Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all,

I am the principal of an elementary that is diving head first into aquaponics. I wanted to become a part of a community, so that I can have a place to ask questions and get to know others that have similar interests. I also want to show the progress of our system from start to finish. I will take pictures tomorrow of our progress. I thought I would give a rundown of our system to get some feedback. Our system has two parts. The first part is an outdoor system of gutters attached to a bridge that is over our koi pond. I am having trouble with algae bloom, so I could definitely use some ideas there. We will be adding floating rafts in the pond to cover some of the surface area.

The main system is indoors in a 1000 sq ft lab. The goal is to have several types of systems, pumps, siphons, media and fish, so that students can get a better understanding of the principles and create their own system. One side has an IBC cut down with the top used as the grow bed. That pump will send water though 3 12 foot 4 inch pipes to form our NFT system. The pipe is on a rack at an angle and connected with u joints. We will have catfish in this system.

On the other side we have a 12ft by 4.5 foot Deep water culture tank. 2x10s with 2x4s on top. This system will hold koi and have floating rafts. It will also act as the sump for two more IBC. Water will pump though a biofilter into a higher IBC overflow into a lower IBC and then overflow into the Deepwater Culture pond. The growbeds will be 7 foot tables on either side of the IBCs. The plan is for this system to run off of one large pump. We will be purchasing a breeding colony of red tilapia for the two IBCs. We also have a plan for a hatchery.

The lighting was donated by the local drug task force! The grow light system is very nice. There will be 10 lights total and we will have to install a fan and duct work to cool the lights. This system was designed by Inner City Aquaponics in Rossville GA. They are a nonprofit. Total cost to us will be $3,000 which is covered by a grant.

I am sorry for the long first post with no pictures. We don't have any water in the tanks, but we are coming along. I'd love feedback, ideas and advice. Pictures will follow.

Welcome to the forum and the community.

School projects are fun, I hope the kids are enjoying it.

I found this little article of how you guys got started.. http://www.catoosanews.com/view/full_st ... -Rossville

We would love to see some up to date images and how it has developed and what planned for the future.

Cheers

Congratulations GilbertGators, the world needs more principals like you
I wonder how many of those kids will go on to do AP outside of school

Thanks guys. Here are some pics of our system. Charlie, ICA has come a long way in a year. They have two large ponds in addition to the Tilapia and Shubunkin tanks. They are just starting on a third pond. The good thing is they have a ton of room, so they have a lot of expansion opportunities. We have a long way to go, but we have made progress.

And a couple more.

Looks like quite the project Gilbert! I agree with Freddie...the world does need more principals like you!

-Ryan

Didn't get too much done today. The guys were building the tables at their shop. They are trying to use a sheet schedule 40 PVC. I had never heard of it. I'm trying to figure out how to get the floating algae out of the pond without chemicals. As a temporary solution I built a bio filter out of a coke cooler, buffer pads and perlite. I'm not sure how it will work. I attached the pump from our unfinished guttering by drilling 3/4 holes in the top and running the hose. I screwed the top shut and attached a hose to the drain. We will see if it is enough to make a difference.

Block as much light from the water as you can where you can. Any dieing algae that makes it into any filtration will hopefully decompose in the dark and give off natural chemicals from that decomposition that will hopefully help inhibit future algae blooms if you can avoid any large scale water changes and keep some of that filter material in the system with the decomposing algae (perhaps seed new media beds with it.

It is kinda like the total natural version of algae killing chemicals without having to pay for barley straw or barley straw extracts.

Thanks Lynx. I had planned to buy water iris to cover surface are, but I have two sheets left over for floating rafts. I may add a couple of rafts and see how that works.

Whatever you can do temporarily will help. (even pool noodles bent into a ring or PVC pipe squares or rectangles with shade cloth or something wrapped around them floating on the water could help and you can grow water cress in those during cooler weather.)

Sorry for the delay in posting. There has been a fair amount of red tape that has slowed the project a bit. I am still working on a lighting solution. I hope to have the lights up in the next two weeks. I will post pics of the lights once we get them installed. I did want to add updated photos of the SPLASH Lab (Student Project-based Learning in Aquaculture and Sustainable Hydroponics.)

Here are a few more pictures of the system.

And 3 more.

A couple pictures of fittings for the 2 pump system.

Love it GG, I suppose blue and white are the school colors?

My only advice (because you seem like you have it going on quite well already) would be to try to think of ways the system and their components could fail, and to add or design in fail-safes that might keep the system going or keep it from flooding the floor or what-have-you.

Some thoughts:
Pipes can come undone
Pipes can clog, putting mesh baskets or guards can help
If a drain clogs the container might overflow
Roots can clog NFT pipes and make them overflow
People can forget to turn pumps back on if they turn them off
Pumps can get unplugged
Hoses to fill the system can be left on
Fish can be overfed if multiple people have access to the food
Animals or small kids can make a mess of a system if not supervised
Pumps and cords are a shock hazard if not hooked to GFCI outlets
Grow lights get really really hot
Fish can try to jump out
Fish can escape through the drain pipes and/or clog them
Loose covers or fabric or what-have-you can move and divert water out of the system
Rubber hoses can clog with biofilm over time to where the water doesn't turn over often enough
Loose debris can clog pump inlets to where they don't pump well anymore
Pumps can fail
The power can go out (battery backup is necessary for some demanding fish like trout)
Valves can be left in the wrong position (I see a valve in the one picture)

Anyway it might be fun to have the kids think about all the ways the system or its components could fail and have them think about ways to mitigate those or design those possibilities out of the system. Everything is a teaching opportunity!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poka-yoke