Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hi all,
i bought a few bits and pieces to make up a single IBC setup; probably pretty boring for most as its the approach most people take, but anyways

i'll try to keep this thread pretty pic heavy, cause everyone loves pictures!

Im new and looking for as much advice as possible so feel free to suggest improvements

so to start off i picked up;
an IBC
half a ton of 14 - 20mm gravel
5000LPH pump
API master test kit

im going with;
the standard cut the top off the IBC and flip it over
15min on / 45min off cycles
however ill set it up in a way i can try the bell siphon too

to start off;
Im going to start the system with goldfish and lettuce (easiest and most hardy?)
and i have a 5ft tropical tank and a pond outside to get some water/ good bacteria to get the system started

in the long term;
i think ill go with silver perch from aqua blue seafoods

for plants i hope to grow lots of different varieties but especially hoping to grow watermelon
(hopefully the vine can hang over the edge to the ground or on a table?)
also considering some companion plants

will add photos soon

cheers

Welcome, yes we all love photos cheers

Welcome.

Sent from my MB526 using Tapatalk 2

My system is finished

I thought to have found another Dutchie, by the look of your name.

You certainly succeeded in making this tread pic heavy. Try to resize the pics before posting them, they look enormous now .

added some cos Lettuce and some strawberries

just watch your strawberries they don't like salt and i've never got them to go too good in CF but F&D goes great guns

added 3 little gold fish whom seem happy

PH at 7.5
Ammonia at 0.25
nitrite at 0
nitrate at 5

so far i have planted lettuce and strawberries
since the last update ive added corn, cucumbers, beans and chives
the chives were added today so they dont look so great haha

i didnt think the lettuce had grown but looking at the older pictures it has! haha

still have the 3 goldfish, i cant seem to work out if my system has cycled as im not seeing any changes in the water properties :S any ideas?

the system is flood and drain, the pump is 15min on, 45min off
the bed fills in 2 minutes and drains in 15

today i added 7 watermelon seedlings and made a shade cloth cover
the DWC idea has been dropped as im getting too many leaves etc in the tank
ive also ordered 25 silver perch from livefish.com today aswell

Hi and welcome rhysdejager, are you adding anything to your system like charlie carp to help with cycling?
I doubt that you have cycled in such a short time frame with only 3 goldfish
Also 25 silver perch are too many for your system with one grow bed, they may be fine while very small but you will need more filtration as they get bigger, can you add another grow bed?
Your system looks great. GL with it all



__________________
I was once young and stupid, i'm not so young now

thanks julia

ive been adding a cap of seasol every couple of days and ive added a bucket of mucky water from my aquarium to help with cycling which i might do again when the fish get here i think.

ive been checking the water every 2 days (graph above) and im not getting the big readings everyone else seems to be getting


that's exactly my plan LF had a deal on 25 which worked out great value.

The system will have twice as many fish than it can support when the fish grow to their full size, so when the fish reach half this size the system will be at the maximum it can support, which should be about 9 months down the track (it seems most ppl have said it takes 18months to get to eating size)

at the 9 month point I plan to see how the system goes and if i feel im happy with the system i will add more grow beds

Hi rys

The aquarium filter water may have helped a little but you will need a constant ammonia source to cycle your system. The goldfish wont quite be enough and seasol doesnt contain amm.

Its not a requirement to cycle before adding fish so Id treat the addition of the SP as the begining so keep an eye on things closley after the introduction of those fish.

We recommend 25 fish per 500L of GB. You have about 150 - 180L of filtration so yes, you will be overstocked. IMHO you will be on the limits if temps increase and/or you have an amm load with decreased O2. Take it easy on the feed and take it slow.

thanks for the heads up charlie!