Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Greetings!
I'm Nate from Sacramento, been reading here for a good couple years, on and off at first and seriously for the past year.
My system got started in November 2013 and I've learned from making a TON of mistakes. Like, you know how Perlite is universally disliked as a growbed media? There's a good reason(s) for that, no matter how cheap and easy to work with it is.

Anyway, to keep it brief, the pics are of the bones of the system at outset, the growbed starting to take off, and one of 4 grow towers I've since added to increase the volume of media.

The IBC is plumbed to overflow at 250 gallons/1000L, gravity feeds into the 9 x 12" flowerpots which drain into the sump below. One pump returns from the sump to the FT, and another pumps from the sump to the 4 grow towers, returning to the sump.

Starting in November it took about 2 months to cycle, and another 2-3 months for pH to come down to where nutrient lockout wasn't such a problem. Patience!

Of 12 Bluegill, 6 came to eating size this summer, and the others stayed tiny. Now that the first 6 are out of the way, the little guys are coming along. To keep them company, we have a dozen Channel Catfish that have grown to 8-10" in the last 4-5 months.

Ammonia is typically Zero-low, Nitrites always zero, and Nitrates always on the high end.
I understand I have a lopsided fish/grow media ratio, but it's working more or less for now.

Anyway, this is definitely still the beginnning of this journey, but I wanted to thank the members here for freely sharing knowledge. I've learned a lot.
Thanks, Nate

Looks really cool!

Welcome Nate! The number of northern californians on here is steadily growing....

Thank you. I'm looking forward to connecting with other Nor-Cal locals to compare notes. There's definitely been some solid interest among poeple who've seen this starter system.

I'm digging the mouse trap decorations!

Is it all lava rock? I see large pieces in towers. Tiny prices in pots and black lava rock too? And then mulch/straw I think? Mixed media media beds?.. Haha

HA! Sadly, they're pretty necessary. I was getting worked over by raccoons, they leave tracks on the glass skylight. They snap a trap or two every other night, but haven't dug out any of the pots since I went with lava rock over perlite.

"Is it all lava rock? I see large pieces in towers. Tiny prices in pots and black lava rock too? And then mulch/straw I think? Mixed media media beds?.. Haha"

Yeah it's a mix. Tried one pot with bigger black lava, one with bigger red lava, and then did the rest, including 4 towers in smaller red lava. The bigger screened sizes of rock are available bagged at the big hardware stores, good for trial runs. The smaller stuff is by the pickup truckload.

Any mulch/straw/bamboo is either decoration or landscaping. An inch or two of fresh shredded cedar added every year after leaf season makes the most comfortable surface to stand on ever.

Nice! I'm glad to see a fellow Sacramentan here, Nate.