Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone. This is my first system. Just a little something I threw together. I will be building a larger system from IBCs in a few weeks. I have been looking/reading for some time. Finally getting my feet wet.
This started out as just a vertical wall garden. I have now added a 35gal barrel to the mix. I am starting a fishless cycle on it tonight.
Thoughts? Suggestions for what to do with it?

http://imgur.com/a/5Itu8#1 - Link to Gallery

Looks great mate! Are you cycled yet?

I just having it running to test. I need to get some ammonia then I am going to do a fishless cycle on it first to see if I can get the grow media to start colonizing.

I like this. I like this allot. How much water comes out of the barrel when it is running?

I am not sure of the ghp on the pump. The head on it is supposed to be up to 8' I will have to look to make sure.
I have two pvc valves under the GB in the FT to regulate flow to GB/NFT and make the water climb up the NFT water tube. I get reasonable flow there, maybe 1-1.5" wide in the bottom of a 3" pipe. Then angled just a degree or so to promote flow.
The GB with media(I am using plant!t) fills in about 3min30sec and drains in under 6min. If I had been smart I would have had the NFT drain in to the GB. But like I said the GB was an addon. I was just going to use a smaller reservoir and do hydro. As it is indoors I glued all the NFT pipes to prevent leaks of any kind. The NFT config cant be changed. Lesson learned...

Nice little setup dwayne!

I wish I had thought of that instead long 4" NFT tubes.

Like your "clean out" option at the end of the tubes.

BTW, Is that galvanized hardware in the end of your tubes? If it is it might be a problem.

Looking forward as you start growing stuff!

I like it, but I'm not sure where the nitrifying bacteria are going to live. That may just be because I can be clueless on occasion, but I'd love some clarification because your setup is cool.

I will post another pic of the GB filled with media. I have added media to the top of the barrel. This is where the bacti will grow and prosper! I hope.

As for how much water leaves the FT? I have no idea. I have not measured it yet. I imagine it is less than 4 gallons in the GB and the NFT. I put about 20gal in the FT to start.

I also got some ammonia and dropped a cap full in to get it started. After testing I think this was WAY to much for this small system. It registered an 8ppm but that is as high as the test kit I got goes. There isnt anything in the system now so it should be ok to start.

Here are some pics of the 35gal barrel with the media in it to make it more clear. It took about 3/4 of a 45L bag of plant!t to fill it up. We washed it pretty good or so I thought. Still seeing dust in the NFT pipes.

Are the white pipes some kind of specialty item from hydroponics?? or did you use a unique tool to cut the slots... and what are you using to block the holes while you cycle???

Cool set-up.

All the white piping is regular PVC from hardware store. I used a 2" hole saw to measure and cut 8 holes that fit 2" neti(?) pots. 24 pots total for the wall portion and whatever I can fit in the barrel.
The holes dont need to be blocked. Water is just gravity fed from the top. It runs down the bottom of each tube about 1"-1.5" wide and an 1/8" deep or so. Is this enough for NFT? That part I am not sure about.

Cool little system. So you used 1/3rd of the barrel as the brow bed, set atop the other 2/3?

The NFT? pipes intrigue me greatly.
Is there a filler inside the pipes or they are empty?
It looks like you set it up that way so you could pop out the end caps and clean the inside if you need?
So the plants will be in little pots in a media of some sort?
Will the pot extend down into the running water stream?
Does the water run continuously?

Cheers

The pipes are empty except for a small stream of water in the bottom. Yes the red end caps come off. They are regular clean out drains from a plumbing set up. There is a large rubber O ring that gets compressed and expands when you tighten the screw. It seals the pipe completely.

The plants will be in little 2" net pots. They cover the hole completely. I will probably take the seedlings out of the seed bed material and drop a few hydroton balls in the net pots. My only concern is that the water in the pipes will not be deep enough at first. I may have to insert little dams to get a higher water level in the pipes.

I will have to experiment and read up more on the NFT stuff and just see what works for me though. I had planned on running something like 15min of pump on 45 or more off.

Yes I took a 35gal plastic barrel turned it upside down and cut it at the top of the little band mark. About 1/3rd to 2/3rd ratio. It was a DrPepper syrup container. When I drilled into it it smelled like DP! I am a Pepper! It was great! It still has a faint smell of DP but it is being drown out as I cycle it. Do I need to block the holes while I cycle it? Why would you? No water will drain out. In the pics with growmedia the pump is running, filling the pipes and GB.

WOOT! I have Nitrates!

After playing with some high levels of ammonia(8PPM+) I finally decided to do a water change. After doing this I got ammonia down to about 3.5ppm. I added a bacti start product and boom about 29 hours later I have a nitrite peak of 5ppm and a nitrate of 20ppm or so. I was amazed at how fast it went once I got the ammonia down to a reasonable level.

I have added a few plants we bought the other day. They were dirt potted so I washed them really good, placed them in net pots/hydroton and put them in their places. Just a few as I dont have any fish yet. I will get a few goldfish in the next few days or I guess I can add a few drops of ammonia.

One thing I glanced over and forgot that was holding me back apparently was the high levels of ammonia prohibiting the cycle to start. The 8+ppm was killing me! It was almost magic it happened so fast once I got the ammonia down. Even with the bacti start I got nothing over several days.

Ph is another factor... tho how it effects water quality, beyond high is bad, I'm not the expert. Still...

Your Hydroton is where the bacterial transformation occurs... that has to be there, plants or not... and plants also start growing even without the nitrates... just off the water... for a brief period. The flourish when the balance is correct.