Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I first started on this forum many years ago, I'd planned a system, but never found the time to make it. I Hopefully now I will be able to get it done.

PLANNED SYSTEM
Here's a pic of the system I'm considering. I don't know if the floating raft table with work? Having it before the GB's will help collect solids. The GBs will be ICB's cut in half, so the ICB sump should be plenty.

My 13 yr old son will be helping, I want to use this as a science/educational project for him.


WEATHER
Thailand is hot and humid all year. I will need shade cloth, plus a plastic roof, as we have around 3m of annual rainfall.

Hopefully having the sump buried and tank shaded will help keep the water cooler. Are there any pumps that don't produce heat? I'm not sure if I'm going overboard, but I was thinking to avoid submersible pumps as they will heat the water.Are there any pumps that don't produce heat?

FISH
The main choices are catfish, Tilapia and Red Tilapia. Barramudi are a possibility, but are probably too sensitive for a beginner.

SNAILS, PRAWNS, FROGS etc.
I'm interested in having these in my sump, as they appear naturally in water around here. I'm guessing I would need a sump that's open at the top?

MEDIA
Gravel is heavy and hard work. Expanded clay looks good, but is expensive. Coconut husks chipped into large chunks is available here, cheaply. Would this hold too much moisture? Maybe one GB with expanded clay and the other with coco chips (and plants that like wet feet).

That's probably enough info and questions for now, really looking forward to doing this, so any help is much appreciated.

I'd probably have the grow beds before the DWC or just have them on a separate line from the fish tank.

Yep, switch the Floating rafts and the growbeds around, don't worry so much about the submersible pump, they will be fine..

Check out these discussions about systems in Thailand..

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16235&hilit=thailand

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16254&hilit=thailand+domani

Thanks for the advice.

I'm in the process of reading through those threads, they're pretty long. I noticed on Dasboot's system he started out using a pond, which has got me thinking. Below is a pic of our pond.

Readings are:
Ph: 7.6
Amonia: 0 ppm
Nitrite: .25 ppm
Nitrate: 5 ppm

Looks a bit low for AP? The pond has plenty of tilapia, maybe I need to feed more to raise the levels?

On the plus side, there is heaps of water as a temp buffer, however being exposed to sun it can get warm. We covered with shadecloth, but it didn't look good and the lotus died of. Hopefully we can get the lotus to cover a large area to help cool.

Set up would be easy, however there is huge amount of solids, which I doubt could ever be filtered properly. Any advice is much appreciated.

I have an IBC to use as grow beds. Should I just cut it in half or can it be cut in thirds to make 3 GBs using a liner?

Any suggestions on whether the pond is suitable for pondponics? Thanks.

I decided not to use the pond, too many solids. I'll be trying to make my system as 'green' as possible. Here's the DWC bed I've been working on.


The bed uses bamboo splits woven together, so there's only a few staples to hold it in place (less chance of tears).



Sump


This is the inner part of cocunut husks, I'll use this as media.

I forgot to add, to reduce solids in the beds, I will have FT drain into the sump, with the pump going to both the beds and FT.

The bamboo is borax treated, so will last if it doesn't get too wet. To protect it from UV I will paint it white.

Hi Plachon,where are you in the Land of Smiles, Iam up here in Chiang Rai.

I'm in Nakhon Nayok, on the southern border of Khao Yai NP. A bit warmer here than CR.

Working on tank and radial flow filter.

I've used the tap on the IBC for the drain. I've noticed others haven't done this, is it a bad idea?

Nothing is glued yet, so if anything looks wrong, pls let me know.



I can choose between a short bucket or a long piece of 100mm to use inside the radial flow filter. Any suggestions?

Interesting build Plachon, I like the looks of the bamboo DWC frame.

Thanks, the frame was easy to build, but the GB stands took a lot of work. I've painted everything white, hopefully it will help against cracking.

So far so good I think. You're dealing with a lot of weight in any of these structures, so be careful .