Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well I finally got moving on my new aquaponics system. Still a lot of work ahead but the back breaking digging is done. I still am not sure where to put the sump barrel. and still do not know if I should do a bell syphon or a plain syphon to avoid the water level changes if I do not use a sump barrel. What a difference from the first picture

Nice start indeed Holly

Thank you.. I got the basics over a month ago and was too warm to work in the greenhouse.. Now I have to get my thinking cap and think of where to place a sump tank and plumbing.

Hi Holly
What a great looking set up , can you post a couple of pics of the green house structure, maybe an external view. ive never seen a set up quite like yours.

blind freddie
Here is the outside of the greenhouse. Its a Rion Majestic, 6mm twin wall polycarbonate. Its a cute little greenhouse and withstood the Sandy Super storm we had here a year ago. The best thing is there is no up keep.. And please pardon all the pots I have outside, Have to find a new storage place.

Nice setup. From my mistake, make sure you have a large gravel guard so you can see the water level, siphon working and clean out roots.

Thank you RairdogAP I will need all the input I can get.. This is all new to me. Do you have a picture of your system?
So anyone with advice, please feel free to pass is on this way. Hope to work on it more tomorrow.

You can click on the link Deck System at the bottom of my posts to see my system. I am a newb as well and have learned a lot in the few month I've had my system going. I am in the process of building a greenhouse and relocating GB's. I used cheap loop drains from parts lying around instead building proper bell or Affnan siphons. They get clogged easily and I can't how far down they drain. You mentioned "plain siphon" in your first post so I just wanted to let you know how important they are and access is needed to maintain. Everything might flow smoothly to start but roots and solids from fish waste tend to clog things up.

What kind of fish are you planning on keeping?

Nice system... love the professional clean line look. That is definitely not an eye sore! Now do you have a sump tank? I have seen design with and without a sump tank. But it seems the bell siphon style is best with the sump tank since it will cut down on the water level fluctuations and catch most of the solid waste. Today if it does not get too hot the sump tanks will be my next project to figure out.

I am going to start with plain goldfish this year. monitor the temperatures in the GH and water and see how I do with the thermal affects and if I can keep the water above 45 degrees, there are a couple of hardy breeds of tilapia that I will be able to keep. The weather on Long Island can go all over the map but our winters are not super cold, although this year the farmers almanac predicting a colder then average winter.
I am most interested in the edible fish end of the gardening since I can grow vegetables in a GH with out aquaponics.

Even in central Florida, you don't get to keep tilapia without some heating.

Most hardy breeds of tilapia are still going to have some problems if the water gets below about 53 F. Some fish may actually survive down to 45 F but their immune systems are often in bad shape after that and you would be lucky to get them to pull through. I do know some people with some fish that have been through such things but I don't think any of them are equipped to sell their fish, let alone ship them.

If your system spends more than a few months of the year with the water temperature below 70 F, I would NOT bother at all with tilapia. What is the point of trying to run aquaponics if the system spends more than a few months of the year being basically dormant. Tilapia are not going to be eating/growing much when the water temp is below 70 F and therefore your plants will be very short of nutrients.

There are great fish out there that continue eating and growing with water temperatures between 55-90 F and can grow far bigger/faster than tilapia when the water temperatures spend part of the year below 70 F.

And if you are not all that interested in eating fish, just stick with goldfish/koi.

What other edible fish that would be good for a zone 7? Winters can be mild but at times very harsh. summers we can have heat 90 and above.. I already have my ornamental pond with koi that I've had for 4 years and was not gearing to that type of fish for this.

If you have a big enough fish tank and enough filtration, Channel catfish or other types of catfish/bullhead can be a good choice.

If your tanks are on the smaller side, then I would probably recommend bluegill.

Channel Catfish and Bluegill are the types of edible fish I have experience with other than tilapia. Both are warm water fish but will survive cold water as long as the shift from hot to cold is gradual (if a tank is too small and the water temp swings from 64 in the day to 34 overnight, that will likely be bad for ANY fish.

In the Midwest people sometimes grow Perch in aquaponics and I've heard of people growing bass but I have no personal experience with them.

If your water can be kept on the cool side, then trout are reportedly a great fish to grow but again, no personal experience there since I'm even less interested in Chilling my Florida water than I am in heating it.

Thanks TLCnx. These are 140 gal tubs and the water temps don't fluctuate that much.. Last year my koi pond did not get below 45 and that is mostly above ground and only a foot below ground. In Fact it rarely freezes over that I have to use a heater. And this system will be in a greenhouse.

Bluegill are one of the easiest IMO. They can withstand temp swings, ammonia spikes during cycling and readily take to pellets. We are allowed to collect natives here in IN for our aquariums. If I remember right, NY is even more lenient and allows for the collection and even selling of natives. Only downfall is it takes 2 years plus to grow them out. Google NY aquaculture and hatcheries to finds sources for stock.

Are you familiar with the cycling process? If it were me, I would take some water and media from your koi pond and start cycling the FT. This will help jump start it and reduce the cycle time from 5-6 weeks down to 2 to 3 weeks with a ph above 8. You could also start some bluegill in the koi pond and slowly transfer them to the new FT. Monitor the ammonia and nitrite in the new tank so you do not spike the readings. Hopefully you have a GOOD test kit.

What type of media are you planning on using. Hydroton is expensive and hard to find locally. Look for expanded shale at bulk mulch suppliers. It can have small particles that will get through media guards but they all have downfalls. I tried river rock but the plants did much better in the shale and river rock can raise ph if there is limestone mixed in.

Then research ph and plant uptake of nutrients. I am new to the AP side but have raised bluegill and other native for a few years. These are some of the questions and concerns I had and see a lot of the same questions on here from newbies.

And...TC's advice is golden in my book....

For 140 gallon tanks, skip the channel catfish, I wouldn't personally do them in anything less than 300 gallons.

Bluegill are actually really good eating, but they do take a while to get big and not all of them will get very big. Figure that lots of them will be getting eaten at only 6 oz. 1/3rd of a pound is perfectly acceptable eating size for bluegill but is does mean cleaning a mess of them for a fish fry. But they are easy and plentiful. I expect that any fish farm that grows fish for farm pond stocking will have some sort of bluegill or sunfish they sell.

Don't stock too many fish, especially your first season.
For the first season, I would recommend only one bluegill per cubic foot of grow bed media. Once the system is mature and you are experienced with fish keeping, you can decide if doubling or tripling the stocking is appropriate if you are only growing the fish out to 1/3rd or 1/2 of a pound each.