Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I made a system a few days ago and made a video


I am very new to aquaponics but I really like the idea of it all. Let me know if you guys have any pointers.
Thanks
Chris


***edited you tube link***charlie***

Welcome to the forum and the addiction

My only negative comment would be that you are flooding too high.
You might want to put more gravel (or whatever) in the GB, or adjust the siphon level.

The top layer should be dry, or near as.
As it's an indoor system it probably won't matter a great deal, outdoors you will get algae growing wherever there is moisture so the top layer should be dry.

I would remove the tin can media gaurd too...It'll rust and contaminate the water.

Lyndon

Ok thanks for the replies. I noticed others being a little more dry...I was scared to add more gravel just because it was so heavy. Also, I was thinking the same about the can, what happened was my original guard (poweraid bottle with a sock filter for the perlite) didn't flow well enough so i needed something that would fit inside of the bottle so I wouldn't have to rebuild it, I would just slide the poweraid bottle out once the can was in, but next time I will think it through more and take my lessons learned to make it better. For those that have done this in the past, do I need to do anything in particular to complete the "nitrogen cycle"? I just bought a halogen drop light that im going to use as a grow light on a timer system so it wont overheat....Im trying to do everything on a budget so if someone wanted to make one at home it would be under $100. Again thanks for the pointers and I agree, I can see how this can be an addiction!
Chris

Ok I changed the media guard and added more gravel as well as made a few changes. I am uploading as we speak and will share it in a new thread once it is done. Thanks again for the tips.

Lookin good Homemade and welcome to the forum

When you clean that filter in the aquarium assuming it has a sponge filter of some kind inside - squeeze all the gunk into your GB as it will hold lots of benificial bacteria.

@ charlie thanks!! it does and i was curious about that so next time I will, since this time it had perlite in it.

With smaller systems like you have the Nitrite/Ammonia can come on rather fast because there is not a substantial amount of water. Test water twice daily and minimal feed till you get the first readings.. Once you see any nitrites/ammonia stop feeding all together till it returns to zero (these will continue to rise even after you stop feed) Once back to zero start feeding again slowly and watch your tests..When your able to feed 2 - 3 times daily and see no ammonia/Nitrites showing up your cycled. If you find nitrites rise over the 1ppm mark i would turn bed to constant flood and add more volume of water to tank..I believe pond salt can also help if the rise to toxic lvls. Constant flood also allows bacteria to set up quicker rather than F/D (that just what i believe no evidence to back it up) Good luck hope you dont loose any fish. PH is another thing that needs to be correct... the higher the PH the more toxic ammonia becomes.. or was that water temp.... id consult previous posts to confirm last statment

Thanks looks like ill be doing a lot of testing for a little while...again thanks everyone for all the tips they really help!