Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Finished the IBC GB cut today. Cleared the space for the system.
Picutres tomorrow: many pictures.

Never tried it mate but should be easy all you would be doing would adding the attachment to create a siphon flow, another shroud and cap and you would be good to go, a CF is basically the same as I siphon without the extra bits on the standpipe and you don't have a bell around it. Watch the affnan video on you tube and you will understand what I mean

As promised: pictures. Been a very busy day,and it's only halfway through (almost.)

I'll be starting with a 1:1 ratio with lots of room to expand, this is just to get it cycled I guess.. I'm making it as modular as possible (I already have some IKEA SAMLA boxes lying around doing nothing...) by using wooden pallets stacked one on top of the other, making a sort of irregular system with different, and ADJUSTABLE, heights.


The very rural tools which I used to cut the tank itself and the cage. Main reason why I didn't make the two GB's smaller --> only had the strength to cut once, for the time being.




Future location of the system. Cleared it out at 2am this morning. Lots of room to the left, too. And the handy ivy on the fence can be pulled up for natural shade.

Next post describes my buyings.

Pic 3: Some things I bought off ebay from a guy from here for 10€ (air pump starfish, fake plants, test strips and the water thermometer not included in the pic)

Pic 2: Some plumbing stuff. And the timer, though I'm not considering using it, it still might come in handy later on.

Pic 1: the most important yet. My plumbing experiment. No leaks and a perfect fit without silicone : I actually only wanted to test the drill point size. Looks perfect.

Tojo, thats no ordinary starfish! Thats 'Peach'!!! If you dont have kids then borrow some and watch "Finding Nemo" A Gr8 movie based on our wonderful
Gr8 Barrier Reef

Tojo,
Being new these are simply just my own thoughts (some not based in any reference I can site ok?)
From the pictures, they look like the size of IBC I have seen here (in TX). Cool that you scored 3 of them!! I wanted to get one but the containers I got were less expensive and hopefully less work to prepare.

I saw a lady use a grinder wheel kind of thing to cut the frame work. I sure would not wish to do it with a hacksaw... you are da-man!!

As for multiple fish breeds.... as said before, I am sure it could be done but here is what I, myself, would consider....
They might eat each other
Some might be a bigger eater and take the food from the not so much eaters
Different temperature needs
Different growth rates makes it harder to keep up with all the formulas involved in the AP system (I would think)
Having to know the temperaments and information on several species of fish and to keep track of each set to be sure they are growing as they should.. just seems like extra work and headache.
Of course that is my own view on it... I don't want it to be harder but then again I very much like tilapia )my second favorite fish in the world second only to a salt water kind (whose name escapes me at the moment.. I can't believe that!! Grouper I believe) So since I can't use the salt water one, I will stock my tank only with tilapia and I will feast with great pleasure when it is time.

Good luck on your system.. looks good!! Hope they were not too difficult to clean out.

Hi Di
I hear you on the salt water fish. I live on the sea (literally ON the sea, like 80meters away from my house) so I know about the tastiness of sea water fish.

I think the "lady" you are referring to is Mrs. BYAP (if I understood correctly) ... Of course, I'm young and fit and also I didn't have the tools needed or the money to buy them, but a lot of free time

I'm really curious about Tilapia. I think I could leave them outdoors only nine or ten months a year, probably less. I also found a source for fish (not fingerlings) at 3€ each, I guess that's a lot but it's almost the only european fish.
I'll see what to do.

About polyculture (keeping different species):
My idea was to recreate a balanced out bio-diversity of what can be found in nature in my country/area, so that the temperature needs are met easily. I could also easily separate the tank while they're still small.

I'm actually thinking:
10 common carp
10 catfish
10 pumpkinseed (lepomis gibbosus)

I'm making the system modular to be able to add smaller tanks along the way between extra GBs.

This is the basic design of the starting system (prob starting on monday).


As I said, wooden pallets to make it modular in height...
We will see.

The tilapia here are $2.00 each (at one place I have found) here but I figure it is an investment that will lead to them breeding and I won't have to pay that on a regular basis. (the shipping of the fish, however, is going to kill me.. it is more than the cost of the fish!!!) I want to get the white nile tilapia. My whole system will be indoors so temperature will not be an issue. I already heat/cool my house so I am not spending extra to heat/cool the FT or the air for the plants in the GB. Plus it will all be right there... I won't have to go out into the weather (be it hot or cold) to tend to the whole system. YAY.
I did, however, forfeit my dining room... but I figured this.... I rarely eat at the table anyway and I would rather grow what I am going to eat than have a place to eat it that I don't use anyway hahaha.
Good luck with your system.. looking forward to seeing the progress....

Will you be setting up a different breeding tank for them or keep them all together in the same tank and hope for the best with the fry, letting nature do its' thing?

You did the right thing, I think, giving up space for an AP system. I would love to do the same but my mom would gut me. So I only get the garden (but she'll get the produce to cook and show off....)

About cooling the house, maybe you should lower on that once you have tilapia...?

I'm actually looking into the amount of stress the fish suffer when being moved from an inside tank to an outside tank, because I could go with an indoor system for the colder months and bring them outdoors to thrive in the summer/spring.

Oh my, I still have to begin cycling and am already thinking through every possibility of this AP thing.

And now my aunt wants one for her new house it might be nice to play around with the budget she's offered: infinite possibilities!

oh I would LOVE to play on someone elses dime lol.

I keep the house at a constant 75-78 so I believe they should be fine.
I want to have a nursery for some of them (as I understand it, they breed (spawn) a lot if the conditions are right) I will leave some for nature to take its course and take some to the nursery because I have heard they don't do well in the AP set up as frys. I guess that is putting the cart before the horse (which seems all to common here... we plan the next expansion before we have the first one up and running lol) but I am of the belief that you save a lot of money and time if you plan for the expansion and build and buy the first time accordingly. Without a plan, you are running hap-hazard and mistakes will be made that will cost in the long run.
Good luck.. maybe when your mother sees what comes of it, she will open up more space for the cause hehehe.

Thankfully I am not married or otherwise tied to asking anybody for permission.. I am limited only to my space and my wallet... and that is enough I assure you lol.

We have a lot of space actually, esp. outdoors (garden), but lately we've been having extremely hard winters, so my mission will be the approval for an inside system during the colder months

Some news: major setback. The outdoors waterproof outlet will be installed only next wednesday if it's not raining so I have to wait five more days to plug my system in!

In the meantime I'm looking for a local source of cheap and used wooden pallets.


I think this is everyone's dream ultimately hahaha.... Nice big budget and almost unlimited space...

I will hope for you that there be no rain on Wed then. I am sorry you have to wait.

"Just keep swimming"

Hahah I got it only now.
I have actually seen Finding Nemo many times, I find it a great movie. I hadn't recognized the starfish though! Cool!

One week later, I think I'm ready to start fishless cycling. I still need about 150L of media to be on the safe side for both Growbeds but it's been a busy week and I am very close to strarting, or at least the closest yet.
My garden looks like no man's land though. I will have to start tidying up sooner or later.

The electricians haven't come yet so I'm going with a long extension chord from my porch outlet, it's only temporary.

Only porblem is the GBs are really high , I couldn't dig the FT more than 20cms in the dirt becuase of the huge (boulder-size) rocks I had there and I was digging by hand.

Pictures later!