Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

With tons of gratitude to the group (and apologies for links, resizing proved too tedious ), finally got some pics ready to share of my setup!

Due to our climate of smokin' hot summers and pretty cold winters (and my lack of greenhouse) I chose an indoor setup. I have a lot of unused indoor growing equipment at hand so was able to repurpose a grow light, plastic wall lining, etc. I went with a 150-gallon stock tank for the FT, and built a 24 square foot 180-gallon GB with an eye towards expanding with a DWC raft as well as vertical towers outside as the system grows (I'll run through the wall from the sump). The GB sits on cinder blocks over a 130-gallon polyethylene sump, in a CHOP-2 configuration. I did this to reduce the height of the FT as well as to moderate the risk of overflow by not having to restrict FT overflow in tuning the autosiphon.

The GB is filled with hydroton and lined with durascrim (an organic-rated liner), uses an autosiphon to drain to the sump, and is illuminated with a 600W grow lamp on a 6' light mover to cover the 3'X8' grow bed. The system was cycled with ammonia and stocked on 5/16/14 with 15 mixed-size tilapia fingerlings (10 white and 5 blue). Everyone survived so far and appear to be growing well! They only feed when I'm not looking and the lid is closed, so I'm having to guess at how much to throw in a leave, which is frustrating to not be able to even estimate their feeding rate.

Planted with some nepenthes and an orchid as experimental ornamentals, plus tomatoes, salad greens (broadcast seeds), three kinds of mint (in pots), basil, chard, parsley, chives, dill, sweet peppers and arugula. I can't believe how quickly the stuff grows!!!

The slideshow: https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0CsAU6XfT5seE0wd3M0T1lSVE0&usp=sharing

Some Individual elements:

Liner install:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CsAU6XfT5sSlM2Y29qdDdFalU/edit?usp=sharing

The FT; 150-gallon stock tank, fish are hiding as usual:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CsAU6XfT5sNjU2dE96MTBNWGc/edit?usp=sharing

Newly-planted GB (liner yet untrimmed):
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CsAU6XfT5sTEVZTTBUN1VQT28/edit?usp=sharing

6 weeks later:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CsAU6XfT5seGFSYXk0OUladnc/edit?usp=sharing

And an overall view of the FT and the room setup:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0CsAU6XfT5sSzFaLS13ZUtWZnM/edit?usp=sharing

All looking Good Ben, looks nice and cosy in there, 5-star accommodation for fish

That's a cool looking setup. I really like your grow bed. The trim makes it look so clean.