Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey i am looking to build a aquaponics syatem. i have had many many ideas... haha to many good and bad.

i would like to make 2 grow beds. Flood and drain.

would you recommend a bio filter?

Both of them being 2 ft wide by 3ft long ( how deep should i make them? one will be for plants that only need veg light ie herbs lettuce. The other will be for veggies that need some flowering light ie tomatos and beppers and maybe some berries)

How big of a fish tank would you recommend i use? Its going to be all indoors.

Aslo what levels (ph nitrate ie) should my tank be?

Its going to be powered by led grow lights i am building specially for this operation.

Please help! any help will help!!!!!!!

thanks!

ALSO what other types of aquaponics would your recommended?
I have considered:

NFT systems

bubble ponics systems

constant flow drip like down a slanted tray.

thanks!

Your growbeds are your biofilters.

Fish tank can be as small or as large as you like - this will depend partly on if you run constant flood or flood and drain. If you run flood and drain you dont want to drain all the water out of your fish tank leaving your fish nothing to swim in so you would need a larger tank.

Your growbed can be any depth. The BYAP beds are 30cm (1 ft) deep. Some people have shallower growbeds, others have deeper ones. 30cms is a pretty good depth.

With growbeds the size you described and 30cms deep and running flood and drain I would think you would want a fish tank of at least 1000 litres.

Ideally your ammonia and nitrite levels should be 0. Nitrate can be more. I'm not an expert on pH in regards to what plants like to have it at, but I have shell grit in my system to buffer the pH. It normally sits around 7.4. FIsh are happy, plant growth is good.

For a home/backyard, a simple system is the best system. Place your growbed(s) over the top of your fish tank. Pump in fish tank to pump water to growbed(s) and then simply drain back to fish tank.

+1 Arbe
Umm what is bubbleponics, I haven't heard if it before?

Thanks arbe!

I was not thinking that much water! I will order those test kits soon!

Faye- it's like a constant drip into individual pots. I have a draw up on it ill post when I get to my laptop!

Yep some good advice there from arbe.

I will add that the more water volume that you have the more stable your system will be and the easier it will be to look after.