Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Matt from Austin here. My interest peaked in aquaponics about a month ago. I did some research and decided on building my own IBC tote system. I want to supplement our family's produce now. If I can successfully get this system up and running, I'd like to expand and produce enough goodies to sell.
I bought 2 IBC totes today, 2 of them being gray. I cut the top off one of the gray ones approx 6-8" down in order to facilitate some small plants and a big enough fish tank. I plan to cut the other 2 totes in half so I can have deep enough grow beds for some bigger veggies (tomatoes, grapes, I might even plans the top of a pineapple and see how that goes). That will have a total of 4 deep grow beds, one shallow, and one fish tank capable of holding atleast 200 gallons.

I filled the fish tank this evening with 100 gallons of rainwater and plopped in 10 Shubunkins.
I plan on filling one of the grow beds tomorrow or Friday

Any helpful hints would be appreciated...


More pics will be available tomorrow, after I build some grow beds...

I got some work done today. I cut the tops off all 3 totes now. Two of them are approx 8" and I cut one of them deeper ( approx 10-12") to plant some grapes and watermelons, etc.
Now my plan was to use the other 2 bottoms for media grow beds...but they are very deep right now (about 2 feet. I don't like wasting anything (i.e. cutting the other 2 bottoms down to an appropriate size of 8-10".
I had a though on the way to dinner tonight: could I use the lower 2 deep grow beds for a raft setup? I could plum the ball valves at the bottoms as return pipes back to the fish tank and use a seperate pump to push the raft water back since it would be uphill.
Has anyone run a 'hybrid' aquaponics system such as this? What are the pros? Cons?

Edit: I have the 2 media grow bed tops mounted on top of the cages (they are un-cut)..and the media water can drain to the lower raft setups and be pumped back to the fish tank.

Hey man, welcome to the best addiction to have. Growing plants and raising fish.

What was in the IBC tanks in their former life? Don't think I've ever seen a gray one before. Clear, white, black, but not gray. Did you wash and scrub them out well?

Do cover the fish tank if the sunlight can get to the water. Algea will grow quite rapidly and you'll have to add more airation than you normally would.

What type of media will you be using?

Looking forward to the pictures.

And Kodos on using rainwater to fill the tank !!

They originally came with bleach, but the guy I bought them from had cleaned them all out and was using them for rain water for his deer lease for a few years. I did clean and rinse them with vinegar and let me sit out in the Texas sun for a day before using them.
I do plan on covering the fish tank, probably with one of the grow beds. It's all under my porch so the only sun that gets under there is early morning sun for about an hour. I'll be using pea gravel as media....I'll be picking 2 cubic yards up tomorrow.
I've got 12 65-gallon barrels that I use to collect rain water. I used to water the garden with it, until the garden took off and required too much water. I switched to tap water for the garden, so I can use rain water for the aquaponics now!

Anyone have any thoughts on my media & raft setup idea?

More pics:
Ignore the clutter in the house, we are in the middle of a "Let's drop everything and CLEAN" kick. The fish tank is on the left in both of these pics.


Here's a pic showing the other grow bed that I'll be putting on top of the fish tank...I just need to finalize my plans on using the old futon frame.

Here's a pic of the other 2 bottoms that I'm considering converting to a raft system in the cages, beneath the other 2 growers.


I'm going to pick up a Cubic yard of pea gravel tomorrow, so I'll include more pics then.

I have a raft on top of my fish tank. The only thing that has survived is the celery. My gravel growbeds are producing wonderfully. I believe that the problem that I have is that I planted lettuces in it, and it is too warm for it. I think this winter it will be a different story. The celery however is blasting off.

I only got a little work done today...
I mounted one grow bed atop the fish tank and filled it with gravel. I might switch it to the other side to keep all the grow beds lined up, and because it's currently blocking our water spout on the wall.
I also put the raft tank back in the far cage. Since it's white, I'll have to block it from the sun (even though it only gets direct sunlight for a few morning hours a day).




My little helpers:

So cute and so willing at that age. Lovely photos Tamatt!

Looking good Tamatt27. What is a Shubunkins?

One piece of advice i can give is that make sure you position your grow beds for maximum sunlight. I have mine under the patio and i can see a huge difference in the growth.

Keep us posted about how your grapes get on though. I am very interested in seeing the results there.

Well, right now in Texas...full sun is about 105 degrees and our soil garden it taking a beating. I'll be supplementing a florescent grow light in the mean time.
I couldn't help but work on it this morning and I got pretty carried away. I finally started planting!! I'm using my temporary fish tank pump to pump water in it, and it's been keeping up very well! I drilled a few overflow holes in the side just in case it starts to overflow.

Exciting stuff mate!

What have you planted?

looking good, and welcome to the forum. This heat is killling us also. So ready for some cooler weather.

I only planted 3 of my tomatoes. I'm going to keep my heirloom tomatoes in planters for a few weeks...I would prefer not to lose those!

I went ahead and planted the rest of my non-heirloom tomatoes:


They're 1)fast AND 2)fuel efficient!


They kids wanted me to plant the avocado seed we've been nursing in the bed too, so we'll see. It hasn't done anything in a week.

Hope y'all like pictures...cuz I do! I went ahead and planted all my tomatoes, along with a green pepper and an avocado seed (which I don't expect to do much).