Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Guys,

So and a friend and myself have started with Aquaponics - and been a super fun ride so far.

We started with an IBC system, and are now currently building system number 2 - which is much bigger, since the first one has been so much fun.

Here is a pic of the IBC system, it looks somewhat like a pirate ship atm hehe



So it is the standard IBC cut off system, and we added a blue barrel cut in half for 2 extra grow beds

We have added some bricks around the sides where put compost and black plastic to help with the water temp, as autumn has set in here, and I believe our Mazambican Talapia will not handle the winter temperatures we have down here. So far the compost is doing a great job in keeping the temps from dropping too low at night, but plan to add in a heater system with 15mm irrigation pipe and a little pump.

So after this system has done so well we have started with the new system:

14 X half blue barrels + 2 ibc tops as grow beds, 1 complete IBC as sump and 2 x ibc bottoms as fish tanks:

Here is where we were digging holes for the tanks and hit rock, so progress stopped for 2 days:



Here we after after getting a jack hammer, tanks sunk and installed:



And then, where are currently sitting, 6 grow beds with washed stones (worst part of the job as i am sure we can all agree), and plumbed up (you can see the IBC pirate ship in the background):



Still to do:
- Add the rest of the grow beds and plumbing
- Put up a green house over this system

.... Will post up some more pictures as we go along

Back at work now, so progress will be a bit slower...

awesome system! well done!

Hi Guys,

So finally back for an update ^_^ Its been around 2 months since the first post.

SO first some pics, and a little explanation



- Center is a sump tank with pump pipe coming out there, and into a T join.
- Water goes left and right, both sides of the system basically being a carbon copy of each other.
- The first set of blue beds (6 of them) flood and drain straight back into the sump.
- The 2nd / 3rd sets of blue grow beds (on either side, 4 each) flood and drain into the IBC top grow beds (tops of from the fish tanks they feed), which then flood and drain each into their owner fish tank.
- The fish tanks also immediately start overflowing back to the sump.

The fish tanks receive enough water per day to replace the water in each about 1.5 - 2x per day

Currently there are 13 Talapia in 1 of the tanks and some water and stones was used from the old system.

Currently also tiny traces of nitrate already (5pppm)



This pic is basically taken from the opposite side exactly as the previous pic, in this pic you can see the green house going up. Half will be dark green / black plastic while the other half will be clear greenhouse plastic.

You might ask why we used the dark plastic, and its basically due to cost and there being no sun directly overhead ever in that section of the greenhouse (sun passes to the right of greenhouse and sets still slightly to the right). It also absorbs a lot of heat, and it appears to me it might possibly turn out to be an upgrade to the standard full clear greenhouse setup.

I guess only time will tell

Lastly @organixAQP - has not been too much of a piping salad

Looks great

Some more updates:

Greenhouse 95% complete from the outside (we managed to get some nice clear plastic which really makes a huge difference)



Greenhouse from the inside:



And finally some of the fish in 1 of the tanks (KOI and Mozambican Talapia):



Recently planted about 200 Seedlings, plants are booming, however came across some powdery mildew on 1 of the plants (removed the leaves and sprayed with milk spray)

Will post up some pics of the plants shortly

Nitrates are at about 75 and nitrites are 0