Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello: I am going to start a thread cataloging my system design and changes along with problems I have encountered along the way. It will be embarrassing at times and great at times, but all good information for aquaponics noobs. Feedback is welcome, but in the end, I am building the system that works for me. Like a TV episode you will be a little bit behind reality and since I work and life gets busy this will not be a daily thing, but here it goes and let's see if I can keep it up! Today I have a 15 day system running with goldfish, but before I get ahead of myself lets start with Day 1...

Day 1:

I finally found a person in Central California near me that would supply an IBC and some 50 gallon barrels at a reasonable price, that being IBC (food grade) - $120 and 50 gallon barrel (food grade) - $40. Nice, guy and I will be back... I spent the next 12 hours until 1 A.M. the next day getting my system ready for fish. (I am the type of person that gets an idea, analyzes it for a year or two, and then it is 100 mph until I complete the idea.) Pictures below... At the end of Day 1 I had an IBC (330 Gal) filled to my tank level of 300 gallons, growbeds (1-50 gallon barrel cut in half) for 2 growbeds, sump (50 gallon barrel), pump (400 GPH pump), and plumbing completed with water circulating...good thing, because while I was out, I bought a few goldfish (~30)! Told you I was 100 mph...

I am building a CHOP / CHOP2 aquaponics system. This was my "proof of concept" for me and my family with only 2 growbeds. Reason: We have lived here for 6 years and our designated garden area has not been able to produce a good harvest, ever! Everywhere else I have lived I can easily grow a simple, producing garden. I also have a past with large (100-150 gallon) fish tanks and a very easy time keeping them all alive.

Future: 4 GB's (growbeds), herb tower, and a 300 gallon edible fish farm.

Day 1: (cont) with completed proof of concept pictures.

Day 4 (The weekend everything was closed)

Added rock today. Along with the rock I added enough tank starter (only chlorine (small% and the bacteria needed for the GB's to establish) to the GB's 50/50 directly to help speed up the process of "establishing my system". I went to the local hardware / garden store and since it is end of season (End of July) all I could buy was 1 - Italian Parsley Plant and 2- Anaheim Chili Plants. I planted them into my washed pea gravel. I planted an array of seeds appropriate for Zone 9 and this type of year within a month or so, I figured since there is a constant water flow the temp in this area of the garden should remain more constant and a lot cooler than the rest of the yard. (Little did I know I was headed for 103 degree days and 50+% humidity levels, not normal to my climate. In any case, I planted cucumber, eggplant, broccoli, buttercup squash, 2 pineapple cored tops, garlic (12 bulbs or so, and dill. At this point I learned that my tap water was an 8.4 (too high) and I needed to add RO water to top off / fill my system. RO from Home comes in at 7.2 pH. So I began topping off with my RO to help hit the 6.0-7.0 pH goal.

Test:
pH - 8.8+
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0.0
Nitrate - 0.0
Tank Temp (TT) - 86 (all temps in Fahrenheit)

As a sidenote I had some problems with my Bell Siphons draining. This was due to an inadequate flow from my inlets. Bell siphons can work at low flow rates, but there is a minimum at which they will work. Finding that minimum is a balance of tweaking and watching, make sure to mark with a sharpie once found! It takes a lot of time and once established you do not want to mess with it, as the sharpie marks are only an approximation. (See my future posts for solutions to not having to tweak your inlet flows for GB's)

Bell Siphons Aquaponics DYI Backyard Urban Growers:

Bulkhead: 3/4" Female NPT to slip on the bottom of GB
3/4" Male NP to slip on top of GB
5/16" O-ring on top and bottom of tank between fittings and tank
Bottom: Connections using 45 degree connections to sump
Top: 3/4" sched 40 pipe
3/4" NPT male to 3/4" NPT female
3/4" NPT male to 1" slip
Connect the 3/4" sched 40 pipe, to the bulkhead, the 3/4" NPT male to 3/4" NPT female to the pipe, then screw in the 3/4" NPT male to 1" slip into the previous and you have your top water level. Measurements will have to be made to the 3/4" sched 40 pipe to make the top height water level. To fine tune the water level the male and female NPT connections can be screwed and unscrewed to adjust about 1/4" either direction if measured when connections are screwed in 1/2 way.
Sleeve: Place a 2" pipe with slits at the bottom of the pipe at the low water level. One the top of the pipe add a cap. The level where the cap and the pipe meet should also be the top of your water level mark.
Barrier: A 4" pipe with slits the full length of the pipe should be placed over the sleeve to protect it from the "medium" getting into the bell siphon system.

Adjust water flow and drain tubes to create the desired siphon. I wish there was a perfect formula for this, but adjust and watch is the best way to make it work perfectly.

Best Sprouts / transplants Aquaponics:

To jumpstart this post I am posting the BEST way to spout seedlings for your aquaponics system. Soil? Hydropic medium? Starter sets? I bought a $5.99 sprout kit and started from that. See pic below. Then you dig down into the gravel and set in your newly sprouted plants that are used to having water and not soil around them and you do not get the contaminants from the soil starter you used into your system for it to deal with! Trust me, I will get to fish poop and the Red worm solution instead of a swirl filter! Set the new seedling leaves 1/8 inch (1 rock below the medium) and you will have perfect results even with non-transplant-ables such as radishes. The only killer, is a system that cannot sustain plants or a plant that hates your flow/drain rate!

Day 9:
Well, I guess local stores do not sell "garden" shade (30% and less) and I am hesitant to buy online...So, I have left my fall veggies to fend for themselves in 80-95 degree (Fahrenheit) surface temperatures. We will see what happens:

8 dead fish - replaced with 20 fish (Goldfish)
Temp @4P.M. 92 degrees
Added 2 coolers worth of ice since out of range and not an established system. (I want this to work without input from me.)
9 P.M.
pH 8.8+ (lots of added non RO water)
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrites - 0.00
Nitrates 0.00+
I, unfortunately, added 12 mL of Lemon Juice because I was worried about the pH. Added another 5 gallons of cold 42 degree water and extended the Bell Siphons and adjusted the flow to go higher. Not satisfied with my tank transfer rates, but I have to suffer since my GB's need more flow than my FT (Fish Tank).

If your worried about flow and are splitting the flow between FT and GB, I'd suggest a slight redesign. Have the pump only pump to the FT, then gravity feed from FT to GB, and from GB back to sump. From your first picture it looks as though your water level in the FT is higher then the top of the GB, so making the change shouldn't be that difficult.

What I have done, which you will see in the future, is install a second pump in the sump dedicated to the FT leaving the one to the GB's and GT (grow tower) to operate on their own, now when I adjust one it does not effect the other. I like your suggestion and had I punched the hole around the 260 gallon mark, that would work, but for now, I have to make due with a 300 gallon tank with it's own pump and 4 GB and 1 GT with their own pump. Might not quite be a CHOP system, but it ended up the same concept. nothing gets pumped dry if a pump dies....

Where the hole in the side of my tank is now (300 Gallons of a 330 gallon tank) I cannot do a reverse flow from the tank to my GB without sucking fish down the high flow tube. if I extend the high flow tube, I extend past my tank. Maybe in future designs I will punch a hole 1" lower than my current hole to allow for head pressure and overflow!

Day 11


Still trying to cool the tank from the heat wave while on vacation. Night temp only dropped to 75 degrees. I am thinking a shade cloth with help keep the rocks cooler, but worry about the plants getting enough sun. Morning 80 degrees. Adding RO water as ice. Added 75 fish to increase ammonia production and establish the system better. 2 dead fish in the addition.
pH - 8.8+
added 1/4 cup muriatic acid (mistake in hindsight)
ph now 7.8
Ammonia - 0.25
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrate - 0.0

1PM
TT 82 degrees
Added a tarp to cover the tank.
3PM - TT - 83 degrees
7PM - TT - 86 degrees

8:30 PM
pH - 8.0

Day 13

Came out to a massacre. pH was in the sub 6.0 range (below my test kit abilities). All fish are dead. I am going to have to remove all the dead fish and do a 25% water change with tap water and evaluate where the system is at that point. I will NEVER add acid to my system again. I need to let the ecosystem run and only intervene if something is terribly wrong. I just killed 75+ fish because I was impatient. I feel horrible.

25% water change pH - 7.8

Hiya nick, sorry to hear about the fish, too many people mess with their system in their impatience, you're not alone.
Any reason you have your inlet at your outlet? Forget the lemon juice, forget the ro water and forget the ice. Keep it simple, let the process develop. Add some shade and get a top up water tank. When you feel like adding supplements to the system, apart from a bit of seaweed solution, grab a beer, sit back and plan the expansion.

Woah, that was a lot of acid. I usually add 2-3 tablespoons to my 4000L system. Sorry to hear about your fish, it's a kick in the feels when that happens.

Were they all just goldfish?

Yes, they were all just goldfish, but I felt horrible wasting all that life because of my mistake. Never again!

Day 14

30 fish added.

pH - 7.2
Ammonia - 0.50
Nitrite - 0.00
Nitrate - 0.00
Temp at 7:15 AM 75 degrees

Day 15

I heard of a bakki shower and wanted to try the cooling effects while I was on my goldfish killing spree. Installed a simple one and within hours I could notice the temperature was not rising as quickly as normal. At the cost of water, but during a hot streak this might be the savior once I have my expensive fish in here!

Pre-Bakki Shower
Temp 8AM - 80 degrees
pH - 8.2
Ammonia - 0.50
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrate - 0.0+

Post Bakki
Temp 4PM - 84 degrees (Outside temp 103)
Did not add any ice this day!

Day 16

Temp 7:30AM - 78 degrees (Outside temp 64)
pH - 8.0
Ammonia - 1.0
Nitrite - 0.25
Nitrate 0.0
1 dead fish. I am leaving for 2 days and very nervous after all the hiccups I have had. I really hope this goes well. No more interventions. All of my reading and the support from here says to let the ecosystem live and establish itself.