Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi skeggley,
If I have any luck with the BGC scoria query I'll be sure to let everyone know what the outcome was, if they do have it at one of the many BGC companies I don't know if they will even sell me any.

Some photos attached if I do this right...
as you can see I'm still in the setting up stage, will probably be a few weeks before I get it to cycling the system.
I'll post more photos when I make some more progress.

Perth pea gravel works great. Most garden centers in Perth sell ~ 18mm version


Bloody hard work to shovel !

Yep, looks like that's what I'll be using, I rang a friend at BGC and they don't have the scoria like I was told so Pea gravel it is then.

A couple of update photos of my slow moving setup, I put a brick base down for my sump tanks - I have two at 500lt each, but first I had to re-route the downspout so I could keep the sumps neatly inline and close enough to join with an equalizing pipe. The bricks were from different building sites so there was a lot of mismatched sizes but they free so the price was right. I just need to compact the bricks now and then I can set the tanks in place. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks I will get the system plumbed and tested ready for cycling.

Looking good HairyCamel.

Thanks arbe.

Hey there - how are you doing this? I used 90mm uniseals. Love your work btw, very neat and the wooden pallet idea is great.

Hi jayendra, I was thinking of using tank fittings from our local Masters store and joining the fittings with a rubber hose, I haven't looked into which rubber is safe to use yet. My IBCs came with the wooden pallets so it wasn't really my idea, I've just been grabbing whatever I can get my hands on.

When I find out what the tank fittings are actually called I'll do an edit, just cant remember at the moment.

Cheers.

Bulkheads?
90mm uniseals are 4$
vs
40mm bulkhead 20$

If your going to use hose - petrol hose is what its called - mostly transparent and pipe clips.

Can you get a straight line between the two?

Here is a comparison of two designs

My latests which costs 8$


And my first design which costs about 10x that

Thanks jayendra,
yeah, bulkheads, that's what I was trying to remember, I didn't know the uniseals were that cheap, not that I had actually searched that hard.
My tanks are well leveled and in line so I could use the uniseals, have you ever had any leaks? Your plants look really healthy.
Thanks for your help.

Sump Tanks in position with one of the floating raft beds on top (not located properly yet) and one more floating raft bed to go onto the second sump tank, then I can start the plumbing.

No leaks - tried on thin ibc plastic and curved blue barrel plastic.

Cool, I'll see if my favorite Masters store has any.

Another pic, I've finally got everything leveled including the fish tank. I had to remove the pea gravel from under the fish tank and put a brick base as I did with the sump tanks, really wish I had done that first but I thought I would get away with just leveling the pea gravel, anyhow it's done now. Next I will start the plumbing. I'll post more pics as I progress. Gonna have a couple of drinks and a bath to soothe my sore back and then I will slack off for the rest of the arvo. Cheers.