Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well I thought it was about time to create a member page and give my system a fancy name.

I've had a fun time setting up the system and learned a lot. But it has taken a bit longer to get things up and running than I had originally expected (sounds typical for aquaponics).

Fish Tank - 350 gallon hot tub

Fish - 9 catfish, 19 bluegill (lost 1 of each when I initially introduced)

Growbeds - Two 50 gallon beds filled with hydroton (constant flood)

Raft Bed - 60 gallon raft system with water filtered from 1 grow bed

Plants - tomatoes, bell peppers, Greek basil, cucumber, watermelon, lettuce, kale, sweet pepper, jalapeno, broccoli, corn

Key Dates:

2/1/14 - Got the AP bug and started picking up some things for my first system.
2/7/14 - New member intro on BYAP and received some of my first system feedback
3/4/14 - The build begins - starting with a new deck to help with AP access
4/8/14 - Started the growbed platform and overall AP plans
5/21/14 - Started cycling system with growbeds with first plants
5/24/14 - Started raft plants
6/7/14 - Added Fish to system

What's thriving...

So far tomatoes, lettuce, cucumbers, basil, and watermelon seems to be doing great. Bell peppers are small but have fruit.

What's not...

Kale isn't growing as fast as the lettuce, I'm not sure if this has to do with the water circulation in the raft or the heat. Broccoli isn't taking off either, BUT this was more of an experiment than anything. Jalapenos have been slow to start as well.

Day 24...Just over 3 weeks!

Day 24 for the raft.

How you like these melons?

A few pictures getting started...


Getting started!


Starting to cycle


Day 13

Looks great, good to see the foreman watching over too.

Best thing for a hot tub if you ask me....

Hi Charlie, thanks! The foreman even had to splash around in the growbed water, just to make sure there weren't any leaks.

It took a little convincing with the wife...but the best thing for an old hot tub for sure!

Looking good & nice growth coming on

Thanks joblow! I've been impressed how quick things take off once they get going. I need to do some time elapsed photography on the growbed!

Day 34 pics - So far so good!

Plants and fish are doing well. Water levels look great, and we have about a dozen lemon cucumbers, a few bell peppers, and watermelons. Tomatoes just started coming in with 1 big tomato and some blossoms starting up.

The lettuce in the raft bed has been great. We had our first AP salad! We harvested a little sooner than normal to try and keep the lettuce from bolting in the heat.

The Kale tasted good, but never really took off. I'm not sure if it is a heat problem or a raft problem so we're experimenting with a few more leafy green varieties.

Thanks for letting me share some picks!

Looks great!
Saw an AP system on YouTube that used a hot tub to keep the tilapia warm during the winter. Thought it was a great idea.

That's not a bad idea if things are working! We disabled the spa's working components and just added a separate pump. The old heater, pump and filter NOT working helped convince my wife that the hot tub conversion was a GOOD idea.

Day - 48

The media beds are doing great. If there is a problem, it's the lemon cucumbers trying to take over the beds! There's still watermelon, tomatoes, and Greek basil doing well, but the the bell peppers are having a tough time finding enough room in the system...I just might need to add another media bed just for peppers!

The raft bed has produced some good lettuce, but it looks like the growth has slowed. I'm thinking that it's the water quality. I was trying to see if I could have the water filter through the media bed and drain right into the raft bed. In the beginning this was working fine. But I'm now seeing a lot of material in the bottom of the raft.

One concern was leaves & debris from redwood and oak in my backyard falling onto the raft and making its way into the bed. This actually led to a bulkhead getting plugged up and the raft overflowing. Unfortunately I lost about a 1/3 of the water before I saw this was going on.

FIXES

- I added a 2nd bulkhead overflow in the raft draining into the tank just in case 1 gets plugged up.
- I added "rain gutter guards" around the edge of the raft bed to try to keep larger debris from getting into the bed.
- I cleaned out the bottom of the raft bed to see if the rafter water quality is because of solids in the system or debris from the trees...we shall see!