Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,

Thought I'd throw my new (small) system into the mix. About three-quarters of the way through a fishless cycle now.

Half barrel design:


Growbed testing with the IBC plastic getting UV cleaned:


IBC frame drying after her rust-seal and paint job:

Thanks for approving the thread!

Here's the system in place and almost done cycling:

your barrels might need some support in the middle.. they'll start bowing out after a bit of time

Welcome to the forum chase

Love the system

Congrats, that's a nice, tidy system - looks good.

When you come to stocking, just keep in mind that you do not have a lot of filtration there.

@Keith: will look into that man, thanks!

@Charlie: Thanks!

@Chillidude: Agreed, this first run wad going to be very lightly stocked, I was thinking max 10 fingerlings..

Your system looks good, lowspeedchase! Pristine and virginal, in fact, with everything in white. Your first posted pic is classic.
I can't recall seeing white drums here in Oz, only blue and black. Also, your drum appears to have thicker walls than mine do and I'm wondering if white drums are special, heavy duty units. Do you know if this is the case?

Looking Nice, i see your from FL too. What fish were you planing on using?

Thanks again Eddy

@PLJ: Thanks brother! The barrel seller told me they were food grade and only used once. The all white was actually a fluke as he was out of the standard blue.

@edd024: A bit north of you, but yup, florida as well haha. Definitely catfish and maybe redclaw for this first run.

Lowspeedchase is a great name. It reminds me of the fact that my father still tells a joke where in the setup O.J. Simpson is still a football player. It is probibly time he updates his jokes.

Braved a clear spot in tropical storm Isaac to snap some shots for my fellow aquapons.

Pepper plants are just starting to bloom; however, lot's of little bug activity... hopefully none of these dudes are winged aphids:




Oleander Caterpillar hanging out on my blueberry bush:


Bell pepper plant is exploding in growth but not yet blooming:


Tomato vines have doubled in length... the bottom of the vines seem to be moldy or have rust fungus, not experienced enough to tell yet - they will be pruned tomorrow when the tropical storm has passed:



Watermelon vine seems happy but has not experienced a lot of growth yet:


Cucumber is VERY happy, growing very fast, but something seems to be eating it's lower leaves:


Another Oleander Caterpillar exploring my system... there is a oleander tree almost hanging over my system, I think most of these guys get knocked down or blown down onto it... they aren't eating anything (they eat oleander leaves) but are all over.


Three shots of lettuce spouts coming up through the hydroton:




Hope you've enjoyed this update!

Thanks for the update... looking good...

Weirdest caterpillars I've seen. Edit-that were not in some deep dark cave or Amazonian rain forest.

Lookin good!

please keep pics to 800x600, thankyou.

Have resized the pics in this latest update to conform with forum guidelines, sorry about that!


Plucked a few of these bad boys off of my tomato plants... guess I'll have to start misting some BT.




The cucumber plant is getting HUGE!




Cucumber is also flowering, look at all the buds...



Lots of awesome growth from all the plants.



Pepper plant is happy too, in one week we have gone from flowers to mini-peppers!


The only negative news: overnight a bird took out all, 100%, of my lettuce sprouts... major bummer, guess I will have to build some sort of cover for the system.

Also, water is fully cycled, so I should be picking up some catfish within the next week!