Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all,

I am brand new here. I have been doing research for months and finally took the dive last weekend. I haven't gotten pictures of the actual build but I will be building my mother an identical one in the coming months. I have done this build with part of a storage shelf, two totes for the fish tank, and a utility bin for the grow bed. I have a 291 gph water pump I got for $19 dollars and and have the water transferring to the grow bed via vinyl hose. The design was all figured out on Saturday and the build was done, tested and implemented on Sunday. My six year old had a blast . By Monday we started the cycled using goldfish we got practically free. there are currently 15 goldfish in the system. I just received the water testing kit today and have done the tests.

PH 7.4-7.6
ammonia .5ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate a little puzzling to me looks to be between 0ppm and 5ppm
weird to me because I have not seen any nitrites (probably a bad test will do again tomorrow)

I have also added seeds the system yesterday and have added a cut off piece of celery root Monday which is growing phenomenally. System has been running four days with fish and we'll see how it goes. Thanks for reading and leave comments please

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Congrats on your system start and welcome to the forum and the addiction.

Have you started planning your next system yet?
Aquaponics is like beer...it's hard to stop at one:-)

Looks like your off to a good start Drew, welcome to wonderland

your PH will start to drift down as your bacteria colonise the system.

Its a good idea to post your water temps along with your test results as it gives another piece of the system puzzle.

Somewhere on here you'll find an ammonia toxicity chart, it will help you to understand the relationship between Ph, Ammonia and temperature.

Cheers B.F.

Thanks so much for the welcome.

Terry I have been addicted since I heard about aquaponics. I think I have watched just about every youtube video I could find, looked at a vast majority of the websites and have scanned this forum like crazy lol...still much more to do. I have already planned a massive build but I am in the market to purchase a house with the property big enough for it. The building design is below. It will feature three 500gallon tanks with catfish and tilapia, a sump with shrimp with both grow beds and dwc with the dwc having crawfish...this is a future project but that is the plan at the moment...the building design is set but other things can change around a bit. I live in an area with quite cold winters so a efficient green house is a must. Do you have a system I would definitely like to take a look Terry.

Hey Freddie thanks for the kind post.

Your thread is one that I looked at. I really think your water heating systems are really cool and the information you provide is great thanks for all the time you put in to posting for us to learn from your experiences. Also that is a great idea to post the temperature that is one thing that I missed. I hope to get a thermometer soon. My home is typically around 70-76 degreed year round. and the water seems to be around room temperature I will definitely have to get an accurate reading. What do you recommend as being a good accurate thermometer for this application? Thanks.

Welcome drew! I think you are suffering from the same AP ailment that hits all of us: if I had more property...

Just an update real quick. All the tests are pretty much the same so far the ammonia levels have increased a bit more but that is to be expected. I have also lost four fish over the last couple of days but once again to be expected with feeder goldfish due to them not being bred to be kept for very long. One thing my son and I are really excited about are the plants that are already growing in the system. I just sprinkled some different seeds in different areas of the growbed and after only 4 days quite a few have sprouted and made their way to the surface!! This was amazing because I planted some of these same seeds a two weeks ago in a plant starter set and most have not even sprouted yet. This is with constant moisture full light and warmth the whole time!! I heard and read about the amazing results that people are having but experiencing it myself is mind blowing. I will post pictures tonight with growth and with my readings. Thanks for the interest.

Lol i completely understand Ron. The fortunate thing is that I am in the market for my first home and I have a bit of flexibility in my choices. I hope I can find something that fits my needs. Property costs are still quite low and great deals can still be made.

Nice set up. I am also looking into options for more space once I start to expand. I am thinking about using my crawl space in the basement. It has about 4 ft from floor to ceiling and is a pretty much useless space. Pain in the ass to access regularly but not completely unachievable. What size PVC did you use for your stand pipe. I am in the process of making the siphon and have a 1/2 inch stand pipe. I am planning in using a 1 & 1/4 inch bell siphon. Hopefully it will function properly.

Sounds a bit tight for space but heating and lighting should be easy . I am using a 1inch drain pipe with a 2inch bell. I had the pipe already so I just reused it. It drains very well so I wont be bothering it too much. Good luck with the build.

That space would probably be great for sumps and mechanical bits, but you might want more space for your plants and access to your fish tank.

haven't been on for the last couple of days its been a bit busy. I have been running the tests daily though. The past two days have been pretty exciting I am seeing my nitrites come up! The only downfall is the ammonia got a bit higher than expected. I have added some salt to the system and cut back on the feeding. The goldfish seem fine and are really lively. They eat the food added immediately. I did find one dead fish that was wedged under the pump and by the looks of it, it was there for a few days which is probably the cause of the higher ammonia. Looking good so far and the plants are coming up great. more updates soon

6-5-14 test

Basic rule of thumb that I have used for the siphons is below. Hope this helps:

Up to 30 gallon growbed, 1/2" standpipe, bell 1", media guard 2"
50 - 120 gallon growbed, 1" standpipe, bell 2", media guard 4"
150 - 200 gallon growbed, 1 1/2" standpipe, bell 3", media guard 6"

As you can see the standpipe is half the size of the bell and the media guard is twice as large as the bell. This allows you to reach in to remove the bell and have room around it for your fingers...

Although, using a media guard that is only 1" larger than the bell is acceptable but you will need a way to remove the bell when needed and won't have room for the fingers.

This is how I do it (with the sizing) so take it with a grain of salt. I believe there is a study from the university of hawaii where they have determined the best sizes for the standpipe, bell and media guard.