Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Any water feature can have fish in it , so it can run an ap grow bed

Any water feature can have fish in it , so it can run an ap grow bed

How far away from the pond are your wicking beds, I assume nothing is stopping me taking the water a fair distance from the ft and then through a water feature and back to the gb, just the extra cost of pipes and possibly a stronger pump or a booster one to keep flow up and minimise risk or clogging the long pipe?
Think I am still heading back to a simple cascade feature between beds into ft.
Thanks for the pics, looks like your s setup is working well for you

Exactly what I was thinking originally, and it seems I will just need a bit of balance to get it to work without said fish being floating ones!

I have notified Michael... and upon next visit will collect pics. He really has had fun with it.

I was probably my fault by not noticing the obvious discrepancies and making assumptions.
Ok 4m, nice. So if we put the 2x GBS one on either end that still leaves 2m for the backdrop water feature.
Keeping it simple pump in FT syphoned F&d or continuous flood for the GB's. I would avoid waterfalls (even though I have one) and go for something that comes straight out of the back wall/fence into the water there is one in this link http://www.completehome.com.au/Outdoor/Water-Features ie its a waterfall but doesn't run over anything to build up algae etc also that one is a bit high. Backdrop bamboo on the fence with maybe a couple of figurines or japanese style garden ornaments on either side of the waterfall.
I would go a little deeper and the boat shaped base is a good idea. If its liner run it halfway over the wall top and cement flat rocks or stones slightly overhanging the FT.
Structural considerations, is the wall strong enough to support the IBC bearers and will it take the weight of the water in the FT?

With the waterfall, why do people worry so much about algae?
If AP can support ALOT of plants of very few fish, then why is a small 30cmx30cm layer of algae a problem?
Also, the algae that grows on waterfalls i have found is a good environment for worms, collects fishpoo underneath and when it breaks off, fish like to eat it.

Exactly

I don't disagree with you at all, I think a nice natural rock waterfall would looke perfect in the middle of the AP system, but my wifes idea of a water feature is more the colour of a pool, and frankly i dont think she quite understands that chlorinating it to get ad keep that colour is not too flash for the plants!!!

sleepe's link looks perfect and would look really sweet behind my setup

If you can get enough biofiltration and plants the water should stay clear or less fish, EB plz confirm.
Im just going by the pictures people post, most people have perfectly clear water, a little colour in it, but not murky at all.

Tell her that if she is willing to pee in the system and do the filtration herself that she can have water however she wants it, plants should be ok with some chlorine, but the fish/bacteria will die. - Florists use bleach in thier water, kills bacteria and they say the flowers actually live longer because of it, although i suspect its just because of not having bacteria.

So this is my backyard and the dodgy vege patch - just ripped out the tomato's a week ago.
There is another row of the bricks, they are limestone litewall from midland brick, not sure if they can structurally support the pond. had a look for the specs but the typ i have is no longer made. It is a solid block, the only colour that wasn't hollow inside apparently, and lugging 500 of the damn things over soft dry sand was "fun".



The Area in Question


A closer view...


See the lower retaining wall, I did have grand designs on making this a long FT 15m x 1m x0.5m = 7500L.
Abandoned this idea, too costly for an experiment.
Imagine having the top section as a gb..... well for another decade i spose

yup sounds like i can get this off the ground with the simplified version, seems the main drawback of not overstocking with fish is slower growing plants, but still better than my current soil patch

So, this is the fountain my friend built... The 'tiki' faces were a nod to the "island feel' he hoped to create with the back yard...



The builder/designer... today. What I didn't know was he'd actually had a brutal die-off due to someone chuckin' in a detergent pellet. He came out one morning, the pond was overflowing with 'foam'... and all but two fish died (out of 40) that day. He flushed them (goldies are hardy, remember...) by sticking a garden hose down their throats...
and joy of joys... must have been a girl and a boy...

He's suffered die-offs, again, tho nothing that mirrors the soap HSM... Currently he counts 28... and three pleco's. Tho, for now, the plecos are housed inside until it warms up. They really don't like the cold.



This is a 'long shot'... today. He's re-seeded with tules in the spring... he keeps 'em potted, as the roots are tasty snacks for the fish.
The ferns don't mind the cold, this is after a hard freeze... Mind you, his fruit and palm trees shelter the fountain from the worst, we think...

Mind you... he is only using the filtration from the stone you see... there is no added biofilter, so... seriously, I'm dyin' to get him to attach a couple of growbeds.

That's nice, just picturing a Gb growing out of the top of that Tiki face thing, as long as it wasnt bad karma to chop off the top of its head!!!!

There are a few structural problems with that Obelix, none of the corners appear to be tied,ie the bricks are not returned. I would suspect it would hold the GBs because most weight will be on the front/sides and will be exerting pressure downwards. Digging deeper will not work unless you leave a shelf all round; you are on sand so going close to the foundations (if any) will tend to undermine them.