Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Oh almost forgot pics.
Let me know where it can be improved.



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Mwahahaha, no not a lawyer tho. I'd just be embarrassed at showing people a half expanded system, tho actually I'm not that far off for what I need to do now - i've got space (but no finances) to add the other two garden beds. I was hoping to have it finished this weekend and have fish from Stuart next weekend, but I doubt that's going to happen now. I'll let you know in a week or so, might have to bite the bullet and get Trout again.

My god you're moving fast! At the speed you are moving, I don't know if we could suggest improvements before you actually make them.

lol.Thanks bud. Im thinking I should slow down......well now im kinda forced to slow down... a little.

Its cycling time! ive got a few tricks up my sleeve but you just cant escape the fact it takes time. im not good at patience.

While thats going on I can frame them up and get another gb or 2 in.

But im sure there are some refinements still to be made.


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Ok guys a made a little change. Well with a belly full of easter chocolate and some golden amber I thought of this. This is when I do my best work.

I drilled a 12mm hole in the 1inch bulkhead female nut. Then in the male end I notched it out around the same size. So the result is a.adjustable standpipe flow.

I did this because it diddnt drain low enough(i think)ie the hole in the white part of the standpipe was just a little high

Let me tell you would have been a lot easier with out the clay balls.lol. And dont try it with a 240v drill. I diddnt but I did chuckle to myself at the thought. Must have had my thinking cap on.

Well ill let the pics explain






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in the pic at the top of this page, it looks like you're taking water out from the top of the fish tank to the grow bed.

Is that the case, or is that just an overflow?

Good spoting BW. Its just a overflow if the slo gets blocked, its also to break the vacum.
But ill tell you what,that 2inch bulkhead fitting cost the gdp of a small country...lol.
Was going to just use aquarium silicone but who wants to wait 7 days till it cures.not me...


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So where does your normal flow go?

Are you using the IBC tap, or have you created something different? I cant see a SLO

also just because you asked for any potential problems, I found that water outlets get a slime buildup that changes flow over time.

Your tube with holes in it will flow perfectly for ever until it doesnt

This is just one of those one in a thousand chances, but it's worth making sure that if a hole partially fails, the flow will fall into the tank. one in a thousand is once every 2 and a half years that your tank will run dry.

Picture what would happen if one of your holes was a bit blocked so that instead of water squirting cleanly away, it just wet the pipe and ran down it's length to drip where it may.

All you have to do to make it failsafe is make it drip back into the fish tank. That can be done with the equivalent of a rubber band around the tube so that drips form and fall back into the fish tank. I'm not suggesting a rubber band, but anything that will make water flowing along the bottom of the pipe with holes in it will do the job. Say, a glub of silicone at just the right spot.

I had a stack of trouble with my strawberry towers leaking that could have been avoided with a few glubs of silicone.

It's difficult to tell, but the step join on the right may well create the drip I'm talking about, but I cant tell if it will fall into the fish tank or just miss it and fall on the ground.

I'm being very fussy here because you asked, but while you are slopping silicone around, a dot in the right place will add an extra layer of security.

If what I'm saying doesnt make sense, picture what would happen to the water if the pipe with holes in it was bent so that the centre of it was lower than the outsides. If a hole malfunctioned and started weeping instead of flowing, the water would run along the underside of the pipe, and all fall back into the fishtank, so it wouldnt matter. If the lowest point of the pipe is just a bit outside the boundary of the fish tank, the water will fall on the ground instead.

I think I get what u mean. I see now what you mean by providing a sketch up.would make it easier to invision.

I think your talking bout a drip loop?

Ok right back in the cornor there is a t piece.which connects to the black 50mm bulkhead.the t is Open at the top, and the bottom of the t forms the slo, ie Its 50mm pipe from the bottom of the t which runs to the bottom of the tank.

No ibc tap is used.forgive but its 3am so im starting to get sleepy. But then it sounds like your talking about the spray bar. I can see what u mean about if the holes clog up a bit the water could travel to the lowest spot and drip out of the ibc.

I could fix this by heating the spray bar and putting a slight u in it so the lowest part is over the fish tank. I did kinda think of this and i reduced the flow rate to a trickle to test and it just driped straight down, not flowing along the pipe. But you got me thinking, maybe a slight u wont hurt or get rid of the spray bar and just dump the water in with a 45 degree bend.or just a strategic glob of silicone to make it drip. You bring up a very valid point my friend. Kudos to you.

I apreciate you taking the time out to help me with this, and welcome your advice.so this ones for you BW.cheers.

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Well did a little bit today. Sore head syndrome this morning...

Got some treated pine to make a frame. going to clad it with something Havent decided what yet.the lid frame will be made from hardwood so nothing leaches in.

Roughly got the timing right on the flood and drain,I think. When draining do you set it so it takes 45 mins to drain completly.or can it drain quicker?

Anywho.i put a little seasol in for the couple of vegies but I think I OD on it.lol.hope it doesnt hurt the fish.(segway)

got 10 goldfish to cycle it from my local fish shop, he reckons they will be fine and to bring them back once its cycled and ive got some silver perch in there. Bag of food in it aswell if their nice and fat.also chucked a couple of airstones in.

I also modified the spray bar.(thanks bw) now it will fit under a lid and I sealed where it comes through the side walls.



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Hi Brett!

You seem like a man on a mission! This is looking really great

I was just wondering, you mentioned earlier in the thread you got your IBC's from Pat the Drum Guy, could you tell me please how much he was asking for the washed ones?

We're in Adelaide also, and we're still in the planning and pricing stage. We're on a pretty strict budget, but i really really just wanna get started building :-)

Thanks,

-Sarah

Hey guys. Geez this forum seems dominated by us south aussies. I see you guys are new here like me, so welcome.

Iam on a bit of a mission. Once I start something I like to see it through. But its tough trying to renovate the house and find spare time.

I hate budgets but we all have them.grrrrr. I was actually going to list all the parts and materials and prices so people can get a clearer idea of how much it costs and to cut down on trips to bunnings... So ill do that soon.i went into it rather blind and the costs do add up. But its awesome and good fun.

Ibcs. Well I think its a bit of hit and miss with them. just take ur time and choose the best ones. One tip I have is take cash! And haggle. Also double check them for cracks and damage including valves, lids and the frame. If pats there talk to him direct cause hes a top bloke, and loves the extra buisness from aquaponics.he will also sort out the good from the bad.

Good luck with it all guys. We might be having a s.a meetup soon so us noobs can ask the others some questions. Hope this helps.

Sent from Brett's Galaxy

@charlandsarah, I made my system with blue barrels, then added an IBC fish tank. I found the cost of all the plumbing really mounted up on the blue barrels.

If I was starting afresh on a budget (I am on a very tight budget) I'd get a nice clean IBC for the first system and do the cut 1/3 off and put it up on top of the fish tank thing. Really simple and not a lot can go wrong. You dont even need to seal your standpipes as any drips just fall back into the fishtank.

@green troll the time spent flooding and draining doesnt seem to matter a lot. Everything works. I think BYAP uses 15 mins on because the timers work in 15 minute segments. Also most people aim at turning over their fish tank every hour, so that's probably the deciding factor.

Almost everything works.

For me the blue barrels are for space. I would LOVE to have the space to use IBCs for the grow beds. I would cut them in half so I could have extra depth.

Thanks Bullwinkle! I thought that would be the easiest sort of system to start off with too, but Charl get's excited about things and they often get blown out of preportion

On the other hand, Charl did go down to Pat's yesterday to sus out some IBC's and he thinks we can probably get the gluey ones clean pretty easily. We do like a challenge though, and we've got alot of space in the back-yard that's otherwise going to waste, seeing as how our lazy dog would rather be inside, sooo... we bought the instructions for Murray Hallum's tank, sump, and 3 bed system... and we're going to collect bits and pieces as we can over the following weeks :-)

I'll post this bit in our intro post too... and i might take some pics of the back yard too and stick them in there...