Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All,

I have had a super small system in my Lanai since November and have been really happy with the results and learned along the way. After enjoying the great peppers , tomatoes , basil and arugula i figured it was time to start a little larger system in the yard that will have the ability to grow.

Below are some pictures of my progress so far. The design has changed multiple times but I do think that I am pretty happy with where I am in the design and progress of the build so far.

Area we will be using for the Aquaponics


Most of the building process is new to me but I wanted to do it myself , it has probably taken more time to do it this way.

We started out making a concrete form to set the Barrel on and then a brick and concrete stand to place the growbeds on originally I was going to put the sump in the space under the growbed but realized this was not really feasible so I decided to cut the top off a second barrel and bury it

Stand being built


Progress with the stand and sump buried Sti;; need to do a little more work on the concrete over the bricks but that can come late.


System plumbed and testing



I used one inch pipes for the SLO and it seems to be working good for now. The pump is 1600 liters per hour and is probably overkill but half of the flow is diverted back into the sump and I wanted to have a large enough one for when I expand. One of the biggest obstacles I seem to be having is sourcing bulkhead fittings and or uniseals. I wanted to ship some here but between the duties and shipping the cost wends up tripling.

everything seems to be flowing good and the bells work good.



Next step is to wash the gravel and run permanent electric to the area , build a cover for the sumps and the fish tank.

Eventually I will be adding more beds over the sump and then in the shape of a U from the wall. My hope is to add an IBC as the tank over time once I can find a decent one that I know what was inde of it.

Here is my gravel guard , I am wondering if I have enough grooves cut into it once the gravel is added



I still have to trim the top down but the grooved area will be underwater

Looking good there Mark, great pictures!

How did you manage to plumb in the drains for the grow beds without any bulkhead fittings?

Thanks,

Sorry I was able to find a 1 inch bulkhead fitting {only size I can find) for the SLO but for the drains I used a 3/4 inch male and female conectors and made my own washers for each side , they seem to be holding but wish I could find uni seals locally.

Washed some rocks today , still have more to finish but should be good by tomorrow.


Also made a simple swirl filter , it seems to be swirling pretty good had to make some adjustments to the elbows after I took the pictures.

Made a Little progress on adding the rest of the growbeds but still not complete.

My Readings this a.m.



Planted a few cherry tomatoes and some Jalapenos



Not AP but fish , this is a Tuna Jaw we grilled the other day.

I was given some blue barrels today that were used for water storage , the only downside is that the tops wer cut in half.

I would like to try and use one of them as a grow bed but the half that is still attached is only 9 inches deep. can help me out and let me know if this would be deep enough for a grow bed or would the shallow depth cause problems.

thanks in advance

Mark

Looks great Mark.

The tuna jaw looks tasty too

Thanks Charlie ,

Tuna was really tasty!

Here is a picture from this morning , I am really happy with the growth of the cherry tomatoes and the Jalapeno.

Added 8 Tilapia to the tank today. The biggest is about 6 cm

We have had quite a bit of rain lately but I was able to start to cut down my blue barrel and make the stand. I still need to sand it and make all of the side supports for the barrel so that it does not bow. After that is complete I will start to enclose the fish tank and the sump.

Plants seem to be doing well same with the fish. keeping my fingers crossed

Well have made a little bit of progress with adding my barrel , I was able to frame it out between the rains and am now waiting for the current downpour we have had for the last 2 days to subside so that I can make my siphon and add the gravel.

with all of the rains we have had the last few days I had to drain some water from the sump to prevent an overflow. I have both the sump and the fish tank covered but we have had so much rain that the beds are taking on water. I will probably have to look at covering in the near future.

My plants and fish are doing well so far will keep fingers crossed that this continues.Tomatoes and Jalapenos both have flowers on them.

Been a little while since my last post, the fish are still doing good though I did loose one and am not real sure why but the others have been doing well and eating good.

Tomatoes are growing really well and starting to set fruit.

Peppers are also growing good and fruiting , there is one that the ants have just taken over , I am constantly cleaning ants and aphids off of it to no avail.

Had a little time to work on the next bed and have completed the Bell siphon and guard , hoping to get it all plumbed in the next few days if time allows.

progress on Barrel