Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

At last I've started to build.
This is how I envision it should look.



When I priced the cost of second hand wood for the support structure I nearly fainted.
It just so happened I had a heap of steel sections left over from another large project but all different lengths so first I had to weld them into usable lengths. By golly they are heavy, no chance of them collapsing.



I cut one IBC in half to make two sumps and thought it would be a good idea to use the cage to make supports for those.
I had a couple of old fence sections that would work for the base of the cages.



so I welded the bases in.
So far the only cost has been the blue barrels for the grow beds and the welding rods.
Back to the grindstone and finish the stands.

I have the fish tank IBC painted green in place and I'm hoping I can keep it all neat and tidy.

I was given that length of sewer pipe for free and am thinking that in the near future I may build it into a protein skimmer as I have a venturi air injector from my ancient marine tank.
I also want to add red claw to the sumps once everything is working correctly and fish are growing.
Hmmmm, we will see, maybe just experiment with the protein skimmer once its working in base mode.

Looks good. You will most likely need more support on the growbeds along the top otherwise they are likely to bow out.

What is the tall cylinder in the pic for?

Thanks, yep totally agree so will be welding star pickets (free) horizontally as an edge brace.



At the moment nothing but I am thinking of making it into a counter current protein skimmer.
Its in the drawing just to check where it could fit.
I made one when I was experimenting with prawns and the much it removed was phenomenal but if I remember correctly they are not as efficient with fresh water.

[quote="savarin]counter current protein skimmer[/quote]

Sounds technical....

Where is your sump?

those red tanks under the grow bed blue barrels. Give me about 800 litres in the sump.

Whats the maximum dia for a SLO?
I realise it will more than likely depend upon how fast the water is being pumped back to the fish tank and can the SLO handle that water flow but is there an easier method to work it out than suck it and see? (pun intended)
I'm considering 90mm at the moment

I use 90mm running up to 8000l/hr.
there is still enough suck to suck up yearling trout, dead or alive.
I could probably use 150mm and still lift fish waste.
75mm is slightly too small and will overflow my tank - however it is enough in other areas where pipes lay flat.


hope that gives you something to work off.

I think working with wood and a few nails would have been quicker and easier but the stands are now finished.
One painted, I had to change the colour to some indian red I had, Dulux weathershield.
A bonus may be that when the inevitable rust occurs it might not be visible



The other stand showing all the bits and junk its made from waiting for the antirust to dry before painting.



You may notice that they only have 5 legs not 6, there is a reason for this, the sump cages only fit in at 1000mm wide dimension, there is not quite enough room between the end of the stand and the shed wall to remove them but by removing that leg I can turn the cage sufficiently to remove/replace it.
The other reason is I had no more steel for those two legs and decided to use the concrete blocks on that corner. You may choose the real reason

URGENT REQUEST
I started welding the blue barrels together and all was going very well until my jury rigged hot air welder burnt out.
Would anyone in the Townsville or close area have any idea where I could hire/borrow a hot air plastic welder?
Thanks

Oooppps... Nat reckons that a soldering iron works quite well..

For small thin stuff I would probably have a go with the soldering iron but the area I'm joining (or at least attempting) is the thick section at the lips. Plus I know what I'm doing with the hot air welder but dont know with the soldering iron.
If I cant get a hot air one I guess I will have to try the iron or join them with uniseals and a pipe (which is fallback plan no 3

The hassles of obtaining the hot air welder are too much at the moment so I've decided to stick with individual half barrels.
Playing with the siphons at the moment.
I've found that an inflow of 0.75 litres per minute per grow bed is the minimum it will trigger.
Any slower and it just keeps trickling.
Is this fill rate ok for the grow beds?

The maximum flow before it keeps continuing to drain is 9 litres per minute per grow bed.
So, 8 grow beds need from 6 litres per min up to a max of 72 litres per minute.
Now I have to find a pump that can supply up to 72 at the most litres per min at a heap of 0.8M or to put it another way between 360 to 4000+ L per hour. Lots of leeway here as a tank turnover of once an hour fits in ok.
Does this sound correct?

Kind of stuck at the moment. Pump is on order, working out pipe runs and joins.
Uniseals are cheap when you only want one but by golly they soon add up.
As I cant weld the barrel at present I desperately need 2 more, went up to the original supplier in Kelso but he hasnt had any for quite a while. Its a bit depressing when you can do the job but dont have the equipment.
Anyone know of a supplier of blue barrels in townsville? Or 4 half barrels??????
I dont hold out a lot of hope at the dump.
Yavimaya, 90mm dia for the slo looks very large when held there, do you think 50mm would be OK?
If my pump delivers too much then I could add a bypass.
So much going through my head at the moment I cant stop from flitting back and forth.

Yavimaya, 90mm dia for the slo looks very large when held there, do you think 50mm would be OK?
If my pump delivers too much then I could add a bypass.
So much going through my head at the moment I cant stop from flitting back and forth.

Hi Savarin,i run with 80mm slos but mine are bottom drain configuration,i have over rated the pump and bleed back into the sump,as has been mentioned i can suck up fingerlings no problem,the bottom of my tanks keep clean apart from the fry tank,the cutouts in the outside guard are smaller to stop the fingerlings disappearing but then that also reduces flow,so every now and again i get in there and stir it about which clears it, the other three tanks stay very clean.I like to think the extra water going back into the sump,along with the return from the beds, agitates the water and helps with oxygenation.
Almost forgot protein skimmers struggle to work in fresh water,in salt water the muck it takes out is a very dark colour,brownish.In fresh water you will get deposits in the collecting cup,but it will be clear showing that most of the protein has been returned to the system,counter flows give you added oxygenation but no where near as much much benefits in protein removal as in saline water.

Hi Dasboot, What flow rate does your pump have?



Yeah, I was just considering using it as a source of oxygenation as I have the pipe and a mazzei venturi sitting there.
I suppose I could use it as a strawberry tower????
I'm also playing with a syphon break on the water inlet to the fish tank made from a 20 to 50mm reducer and a ping pong ball, the test looks promising.
I want to pipe the inlet water/air mix to the bottom of the fish tank so I will need to break the syphon when the pump stops.