Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello from Southern Arizona!

I am a new member to the forum, but have been trolling many of the wonderful topics on this site for over a year learning what I can. Nothing more inspiring than to see that anybody can do it and do it without much money, like myself. Just have to be resourceful! Got the majority of the items I needed from Craigslist on the Free posting section. Did have to buy a few things. Patience is the key. Started on an indoor set up and I was hooked. I was even able to successfully breed Tilapia making this even more exciting. Now I have taken my indoor small set up to the BackYard and have been loving every second of it.

My BackYard system consist of:
Fish Tank - 275 gallon (1000 or so liter) IBC Tote with approx. 50-70 Tilapia Fingerlings *with Expansion Ideas
Grow Beds - 4 half 55 gallon barrels and a cut top from an IBC that will be another media filled bed. (Lava Rock) *Want to add a DWC bed (Raft bed) - Go Chatterson Farms in Florida!
Sump Tank - 2 55 gallon barrels plumbed with a 500gph in one barrel pumping to the FT

In my FT I have a 2" (50mm) SLO, dropping to a 3/4" (20mm) pvc feeding the GB's. Builds good pressure not sure if is the best way, but my idea was to add more GB's down the road and that is why I went with 3/4" PVC.
My GB's have lava rock. Each has a Bell with a 1" (25mm) stand pipe draining to the sump. Flow was the key to trigger the siphon and adding a reducer to the end of the drain pipe has helped break and start the siphon.

Now for some pictures, I hope you like. Constructive criticism welcome! Thanks Again BYAP world!

Looks good Tilly.

I might brace the legs a bit - that's a lot of weight and it could shift. Otherwise

Yeah, couple of diagonal supports on the legs would be good.. How did you do the supports under the barrels?

Welcome to the blog Tilly. Lovely looking mint plant there, I love mine fresh and dried. I make mint tea with dried leaves. Watch out, they will try to take over your grow beds if you don't keep them trimmed.

Thanks Scotty, Earthbound, and Fishy John!

The Mint plant loves AP! My wife has just cut the stems with the leaves on it and placed it in the container for Tea. I will have to suggest to her to try and dry it first.

I should have put the legs on top of something more solid than just the ground. When it rains the ground gets really saturated and I have noticed the legs farthest away in the picture have sunk. Think I might have to use a jack to lift it up and put some concrete pavers under it once i finish supporting the grow beds better.
The supports I am thinking of adding will run parallel under the front lip of the barrels and under the back lip. Right know the barrels are being supported by the Gray Ring that came with the barrel. I cut the rings in half and placed one on each end of the frame. I was able to screw about 5 screws with a washer on the ring and wood and than was able to slide the barrel into place. I than placed more screws around the top edge of the barrel and frame. It is quite sturdy but more support will help and will make me reassured that it won't collapse.

The pic below is of the ring I am talking about.

Thanks again!! I also just picked up about 250 red wigglers and added those to each bed somewhat evenly. Next is my IBC top i have cut to make a raft bed for greens or just make it another media bed?. I was going to T of the line from the sump to the FT and run that to the Raft. My only concern is I already have a T with a valve from the ST to the FT feeding back into the ST to help regulate flow. I'm sure that will cause some flow issues to the FT having 2 T's. Making the SLO to the GB's slow down and probably cause the Bells to be inconsistent. I guess I just answered my own question! Just make it a Media bed, specially since I only have the 4 half barrels as filtration and I already have the existing line from the FT to the GB's I can extend easily enough.

Sorry so wordy. I feel like i can talk about this stuff FOREVER! Have a good day Ya'll...!

Hello BYAP World!
I wanted to share some updated photos of my system.
My plants and fish have been doing great, especially the Cucumber from seed. Harvested Cilantro for salsa and also harvest the Mint Plant almost every other day for Tea. Used the Cilantro to make Spanish Rice. Not sure if it was just me but the Cilantro was super strong in the rice. Tasted awesome.
I also added a tomato plant, Chiltepin Plant, and a basil plant. Don't have a shot of the fish but here are some photos of the beds.

Good start!

New Addition to my BYAP

Good to see those grow beds starting to fill out...

Thanks earthbound!

I have noticed a bit of fine solids build up in my sump tank. I think I need to add a swirl filter, but I'm nervous to do so because I'm worried it will be taking the nutrients away from the plants. What do you think?

I have approximately 75 Tilapia Fingerlings in my IBC Tote ranging from 2" to 4".

Perhaps just siphon them out onto your dirt garden, or suck them out with a small pump into your garden, what do you call a bit.

Thats a LOT of fish, or at least it will be very soon, I would think half that many is a better number.

Okay earthbound,
I have another IBC tote I planned to add as a FT for the faster growing fingerlings. So do you think if I pull the larger fish at least half of them out and set up the second FT that would help. Both would have the 2" SLO and would both feed to the grow beds.
The solids build up on the ST is about a 1/2" think and covers at lease half of the bottom. My ST is 2 55 gallon drums laid on its side and plumbed together with a 1 1/2" PVC pipe near the bottom.
I have gone over many of the threads regarding the Swirl filter and really don't want to use them. But i would love to be able to stock on the heavier side. I will try using a shop-vac to suck out the solids build up from my ST tonight.

I hope with the additional FT it will help with the build up, but not sure. Swirl filter, more grow beds probably?

I would love to be able to have a consistent harvest of fish every month or so that would feed a family of six at least twice a week or even more if possible. I will be trying to do so without killing any Tilapia. I do have a breeder tank set up and has been producing almost uncontrollably. A couple pictures below.
Thanks for reading!

Hi Tilly, nice setup! Regarding the stocking rates, check out the "rules of thumb" thread. From what i have learned by research/experience is that its not usually the FT size that is the limiting factor, but rather the filter capacity. Adding a 2nd FT would add more water volume to the system, but would not increase long term stocking limits.



viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6646&hilit=thumb

Updated to the System:
Added 30 gallon Swirl Filter (SF)
2" inlet coming from the FT SLO
2" outlet going to GB's

After running for a few days, my water quality has cleared up! First time since I've had this setup that I've been able to see the bottom. posting.php?mode=reply&f=45&t=24855#