Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello BackyardAquponics,

We are a brand new member and this is our first post.
We are located in South Florida and this is our first build with aquaponics. We are familiar with hydroponics and growing plants with nutrients, but this will be our first try at building an organic system using aquaponics. The system is a CHIFT PIST style and is still in construction and is almost to completion.

The system includes 6 IBC totes (3 more to be cut and added to make a total of 12 growbeds).
2 totes are being used as FTs, and 1 tote as the sump.
We currently have 6 beds setup, however are adding 6 more in the coming days.

Here are a few pictures:



2 Fish Tanks connected at valve (below)



Sump (below)



Siphons to Drain (below)





Any feedback is much appreciated!

Welcome GardenOrganic! It is always awesome to see first posts with systems mostly done!

Good to see another build going together. Great job with all the form work on the beds and good layout.

Quick question... how deep are your grow beds? They look very shallow .

Thank you Ronmaggi!



Thanks CJ!

The grow beds are 8" deep. I followed my first small IBC design from a popular YouTube video from Australia, and didn't think about changing the size as I added on. The YouTube channel is actually named "backyardaquaponics".

Here is the link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYFM7J_TpTU

I think I see what it is. It looks like you have a 4x4 timber support inside or sitting with the metal frame below the plastic. That would make the 12" grow bed the 8" you are measuring. On your next set of grow beds, try to get a minimum 12" out of the IBCs and put supports under the IBC frame not in it.

What this means is typically you want 2"-3" of dry media on the top of the GB... which would leave 5" of wet space for the bacteria. But since you have a bunch of GB you could have enough volume/space.

Lets see what the Tenured APs think.

Welcome GO

Yea deeper beds would have been more desirable but they will work. Shallow beds get real hot in summer and in some situations you may have issues with plants falling over like corn etc as it doesnt provide much depth for roots to take hold.

Yes, we have 4x4's under the growbeds that are using the top part of the IBC frame because it is taller than the bottom frame. And with the dry media on top, I did not know it needed to be as much as 3", just thought the top of the media shouldn't get wet. Only reason the beds are 8" deep is because it fits perfectly in the bottom of the IBC frame. Should've started with the tops, making the growbed the 12" recommended. Will definitely reconsider in the future.

And if there is any concern with insufficient surface area for the bacteria, a biofilter will be added.

Thank you, Charlie!

Did not think about the water temperature and the depth of the GBs. Definitely a major factor being located in South Florida. As with the plants falling over, I was going to put lighter vegetation in hydroton and the heavier in the gravel. We shall see what happens.