Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

OK - After 5 years I think it's time to update my thread on this website.

I teach 7 Honors Marine Science students in Tampa, Fl. About 180 students per year. About 5 years ago the school gave me $500 to start up our aquaponics program- Not a lot of money as you all know. So here is our journey...

Enjoy

The students gathered up as many cinder blocks as they could from around our area. Don Conkel Cichlids donated over 100 blocks. The students cleaned off the old paint and dirt and put all the blocks together then put a smooth finish on the inside of mortar and sealed it with a 2 part non toxic epoxy.

Inside the greenhouse we used a burial crypt as our sump tank ($150 from Florida Vault Services Delivered!) Once installed we couldn't move it since it weighed over 1500 pounds! We used 10' x 1' aluminum roofing pans donated from Daily's Aluminum as return trays to our sump and coarse filter floss as our biological filter.

Our goal was to try NEW ways of growing plants using aquaponics instead of using flood and drain systems and gravel (although we do have a flood and drain system setup now).

In our fishtank (about 3000 gallons separated in the middle) we have about 200 blue tilapia on one side and about 100 7-9" red drum donated by the state of Florida

Here are a few more pics of the greenhouse today with the plants growing in different media types.

A few more pics of the greenhouse

Wow! That is great, everyone loves to see AP in schools. One concern however is the use of aluminum in contact with AP water. I would prevent contact with the water as the AP water could get acidic, and cause the aluminum to leach into the system, affecting the fish. Genius idea to use a concrete vault for your sump! I also love the upside down tomato plants.

Thanks! That's a HUGE pat on the back from someone who helps out so many people on this site.

I think the pans have some kind of enameled coating on them. After 4 years of almost constant water (The watering pump for the drip systems comes on 8 times a day for 10 minutes) it has not pitted, flaked, or oxidized at all. The hydroponic guys in the area use similar pans (but a little thicker gauge) in their huge greenhouses that's what gave me the idea. Of course they don't have to worry about the fish as you said.

Thanks for sharing, Keep us updated as the project progresses.

Setting up our new systems this week with the students

2 - 650 gallon round poly tanks on concrete w/ SLO to an IBC in the ground

4 - 120 gallon fiberglass tanks 2x1x8' for grow beds

1- 4x8x1' wood plant tank with liner

running it with one 900 gph pump split between the 2 fishtanks and another 900 gph pump for the 5 vegetable tanks.