Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all,

Lots of questions here! im really into this idea but feel a little limited by my situation, so im hoping some advice will help me decide the way to go!

Being a renter on a small property I'm unsure of whether I could build an aquaponics system to work for me.

I'm wondering if people here could give an indication of what would be achievable, in terms of scale and growing capacity.

The house is about the size of a standard Melbourne terrace, with a small useful garden space of about 4*3m.

I'm imagining I could have the plant system in one or two half wine barrels or something of that size. the aim is that with a trolley and station wagon I could relocate it at one point.

As for the fish, I'm wondering at that scale is it feasible to actually grow something for eating? What sort of size tank before growing something decent is possible?

Also with the increasingly hotter Melbourne sun, I guess id need to have some sort of sun protection, to avoid evaporation and/or plant burn. Would a standard roof made from that translucent plastic corrugated roofing be sufficient, and would it need to cover just the fish tank, or plants as well?

And given this scale would the cost of the pumps be prohibitive to building the system? is there are great economy of scale going on? And does the pumping element typically take up a lot of room?

What sort of cost would people imagine for this scale of system? in the range of AUD $500-$800?

I hope you can help me on these questions, it will give me a better idea of what is reasonable and achieve. I really like the idea but don't want to invest heaps of time and infrastructure (and cost) if I cant move it later...

Thank you very much all...

Eliot

Small pumps are fairly cheap. Go to an aquarium shop and get a pond pump. I got a 1000L/hour one a month ago for about $35.

Nova

If you sit your growbeds over top of the fish tank and gravity feed straight into the tank, you will not only save money on pumps and electricity, you will have a much smaller footprint.

Any size system is possible, just remember not to go too heavy on the fish while you are starting up. Use some bullet proof comets or such like to establish bacteria.

As for growing fish to eat, lets say you get a 500 litre tub or something like that and add 2 blue barrels cut in half on frames gravity feding into the tank, hence around 400 litres of gravel. To be really safe, and this has been the subject of much debate, think you can have around 2kg's of finished fish per 100 litres of water with that much biofiltration. Say you want to grow them to 500 grams, that's 4 fish per 100 litres, 20 fish in total. Allow for a few deaths and that fact that you will be hooked on AP and need more tanks by the time fish get bigger, grab 25 silvers from www.livefish.com.au and you are off. Sounds too easy? Probably, but it's a starting point!

Hi Eliot,
Welcome! My system is indoors, and total water in it is about 500 liters. I only just got my first batch of tilapia into it, but I intend to have a fish meal for the family about every other week throughout the year. I will get two batches of fish grown out in the year, I think. I'll have a breeding tank and a fry grow out tank too, but everything fits in my sunroom. It is about the same size as your garden space. Although it wouldn't be terribly fun, I could move my system with a station wagon and a handcart. And several strong friends. And a case of good beer. And a stack of pizzas....

I've come to the conclusion that the biggest expense in building a system is the re-working of the plumbing. All those little fittings, and buying the wrong one, and the resulting drawer-full of pieces that aren't quite right--that's where the cost is! Pay careful attention to what you are doing, and don't change your mind about it. That will keep the cost down.

Good luck in your endeavors.

hey eliot.

I'm about to start helping a friend set up a system in about 1 week. He laso has a VERY small court yard type back yard. He will be using a 4 foot fishtank, with a sealed bucket filled with gravel as the bio / solids filter and the plants will be growing in a 6m length of 90mm PVC hung on his fence.

G'day eliot, you will be amazed at what you can do with a sml system, mine is only 1 pipe,1 tub and 1 pump and 20ish goldies( they are bomb proof ). I have a sml sail shade over the plants midday to help with temp.

Hi EP,

For my perspective on small systems, take a look at my thread "Gary's System."

I'm aiming for a fish dinner (2 x 500g fish) per week throughout the year. At this stage, I'm about 8 weeks away from the first one.

My growing systems can be expanded commensurate with the availability of nutrients.

Everything I use can be walked through the front door of most houses (except the 600 litres of water).

Gary

Hi eliot if you live in or near melbourne i can give you some stuff real cheep to get started

Thanks so much all for the incredible amount of help and information

will look further into these ideas...

its all new to me - and have to see wheather the idea suits my partner as well

cant get too carried away just yet!

thanks again

actually the main quesiton she is asking is about the fish - as in "what can we eat!" - I guess we have been typicially into deep sea fish and the like, so i was unsure of what what sort of fish are good to grow for the melbourne area...

this might be a selling point...!

Silver and Jade Perch seem to be the fish of choice for most Apers....

Both great table fish... there's a link in the fish recipe section...

Both high in Omega-3... in fact the Jade Perch has "the" highest Omega-3 rating of all fish....

and they taste great

hey EP,

I too am a fellow renter, at the moment I am actualy tryin to work out how I am going to move my system ( a 3m x 2m foot print in a portable hothouse ) with a bathtub GB and a buried IBC fish tank, I started with the indestructable bronze comets and now I also run silvers and tandanus catfish. Am moving to a new property next week where I might not be able to bury my IBC.....so not only am I lookin at the logistics of moving an established system but also swappin my IBC for some smaller tanks yet keeping the gravity return from GB to fish tank

Am lookin forward to what you end up doing

Bundy - why not gravity feed from IBC to grow-beds then from grow-beds to a sump. One pump system, pump in sump transferring water to fish tank. This is the way I currently have my system set up and doing this it may be possible for you to use all the components you have in place no in a very similar way - only needing to add a sump big enough to hold what water is in the grow-beds on the flood cycle (or less if you use continuous flow.

welcome EP!
better sign your partner up while you are deciding...
C1

ahhhhhhhhh good thinkin vegie , I just need to wait n see if my new landlord will let me set up my hothouse lol