Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I picked up (literally) a yard for free off of CraigsList. There is still several yards available from multiple sources. Take a look around. I did have to wash it (with a cement mixer and then rinse well) to get the dirt/sand out of it. It took me two 5-hour days to process, but hey, my time is free

Just doing some math.....

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Vigoro-0-5-c ... /100427379
Home Depot has bags of Red Lava Rock for $3.77 for .5 cu ft. A cubic yard is 27 cubic ft or 54 bags. Total cost for bags is $203.58 for same amount. Doesn't look like the savings would pay for my time and fuel for the trip down. Plus, would be easier to just buy a few bags here and there, and by the time I'm ready to move forward, I'd have enough bags.

I'll keep looking for a better deal, but I do appreciate you posting what you found out.

It's been awhile since I've updated this thread. Here is what the current system looks like.

The shelter was the most recent addition, in hopes of keeping most of the heat off of the fish tank. Seems to be working.

Still moving forward with the large scale expansion, pics of my progress will be coming shortly.

Tuesday May 6th, I got 50 Tilapia fingerlings at my door. They were added to the IBC, and seem to be doing just fine.

I've lost quite a few of the goldfish over the last few weeks, but I'm chalking that up to them being cheap feeder fish from the pet store. I never expected all of them to survive. At least, I haven't lost any Tilapia, yet.

They are the Mozambique variety, and have already grown a fair bit since last week.

Looking good Lizard! I'm using some goldfish from the pet store to help kick start my cycle on my new system. I need more growbed space but I just don't have the funds at this moment to buy more growbeds. I've experienced my ph going from 7.0 to around 6.0 since I added the fish. I need to find some shell grit I reckon. Btw, the systems from Georgia are way better looking that any other systems out there! Just saying.....

Just curious, on your expanded system, why they need for so many sump tanks? The way I interpret it looks like 1 sump tank per growbed. That's alot of extra plumbing. Are you planning on raising crawdads in each ST?

The expanded system described earlier, has changed somewhat.

I'm thinking of building my growbeds and lining with Dura-skrim. Mostly floating rafts, with a second tank underneath, which I do hope to have some crawfish. They (tanks, not crawfish, lol) will be 12 feet by 4 feet. If I used 3 IBC's, that would be close to desired size, but if built, I could customize to fit my spacing more precisely. I can get IBC's for $50, but if I calculated right, building will cost a bit more. Decisions, decisions.

I've got some more figuring out of the plumbing to do, but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

I'm wanting some media beds in there as well, and I haven't quite figured out if I'll need another sump, and if so, how to plumb it all together.

Right now, I've got one IBC partially buried to act as my main sump. With mostly DWC, the one sump will be enough. Once I start adding media beds, I will have to figure something out. If I need more sump capacity, I'll need to add more and have them connected.



The growbeds I'm wanting to construct will be similar to these, except only two levels. Crawfish in bottom, rafts in top.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9304424@N02/3898457715/

It's been awhile since I've updated this thread. Figured I better do it while I have the time tonight. Been busy lately with my other business start-ups. Can't put all my eggs in one basket, right?

I had posted a few pics in a 'neglected plants' thread, and since then things have greatly improved. As can be seen in the following pic....

The Tilapia are doing great as well. Can't believe they're only 2 months old, they're probably 4"-5". I really need to get a couple of aquariums set up so I can separate a few for breeding purposes.



Does anyone know the toxicity levels of ammonia, nitrite, nitrate?
My pH is 6.4 and water temp is 80 F. (27 C).
My ammonia is between .25 and .50 ppm
My Nitrite is around 1 ppm
My Nitrate is between 40 and 80 ppm

This is in an IBC tank, roughly 250 gallons, plus another 75 or so in the sump. One IBC grow bed, for the moment.

I think I found the ammonia level as between 12-15 ppm, but not entirely sure, plus I haven't found the others listed.
If the above listed levels are detrimental, what can/should be done to remedy it?

Thanks

Hi Lizard, not sure on the nitrite levels but nitrates in general are not toxic. If you are struggling with ammonia and nitrites you either have too many fish or too few plants. If you could bring another grow bed online you might want to think about that. What it means is that more nitrates get taken out of the system thereby converting more nitrites to nitrates and with less nitrates the system then converts more ammonia to nitrites if you get my meaning.

In terms of ammonia toxicity it is dependent on temperature and pH. Check this link to see the relationships:

http://www.ecofilms.com.au/aquaponics-health-understanding-ammonia-water-temperature-and-ph-balance/