Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Scotty - Tanks are a No Go... I only have about 30" door opening and a total project build budget under $300.

I'd love to do some of the awesome things I've seen on some of the other members systems but I have to do it Good & do it Cheap. So with that, I'm trying to get the biggest bang for my buck. If I could get a better paying job, I'd be all over putting in aquatic stock tanks, found some sweet fiberglass ones with built in windows and all (my daughters would love that more than TV) but student loans have to get paid off first.


Oh, and an update on our weather here... Right now it's 0 degrees F with about 15 mph winds so it's friggin' cold. This is why I'm putting the system in my basement

So how many watts total do you think the system will be using. In my climate I am outdoors and have never used lights and I am always trying to keep all my electricals efficient... at the moment I use just under 100 watts (24/7) for 2 water pumps and 1 air pump. If i was using say an extra 600watts for 12 hours a day that would start getting really pricey electricity wise here, although perhaps the electricity is cheaper in your part of the world?
Have you looked into LED lights? I know they are expensive but they dont give of anywhere near the heat of some lamps so can be positioned in closer to the plant growth which I imagine would result in less wasted light and less light needed? LED also last a long time.. maybe someone on the forum has experience with them?

That budget won't be easy to make but it can be done. How good does it have to look? Here's what I'm thinking -

One IBC, split into Fish tank and media bed - around $100 used (this provides the filtration and grow bed). I think others have gotten the cage to fit through doorways once the IBC has been cut but look around if you want to do this.
You'd need the media for this and the plumbing - figure $80
The Pump which should be under $80 for a good one that doesn't use many watts of electricity.
Oops you've only got $40 left for the lighting and we haven't got the fish yet either.

If you keep your eyes open you can sometimes get IBC's for much less.
I priced the pump as a Laguna Maxflo 600 but you may find what you need for less (you only need about 300 GPH at max head. Careful about the pump, if you get a cheap one that uses lots of watts you'll wind up spending more in a year or two than if you bought the good one.
Rocks for media may be free or less in your area.

Once you get your system assembled it takes a while for the production to take off so don't expect an instant miracle that you can sell to your wife. Figure about 6 months to a year but some are faster.

If you haven't already seen the IBC of Aquaponics, check it out - The links at the top right of the page but this will work as well - http://ibcofaquaponics.com/

rocks and plumbing for a small system shouldnt cost any more than about $30.
So if he can find any cheap chinese LED grow lights on ebay (a friend has bought 500w ones for $70 each), then he could make the budget.

pump and containers would need to be cheap / 2nd hand too.

Yavimaya is right, I shot high on this. Be aware it's cheaper to buy rocks by the yard than by the bag or the 5 gallon bucket. It's also cheaper if you don't have them delivered and do it yourself. Nice to know someone with a truck that's ok with helping you out, if you don't have one

Scotty - I would prefer to not haul a truckload of rocks into my basement (or back out of it for that matter). Also on the how good it looks... I'm married happily for now and would like to keep it that way so it's gotta look good. Plus I'm pretty handy and like to finish things off so it will all be tucked in nicely into a large unfinished basement room.

On the lighting, I've got 2 x 4' shoplights running full spectrum bulbs (6500K) so I should be able to get along with just 3 more, each setup runs about $25 at Lowes. So there is $75.

Also have on hand, small Flood & Drain table from my Hydro plus enough expanded clay to half fill it... another $10 to fill it up.

I need:
Lights ~ $75
PVC & Fittings for NFT ~ $50
Frame to support it ~ $25
Solid Filter ~ $10 (just guessing here)
Bio Filter ~ $?? Can I just use my Flood & Drain table with the clay? Or only if it is just a flood and no drain (it can do that too)? Am I now redundant on the Solid Filter?
Fish Tank ~ $??? I can get a 12' above ground pool from work (with Pump) for just under $200. Wouldn't that be a sweet trout tank? I know it would push me over budget but if it works as well as I think it might, I'm game for going over. Plus I have the room for it

To help with my budget, my parents would like to share in the cost to split the harvest. Since I have all of the burden, planning, labor etc... that will help factor into my half of the cost & offset the cost of the fish purchase. This is also part of the reason for the huge pool/FT idea... I'd like to eat more than 1 fish a month once it's going.

tom77 - I should only be about 340 watts total. It is a total of 10 - 34 watt bulbs. My kids leave more lights than that on just running around the house. If I can teach my 2 year old to turn off the lights when she leaves a room, it should be a wash.

http://www.intexcorp.com/index.php/home ... 995eg.html

Here's the pool I'm considering... its soul purpose is to get my system up and running for a couple of years. I know it won't last forever but mfg says it's got a 6+ year expected life. I assume that's outdoors and mine will be indoors and out of the elements so I'm hoping it would last at least the 6 years they promise. In the mean time I should be able to save enough or get a better paying job so I could afford an actual stock tank or move onto some larger scale production. I'm looking into fish research/restocking grants that may be available in my area. Wouldn't that be cool?

The flood and drain tables I've seen are about 2 X 4 ft with a 6" depth. You won't get much filtration out of that. It's about 4 Cubic Feet (not really because you really won't be getting filtration out of the full 6" depth). There is around 7.5 gallons per cubic foot so about 30 gallons or enough to have a maximum of 6 1 lb fish. Don't think this is going to give you that monthly fish feed. You're still going to need a bio-filter and solids filter to get there. I'd check out the book Keith suggested if you can get a copy to look at without it costing to much (university libraries are sometimes good for this). Keith's suggestions for filters were good as well.

The Intex pool should work I just don't see them as being very durable compared to a stock tank but they do hold lots of water and several others have used them.

The flood table would just add additional plant grow space (not fish) & maybe catch solids? I'll look into Keith's references for better understanding.

What are some common items people use as media for the cultures in the biofilter? Seems like I could just use a bucket or barrel to house them.

I use K1 media in mine and you can just put it in a barrel like you said but it needs to be aerated from the bottom adequately to keep the media moving

People also buy Bio Balls or the free option would be to collect hundreds or thousand of plastic bottle caps or plastic shavings from a factory (although they are positively buoyant so tend to gather at the surface and would require more are/larger barrel than K1 or bio balls

That sounds good, it will catch some solids but it should come after the Solids Filter (whatever kind you choose to make). Check out CCBears Aquaculture setup if you haven't - there should be a video of it done by Rob when he visited. Might give you some ideas on what we're talking about with the filtration.

Found it - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4A3E7lC585s

Cheers

So... I hit a road block on the above ground pool idea. After a complete sketchup of available space and adding the pool it will not work well and I don't want a pool without a frame so the 8 foot option is out as well. Now I'm contemplating a plywood tank since I have the tools and skills. Any reason not to go plywood?

Plywood will work. Checkout DecalsbyJT's thread on his greenhouse system where he build some tanks and grow beds. Others have done this as well. If your system was to be outdoors you'd have to worry about termites but you should be ok.

Hey Tony, I live about an hour from where you are! The menards by my house has 7x10 foot pond liners on sale for $27.90 each right now. Just a thought.