Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Started moving water 3/14/13 so I tought I'd start a system thread. Listing specs first in case I have questions along the way.

CHIST PIGB DWC
2 IBC FTs (2500 liters)
Swirl Filter Barrel (200 liter)
Biofilter Barrel (200 liter)
700 GPH Water pump @ 4' head
40 LPM Air pump with 2 large air stones
3" plumbing between tanks and filters
2" to growbeds
1" Pump to FT
Total 90 degree elbows: 2

Completed 3/14/2013 and pumping water to a pretend GB. Not cycling until temps go up a bit. Adjusting kh and ph only.

Grow bed 9' x 18' @ 14" water level
8 4x4x2 rafts @ 288 2" holes
1575 Liters
Greenhouse grow area foot print 20'x26'
FTs are off to the side of this area.

The dimenions of the GB are basd on some 3D steel panels I have. They are 9' x 20" and 2" thick and come pre-insulated. I will back fill 4" under my tarp leaving 2" gap at the top leaving a 14" water level. The rafts will leave a 2 foot area on the return end for the pump compartment. I should have room for some smaller rafts to fill in the gaps.

The greenhouse panels should be finished in the next day or 2 and I can then put the GB together.

Looking forward to your build Tim

Thanks Charlie Me too!!

Got a bit done on the greenhouse today. Should be done with the roof tomorrow. Pic shows half way'ish (10' of 20') ...



And just for fun... pollen showing the swirl filter working ...



And not so fun... I'm going to have to drop my water level another 2". I was hoping to avoid it but it will help in several ways.

Oh well ...

I guess this is a tip or lesson learned.

My mistake with the water level (though planned, modeled, and measured) was that I planned on the final output from my biofilter to the growbed being level at the bottom of the 2" output pipe.

If I had planned it at the top of the pipe it would have been perfect.

I'm going to cut a new hole in the biofliter below the existing hole.

Looks good so far can't wait to see the rest

Trying to work out your flow there Tim, hard to figure out from the image. Is it fairly standard Chipt pist? Fish tank to filters, to growbed, to sump?

Ahhh no, I see your pump is in the DWC perhaps? I'm confused...

I think its CHIFT PIGB ;or more accurately CHIFTSFBF PIGB.

yeah thats simple, water pumped from end of dwc, to FT, through filters, then to DWC end that has no pump, water fllows towards pump.

Thanks Yavimaya... nailed it.

Thanks Sleepe... yes, should have read CHIFT PIGB DWC. The pump will sit in a compartment so I can strain any loose roots and what nots prior to pumping.

Why? The DWC sits flat down on the concrete floor. It's the lowest point in the system.

I will have a lot of height that I can use later. Another rasied DWC getting the water first and outputting into the one I have. Assuming I can feed it of course. I'm already at a 2:1

Hi Tim,

Looks like it will be a cool system! , looking forward to the pics. Getting the flow right is kind of where I went a little wrong too... I wish I had raised my FT that feeds the grow beds through an SLO a little higher as its only about a 300mm drop from top of FT to GB and my 40mm piping can't handle the flow from my pumps if I don't throttle it a bit or redirect...hence why I ended up adding overflow as a precaution afterwards...oh well...good to have one anyway

Your DWC makes me want to add some myself to my system but I have no more space left!

Update

Nitrites showed up on May 12th and nitrates on the 21st. The water in the growbeds was not plumbed in while I waited. I did add a bit of ammonia to it a couple weeks ago and it tested for nitrites on the 21st as well so I plumbed it in on the 22nd. As of yesterday: temp is 80, ph is 7, ammonia is 0, nitrites is 5, nitrates is 20.

Very nice Tim, looks like a great spot to hang out and enjoy the suroundings, better get some opperator comforts installed. Maybe a beer fridge and a pool table would be a good place to start.

Wow thats a big raft. Its actually quite a nice simple build, what filtration methods have you used in the barrels?

My only concern is being able to reach across the raft to harvest. I suppose if you manage it correctly you could harvest sections of raft by removing them?

Thanks Freddie. Beer fridge, music, and comfy chairs installed

Charlie, the plan is 8 4x4 sheets (288 holes) growing smaller greens. If that gets wierd, I'll cut them in half. I do plan to feed one behind another in rotation.

Charlie, I have a swirl filter with bottom drain and a mechanical/bio-filter with netting and screen. Most likey I'll need to ramp this up a bit with a seperate mechanical filter. I'm considering a filter box enclosing the pump.







I did lower the water level. You can see the re-cut on the bio-filter.