Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone, I've been lurking around the forums for the last month or so. Been reading and youtubing aquaponics for about 6 months and have decided to bite the bullet.

I'm planning on setting up a small greenhouse system in the next few months but in the meantime have this setup as a sort of proof of concept/learning tool.

Im using a 55 gallon aquarium for the fish, with an approximately 17 gallon grow bed. Flood and drain style and a 31 gallon sump. Chift pist.
I'm going for the aesthetically pleasing tropical aquarium look, that just happens to grow great plants.

Here's what I got so far...









-A.J.

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Looking good. Don't forget the gravel guard and maybe have a way to extend supply into the media to prevent splashing. Are you planning on using lights?

Hey Rairdog thanks for the suggestions. I haven't made one yet but I have the pipe for a gravel guard and I didn't even think about splashing, I can add a short piece to the 45.

I do plan on using lights but I'm still undecided on which. I was thinking about trying an LED unit but I may go with standard fluorescents. I haven't really looked into them much yet. I plan on sticking with herbs for this setup. Any suggestions?

very clean. well done. what kind of fish are you going to use and at what stocking density? I have a 55gal tank myself

Very clean setup. How are you getting the water out of the fish tank?

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Thanks for the kind words guys.

Samuel: I'm going to be stocking it with tropical aquarium type fish. Zebra danios and neon tetras I think. Maybe some cory cats too. Going for an open area look with schooling fish. My goal is to have a nice looking aquarium that's growing plants. Not sure on stocking density yet.

Tony: I'm using 3 no holes overflows to drain the tank. So far they are working flawlessly.

I'll be adding some pics later on tonight. Still busy working on it at the moment. This is all too much fun.

Here's a few pics of the NHO'S and the drain line I plumbed them into. Last one is of the little vortex made at the top of the overflow (I think it's cool lol) Will be covering them in the future tho to keep fish and food out.

-A.J.

Learned a few things here. One being that the 1.5" drain that I had 3 3/4" overflows and my 3/4" bell siphon plumbed into wasn't big enough. Changed it to 2" all tests well so I glued it up. Now to plumb through the wall into the sump...

Also learned that if you decide to make a sort of stacked unit like this, the more room between the top of the tank and bottom of the grow bed the better. (There's a sofit above where this tank's going so limited headroom) I can just barely get the overflows in and out. Kind of a pain, we'll see how it works over time.

Here's everything dismantled for gluing.


This is how it came out...


-A.J.

Awesome system bro! When I saw this I went and bought some wood for our 80 gallon tank. Ours does not have a stand tho it will just be sitting on top. I got everything except the pump and hydroton. But I was wondering if you could explain your plumbing a bit if you dont mind.