Hello from Kansas USA

setau68w

Hello all. I might be starting off a bit ambitious for my first aquaponics setup. I'm going to be building a 8x10 ft greenhouse to house everything in. I'm looking to start somewhat small as far as my tank and grow areas. My question is do I need to worry about setting up a separate biofilter attached to the system or as long as I monitor the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels should I me ok?

I just have no clue on that part of the system, some places I look say that you need something different and others say the plants will do a good enough job on their own.

Thanks for the help

scotty435

Welcome to the BYAP forum. I noticed you had some additional information in a similar post. I'll see if I can tack it on below.

Here it is

Quote:

My current idea for the tank is to build a sturdy box and then use pond liner (unless you guys have better ideas) this is going to be a CF system. My main problem is I can't figure out if I need to build something separate for a bio filter or if the plants should be able to handle it until I get a bigger system going.

For fish I plan on using tilapia and plan on growing herbs like basil, mint, cillantro, and parsley

arolfs

Im in kansas too, in lawrence. What part of state are you in?

Curious

@setau68w - Hi and welcome

scotty435

Your question about biofiltration

setau68w wrote:

do I need to worry about setting up a separate biofilter attached to the system or as long as I monitor the ammonia, nitrate and nitrite levels should I me ok?

This depends on the amount of fish you want to stock and the amount of filtration you provide in the form of media beds. Media beds function as biofiltration, solids filtration and for growing plants but they can only handle so much in the way of fish loads. If you exceed what the media beds can handle, then you need more filtration (solids filtration or solids and biofiltration) either in the form of more media beds or separate filtration prior to the grow beds. Typically people who are growing lots of fish are likely to need additional filtration and those who have light fish loads do not.

The biofiltration is really more about the bacteria in the media beds that break down the fish waste to Nitrates. The plants use these nitrates for growth. Nitrates are not as toxic to fish as the Ammonia and Nitrites. The media provides attachment sites for the bacteria so the surface area and volume of wet media is a factor in determining how much waste can be processed. The fish stocking information in this post might help you get an idea of how much filtration you're going to need - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=21701

There is additional information in the Oft Repeated Rules of Thumb thread - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6646

Hope this helps but just ask if you have questions :thumbright:

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Hello from Kansas USA

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A place to discuss aquaponics