Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

This is where the system is going to be set up.

After a day of cleaning up

Getting ready for concrete.

Concrete poured.

Concrete dried and sprayed off. Note decline isn'e all that great so it will hold some water:(

Dyeing the concrete. I didnt want it just plain grey so I sprayed three colors. One base and two watered down a bit.

Fish tanks and initial grow beds. Tanks are rated 100gallons but really hold about 150. Grow beds are 10 feet long by 2 feet wide and just under a foot deep.

Purchased some 80/20 off Ebay to make the stand. The grey tubes started off holding the sides together from the media weight but I ended up using 2" x 8" planks. I am testing the overflow mitigation. (Holes drilled in the sides to see how much rain it would take before overflowing) Not well with only 2 holes per tank. Ended up with alot around the rim.
I also attempted to use just kitchen drains as my flow tubes...Once filled with media they actually drained too slow. Ended up using those for my barrel trees and putting additional drainage to keep the level correct.

Leak in the cross tube for the tanks. This ended up being the manufacturers fitting being a little loose.
The water level without the extra drainage was just too high. But the water flow was fantastic!

Second bed is set up. Note the 2" x 8" supports. Without them the light plastic bulged to the point of worthlessness.
here is have set the level and flow. My nephew had a great time gathering tadpoles to kick the system off

The system has run for two weeks with just the tadpoles. total draiange is: (5) standard tube style drains, (4) 1/4" pee holes, and (3) 1.25" drains with ball valves for Blue barrel trees. Pumps are two 275gal/hr from tank 1 and 2.

The special day! Added 100 talapia fry and planted lots of plants, trees, and seeds

Went to work the next day and when I got home I swore that they had grown half an inch and perked right up!

You are going to have to do something to keep the rain from running off your roof into your system otherwise you are going to have a hard time maintaining water quality. The rain will wash beneficial bacteria out of your growbeds. (Maybe run a gutter along the roof line and store it in a barrel) That amount of water hitting the tops of your plants can damage them also.
Other than that your system looks great!
Where did you find the troughs for your growbeds?

Third day after planting the seeds!