Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey all

Been lurking around for a few weeks, captivated by some of the systems out there. Read right through OBO's threads, and Helomech, and DecalsbyJT, and too many others to recall right now, but I came away with a great sense of wonderment and "I wonder if I could do that".

So I am going to try. I will start small, using mostly bits and pieces I have around the place as I have had a go at hydroponics in the past, but again only in a small way.

I have some pumps (Aquapro which I have read aren't too bad) and plumbing, some clamshell wading pools that I will use for grow beds, and am thinking of making a fish tank with pond liner (still thinking about that one).

I am living in a unit complex at the moment, with a small back patio area about 2m x 10m but it gets a decent amount of sun. Some of this will be the setting for my small proof of concept (prove it myself that I can do it!) setup.

In 6 months or so I plan to move to somewhere with an actual backyard, so this time is for experimenting, and trialling different methods, and making the mistakes

See you all around,

francis

Welcome a few from the sunny coast here. Where abouts are you? Start up a members thread and record your journey. Deisign your system and make a materials list, work out how you want to run your system and check out some of the members smaller systems.

Photos and question we like. Cheers

Welcome Francis

Hi Francis , good on for for having a go.
AP systems and our fantastic climate go well together.
we are at Beerwah and have a couple of IBC systems going now. We have not had to buy any salad vegies or greens for several months now. have also harvested a few nice fish
There have been a couple of hick ups along the way, but in general the whole experience has been very rewarding and a facinating learning experience.

Cheers

Thanks for all the warm welcomes

blind freddie; is there a source of IBC on the coast? I found some food grade ones in Brissi for $115 ea, but would prefer to source more local. Not that I'm ready for one, just curious.

Welcome aboard

$115!! should be able to knock em down. Dont let them take you for a ride Ive purchased them for 30 bucks each over here in wa

You were lucky seamonkey.

I'd say finding good ones for $30, that you only need to hose once will be a substantial challenge. The ones at $115 will probably either have had food products in them last, or have been professionally cleaned.

I find the prices are roughly thus in Sydney:
Professionally cleaned from tank supplier - $150-$180
Very clean, have only had liquid food products in them - $100-$120
Dirty but still fairly food safe after good 2 day wash - $60-$80
Coated in some chemical rich product you would not eat, or used cooking oil - < $50

As a comparison, professionally clean blue barrels from tank supplier are generally $40-$50, and second hand ones of any quality are $10-$20. Getting good IBCs for $30 is astonishing!

There is a bloke in Nambour sells food grade I believe foe $100, check Gumtree, Trade a Post and ebay. That seems to be the standard price. Go through the For Sale thread and there should be a post on IBC available Nth Brisbane. Cheers

Awesome, that is some good information.

I think ideally I will work up to using one IBC for fish, one for two more grow bed, and another for a sump with the top cut off for a raft bed.

So will eventually need 3.

Remember as a rule of thumb your grow beds will hold 40% water, make sure your sump will hold all water when grow beds are empty due to power outage. Also look at an emergency power/air supply for when we have our power outages.

Or simply in the case that you are running flood and drain.

So I went out and grabbed some gravel today. I will head over and start a thread in the member's systems section

Thanks again to all for the warm welcomes

Did you test the gravel, put a hand full of washed gravel in a jar or glass and fill with white vinigar. If bubbles rise do not use as your PH will most likely stay to high

Hi Sickpuppies, sorry I missed your post the other day

Ive picked all mine up locally, as CCBear said earlier there are a couple of guys selling them on Gumtree Etc. i have picked a couple up from some of the local farms.

You just need to check what they have beed used for. There are a few large organic farms in the area that use bulk seasol and Fish Emulsion Etc.

There may be a couple of us in the area looking for a few at the moment. Perhaps we could pool together and do a better deal if we were able to buy in bulk. I am looking for two more after Christmas. (dont tell the missus) if I come across a few of them Ill let you know.

I have purchased 2 lately that were in perfect condition and only used for natural organic products for around 100 bucks each.

last year I picked up 3 older looking ones for $150 in total that had been used as water tanks under an old guys house for several years. Because they under his house and not out in the wheather they were actually in very good nick.

it realy is a game of luck and patience finding the good ones at the right price.
Cheers