probably right. I figured I'd need a grow light. It's still a little too cold to move it outside, I think.

What's on my mind now is: how difficult is an aquaponics system to start - how do I get the bacteria established? Is it less complicated with a smaller setup? Do I just add my plants and a few fish and hope for the best? Should I introduce some water or soil from a local lake or pond? Is it a good idea to start by adding pure ammonia? Does the water need to be kept warm?

You can just add fish and wait, the bacteria will establish themselves.
Warmer environments cycle more quickly.
Adding ammonia I believe can be quicker, because it's more controlled, assuming you have the necessary water test kit.
With an indoor system like that, I would probably just add fish and plants/seeds at the same time.
I added water from the river in my garden, it killed all my fish in 48 hours, so personally I wouldn't recommend that, but if you have no fish you have nothing to lose.
I never did find out what was wrong with the river water, but I don't swim in it anymore, hehe.

The lake I'd get water from seems pretty clean, but your story makes me kind of nervous about that now. If I were to get a bit of gravel, water, or even a spent filter element from the shop where I get the fish, would that work as well?

Also, is it very important to use a water test kit? Does the cycling process really need to be micromanaged, or can you just wing it?

Depends on your stocking levels.
In the beginning I tested the water virtually daily, everything looked good, but still I had lots of fish dying.
Now I never bother, only lost 1 fish this time, and that was because it managed to swim up the overflow and plant itself in the GB.

It could have just been temp/ph/other paramters shock.... or mercury:D

Temp and pH were almost exactly the same.
It was a weird one, that's for sure.
I use the bore water now and haven't had a problem since.
You'd think water that supports teaming wildlife would be cool, but obviously not!

very weird !

You will definately need a grow light. I have a few plants in my inside system and they are struggling big time. That is with the summer sun light duration as well. Will be even worse over winter.

Picked up a 120W grow light, a 150W heater, a rock from the lake, and five goldfish today. My beans were big enough to move to the grow beds today, too. Let's see how it all fares over the next week, I guess.

Added a loop siphon to each bed today, as that seemed like it would be better for the plants' roots.

1.21 giggawatts!

Also, the clear plastic tubing may get algaeed up. Perhaps you may want to keep them out of sunlight with a cover of some sort. Neat setup BTW! There is a thread going about low light plants for indoor systems. I am watching that closely too.