Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all

I boasted last week or so that I had fish in there running 3 or 4 kg. DOH! WRONG!

Anyway here are some photos of my 5+ year old system. I only put in fish food, occasional sea shells and seedlings. I take out 3 lettuce a week plus sundry onions, chilli, etc. I have never owned a water tester and I have worked hard to have a sustainable system. The big things I have going for me are the teepee that keeps leaves and kids out of the fish tank, the water degasser that give me chlorine free water and the laziness that stops me messing with things.

Wow, great work John.... Man you must have one of the earliest BYAP system... Brilliant, love the fact that it's still producing well for you, and hey, size does't matter that much, perch aren't always that quick to grow..

I have more photos but got tired of fighting a google ban, a bulky keyboard and a regional Internet connection. Will send more tomorrow

That fish is 2 years old, I have some 3 year olds but cannot catch them. I don't eat them, too soft in my old age,

Till tomorrow then

Here are the rest of my photos



3 1/2 barrels outside and 2 BYAP beds under shade cloth



Broad Beans, Fennel, cabbage, onions, chilli



Fennel goes mad.



Sump tank has a few fish in it that escaped down the return pipe when they were tiddlers. The colour of the water is a bit darker than normal because of an inch of rain in the last few days.



3 year old silver beet plant, basil. seedlings



Frog proof drains are very important. A frog wedged in the drain can cost you a lot of valuable fish water.

Bugger

Let me try again.



3 blue barrels:- Fennel, onions and broad beans



2 BYAP beds and 3 blue barrels.



Lettuce Chilli and Rhubarb



My teepee is my best invention, keeping toxic leaves and kids out of the 3000 litre tank. (this kids aren't toxic just the leaves.)



2 aerators and a drip pipe runs 24/7



Would you believe a 3 year old silver beet



Frog proof drains are a must.



This guy is 500grams and is 2 years old. I have some in there 3+ years old, but they do not want to be caught. Also I have found that some gilgies in the tank keep the floor nice and clean. I tried marron but all they wanted to do was go for a walk across the back lawn and kill each other.

Your images don't see to be showing up, johnfenn.
I heard your town copped a tornado two days ago. How did you come out of it?

. . . there you go! Wow, lots of healthy growth - good stuff!

I think I got the images right on the second attempt. I cannot get images to load from flickr, but they load just fine from smugmug.

The tornado took out a swath about 50metres wide and a kilometre long, fortunately just trees, no houses or people. There was a similar on in about 2002 at the same area, so I think the terrain funnels the wind down that valley.

We are fine, we got the rain we dearly needed and all is right with the world. The farmers are smiling a VERY UNUSUAL SIGHT!

looks fantastic John

In another thread John... you say your system is "Chift Pist"....

Given the BYAP beds appear to be on BYAP stands.... how tall is your 3000L tank???

Man, you sure do keep that system clean.

The water level in the large tank is the same as in the sump tank and a small pump takes water from the sump to the main tank thro a 32 mm pipe. A 50 mm pipe carries the water back to the sump. That runs 24/7


Another large pump pumps sump to grow beds and it runs 15 minutes in the hour.

As for the system being clean thanks for that. You should see my shed tho,
Looks like a bomb hit it.

Ah.. OK... not a pure "Chift Pist" system then... it's more of a "ChopII" type of configuration..

Any reason why you decided to overflow back to the sump... rather than just put a pump in the sump tank to feed the grow beds... ala a standard two pump BYAP style timed system...

I found it safer to have 2 separate systems, one for the fish and one for the grow beds. That way if a pipe gets blocked, or a pump fails then the water level in my fish tank can only drop 50mm.
In my 1000L sump tank I have 2 pumps.
A small pump constantly recirculates water thro the sump to the fish tank.
A large pump with a float switch works 15 minutes in the hour for the grow beds. If a return pipe blocks (Frogs usually) then the grow bed will fill up and overflow, BUT ONLY UNTIL THE FLOAT SWITCH DROPS! Then the pump will turn off and stay off. The water supply to the fish tank is safe.
Because my fish tank is large, few fish (about 25 fish) and because I have 4 aerators and a drip pipe I can go for a week or so without grow bed filtration.
AnAP system knows when you leave town, so it is good to have them as bullet proof as possible.

So after all that, I guess I am not a chift pister. I am a 2 pump BYAPer! I never knew that about myself