Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I know it's been a long time since I posted on my system topic so here's an update. I finally finished the barn and greenhouse this past weekend. Although the plastic is on the greenhouse, I'm not happy with the look of it nor the fact that I had a devil of a time getting it "somewhat" tight. There is still too much play in the roof which causes it to billow up about 3 inches. This will eventually cause it to wear at the corners and most likely fail completely.

So, I have decided to spend MORE money to install a polycarbonate roof and just use plastic for the walls. Although this will likely cost me more time before I can really start setting up the system it is something that needs to be done correctly. I still need to build a door for the greenhouse and once this is done, the roof billowing may actually calm down since air is currently flowing through the doorway which is causing the roof to billow up. I was reluctant to staple or add furring strips along the rafters to hold the plastic down since I have no way of getting to the ridge line.

Here are a couple pictures of the beginning and end of the build. I'm currently scrounging together some IBC's and blue barrels but will need to rent a U-Haul truck to get them home.

Looks great, I'm seeing a few really nice looking systems of late.

Hello Everyone! Here’s a quick post on the Aquaponics system progress.

We spent a couple hours digging the sump tank in the greenhouse. This is backbreaking work but we wanted to have the sump tank below grade to utilize as much of the greenhouse space as we can. The liner will be ordered soon as well as an underlayment to prevent any stray rocks from puncturing the liner. We still have a little cleanup to do in the bottom of the sump as well as expanding the depth on one side to allow a deeper area for the pump.



The ground is red clay (it’s everywhere in Georgia btw) so the digging is not easy. I used my Troybilt tiller to help break up the dirt but the sump is too deep now to safely get the tiller in and out of the sump tank.

The plan is to lay the liner in the sump and over the sides. We will then add some solid bricks on top of the liner around the edge to hold the HDPE pond liner in place. This will also give us a solid & level foundation for a wooden bridge over the tank so we can work around the growbeds that will be positioned above the sump tank.

We also spent some time this weekend laying out the rows for the lettuce and carrots in the dirt garden. We wanted to get the carrots and lettuce in the ground earlier than now but have been dealing with a lot of rain which makes it impossible to work in the garden.



Since this is a new plot we have not had time to add a lot of amendments to the soil this Spring. We are going to section off this area for some ground cover and as we harvest the carrots and lettuce, we will be adding more ground cover. This section of the garden area will be lightly planted this season but we hope to use it for some of our fall crops once the ground cover is plowed in later this summer.

That’s it for this update. We will post pictures of our transplants that are going gangbusters under the grow lights. Tomatoes, peppers (hot and sweet), cucumber, eggplant, yellow squash and zucchini just to start. The lower plot is taking its sweet time drying out but it will be planted with our rattlesnake pole beans! We can’t wait for them!!!

I just ordered a 300 gallon structural foam tank (by Rubbermaid) and 2 100 gallon structural foam tanks for the growbeds. I also ordered my pond liner for the sump tank. I'm looking at 2 different pumps to use for this really simple setup. Does anyone have any experience with either of these brands?

Rio Plus 2500 HP Aqua Pump, 782 GPH by Rio
Laguna Max-Flo 600 Waterfall and Filter Pump for Ponds Up to 1200-Gallon by Laguna

They are roughly the same GPH but the Rio is about $20 cheaper than the Laguna. I'll have about a 3' rise and the Rio has better flow at that height than the smaller GPH on the Laguna. Any help is appreciated.

I have two Laguna MaxFlo 2400 pumps and really like them, very reliable so far and it's been around 3 years of continuous running for one of the two.

I also have an older Rio 2100 pump and they are good as well. This one is about 8 or 9 years old. It was used on a timer for hydroponics, then used for my first AP system which used siphons. For the last few years I'm just using it as backup and to pump excess water out of the sump (I'm pretty certain it could use a new impeller). I'm not sure what the newer ones are like but this is more prone to having a tiny pebble get near the impeller, causing it to freeze up. It can also be more difficult to restart than the Laguna pumps which always start on the first try for me.

If I had to choose I'd go with the Laguna pump.

Thanks scotty435! I will probably go with the Rio just because of the price difference but will buy a backup pump before I add the fish and may go with the Laguna. I'll have to think about it though. I may just go with 2 Rio's.

I've read a lot of reviews about the Rio and many people say the pump is very loud. Do you experience this also? I guess the decibel level is relative to what each person can stand.

Does anyone have experience plumbing the structural foam tanks? I have 1x300gallon and 2x50gallon Rubbermaid structural foam tanks on the way to setup a simple beginner AP system in my greenhouse. I'm still a little confused on how to properly plumb them up.

I know that I will probably need to drill a hole in the bottom of the 50 gallon tanks to drain the beds into the sump tank which will be below them(sump is a 4'x8'x15" lined hole in the ground under the beds). I will then pump up to the 300 gallon tank (fish tank) from the sump. Will I need uniseals for the bed drains and will drilling these tanks cause structural issues?

The Rio pump I have is loud but it might just be because of the old impeller. I don't know that it would be a problem unless you were pretty close to it though

There are a couple of ways to do this. Some of us use the threaded drain fitting and the other way is to drill a hole for a through hull fitting or a Uniseal. The down side is that rotating the media guard is difficult using the drain fitting (because you have to allow the outflow pipe through the side of the media guard without letting in too many rocks - a small gap does allow some movement) so you have to keep your eyes open for roots in the standpipe area.

I've never tried plumbing one of these through the bottom. It might be easier as long as the structural ribs aren't in the way. TCLynx has probably done this and you might want to PM her if she doesn't find this thread and respond anyway.

Here's some pics to give you an idea of what I did - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=13008&p=336448&hilit=rubbermaid+stock+media+guard#p336448

Here's a thread with more information and both ways to do it - http://byap.backyardmagazines.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=17923&start=0

Here is my thread with some system pics (just to show you it works going through the side)

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=9511&hilit=scotty%27s+second+system

Cheers

I've plumbed through the bottom of 300gal rubbermaid tanks with uniseals with no problems. I just made sure I cut my hole in one of the flat spaces.

Thanks for the great advice scotty435 and swanberg. I was planning on running CF and will look at using the existing drain. Should get the liner today for the sump tank and I can get started on setting up the tank and growbeds this weekend.

When you do this, do not glue any of the pipe within the grow bed, you might have to take it apart again for cleaning out roots (I still haven't had to do this but I'm usually not putting Tomatoes in these).

I used teflon tape on the threaded fitting going into the tank from the outside.

Cool set up

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I'm almost ready to setup the 300gallon tank and growbeds but I need to figure out how to move the water from the FT to the GB's. Would I use a SLO for this or drill through the side of the FT and just let the tank overflow to the growbeds?

Previous posts above will show you that I have a 300 gallon Rubbermaid structural foam stock tank for the FT. The sump is a 240 gallon hole in the ground with an HDPE liner. The pump will be in the sump and pump up to the FT. Any advice is welcomed. I also need to understand the pipe sizing for a SLO or an overflow through the side of the tank if that is the option. I'll need to get some uniseals if I go through the tank sidewall.

A SLO will help getting solids off the bottom of your fish tank and into the growbeds. You might want to put an overflow line back to the sump from the fish tank as well, have a look at my system for the plumbing to get some ideas. Hope this helps

Hi AquaPonicsFTW,

This is the first time I have seen your thread and I am as surprised as you that there have been so few comments early on in your build. It looks great by the way!
I just read through your thread and skimmed a few parts so sorry if someone has already made the points I am about to mention.
1) Are you still planning on running it when completed as one system? because there are some benefits to running it as 2 separate ones.. some have already been mentioned, however the one great reason I can think of is that with 2 separate systems you can split what you grow into 'flowering plants' (e.g. tomatoes, strawberries etc) and 'not flowering plants' (e.g. lettuce and other greens).. this is due to the nutrient requirements being different for the two types at different plants. For example having a lot of Nitrates can be great for greens but for flowering plants like tomatoes they need the nitrates to drop to prevent them just growing more leaves and to stimulate flowering (plus more potassium). With one system you will have to compromise on growth etc in both types of plants which isn't a problem for backyard systems but since you are going a bit bigger than most backyard setups and want to sell at farmers markets perhaps it is worth considering.
2) Most setups that are commercial use DWC setups.. you are going for a bit of both so perhaps a combination of media bed and DWC would be best?

Looks like a fun build