Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Always start with the big stuff first.

If you are going to be putting up big greenhouses and such later then plan where they would go and leave that space alone. With big chunks allocated for further expansion then you have less places to think about what goes where.

At least the layout of the Shed is easy. It's 3 bays wide (12 foot bays) and 4 bays long. The center of the 3 wide should probably be left fairly open. There are posts every 12 feet basically. The end has the two sides walled but the center open. The sides are half walled on the East but those we will probably remove and there West side is open. The South end is the workshop/office then house.

So here is the field to the North of the Shed



And I should probably keep a swath of this clear for greenhouse then straight out from the end of the shed.



But then off to the West just a bit is an area where I suppose I should set up the first Banks of Towers and bring the lines in to an area by the fence and come into the Send to the tanks.



Which is what I was kinda planning already

Congrats !

After we where on our place for a while, we visited our local Soil and Water Conservation office. We talked to them about what we wanted to do. They where able to call up an aerial view of our 25 acres. They even ran off a couple of large (24+ x 36+ inch) colored print outs. Put a piece of plexiglass over it and get some dry erase markers. Then dream all you want with the markers. When you get a rough layout then put some tracing paper over it and transfer your plan onto paper. One can develop some what of a calibrated drawing.

BTW when not using the large photos cover them from the sunlight so they don't fade.

Just some food for thought.

It isn't a supper fancy picture but I can get the aerials easy enough.

Will you be doing more than Aquaponics on your farm?

Definitely Arbe, we have chickens and ducks and I practice as much permaculture and food forest gardening as I can and perhaps we will have some other livestock eventually too.

absolutely on the aerial pics, they make it easier for you to see the natural drainage lines so you can plan away from them and such.
Not sure about the land condition in Florida, but here in the NQ dry tropics, you need about 20 acres to sustainably keep one mature dry cow or horse. Something to consider when looking at future livestock wants.

I think the biggest on the livestock we might ever go would be a goat, sheep or pig.

Oh, and FL is relatively FLAT so the photos don't really tell much about drainage. Gotta be on the ground there when heavy rains come to really see what is gonna happen.

oh it's surprising what you can see from the vegetation

I always figure, try to make it aesthetic without hindering functionality. How about a nice semi-circle of towers off the end of the shed? It might look something like a living Roman colonnade or the hanging Gardens of Babylon.

It looks like it would be visible through the oaks from the driveway. Very nice layout you have there.

relative to the shed how big will your biggest GH be?

Hi TC

I have an old book called "Commercial Hydroponics" by John Mason in which he outlines how
to set out an efficient farm.
Although it is not directly transposable to aquaponics the rules are worth listing.

I'll summarise them for you.

1/ Study the work operations which take place.

2/ Identify movements which occur the most.

3/ Design the farm in a way that makes movement easiest along the paths that are used the most.

Growing, harvesting and marketing are the three aspects that occur on a farm.

These three areas should be segregated as much as possible.

tools/equipment/nutrients should be kept away from the marketing side of the operation.

Delivery vehicles should have easy access to the storerooms/ cool room.

Post harvest operations including sorting,grading,packing and storage should be done
undercover to protect the produce and should be within easy reach of the crop.

Concrete/asphalt pathways and floors should be used in areas where wheeled tools and
equipment are used. A path leading to the greenhouse should be sealed to keep shoes clean and reduce the chance of disease being carried into the house.


The sketch is a copy of the design in the book by the author.

Hope this helps and good luck

cheers Lou

I know you have heard this before, but sometimes the basics need to be said. Start at your back door. Now I know the Fish Shed's doors are barn door sized, but get your kitchen garden in order, closest to your living space. At least you will have good food in your belly while you bang your head trying to come up with the rest of your layout. Btw, are you keeping all of the oaks, or are you going to clear out more space for your food forest?

I'm not even certain we ever will put in a large greenhouse. I've done better the past two winters without than I did the two winters before with.

The towers go on a straight line since building curved troughs under then to collect the water would be more difficult.

We have had to cut down a couple of the Palm trees that were invading the septic system but for now clearing of the oaks will be minimal. There are places of sun for growing and I'll start with those and we will only cut oaks that are in the way of something. The understory is all pretty well cleared and we get nice breezes so there are only a few trees that might need to be cut down since they are too close to the house.

Theres plenty of room for a little condo......for me