Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All,

thought I would post something up that is a bit different....

My main AP setup is along the side of our house where I have 25m of 700mm to play with
and is now in complete renovation (will post photo of that below later).

However I needed to store my goldfish somewhere and I figured with married life as it was we did not need a love-seat space any more. So I 'temporarily' put an IBC there to house my Goldfish for a while.

Wife made comments about the uglification of her patio area and so I thought I would address the issue for Xmas.
I also had some pretty serious algae issues as my definition of temporary become somewhat protracted.

so following from Bentaz's signature.....
"And I just wanted a water feature, but then I made my own filter......."

I figured that with pond filter systems $200+ and needing bigger pumps and wattage than I had laying around I would AP a garden bed - flowers for the wife, clean water for the goldies and more AP for me

The product:



IT was amazing how quickly the water quality has picked up, mainly just from fitering and a half dose of pond clear (no issue for Goldies or flowers).



Just got to apply some corrugated iron cladding to make it look like a water tank.....


Running it as a flood and drain system on 30min-30min cycle as I find this gets quicker root development than constant flood. (with my plumbing setup I can do either).

the planters came from Bunnings and used four of them. That was the wife's compromise to the IBC staying there.

and here is the more ambitious side of my current AP and the black hole for my 'spare' time at present.

After playing around for some time now I have decided to completely revamp my play area.

25m x 700mm - challenging space to install AP into, along with my desire to increase my tree seedling
raising to 600+ per year.

this is how set up the internals for each planter box.....



A. inflow is simply 6-8mm holes drilled in 15mm PVC from pump fed main line from FT.

B. used an inverted standpipe to get water from lower parts of planter.
simply 25mm with holes drilled in it at various depths.
no real risk of siphon but I drilled a hole in top elbow to provide air intake / release.

C. use a small 13mm poly outlet in bottom corner to effect slow drain.
this has to be covered with a slotted 20mm pipe to avoid hydroton being sucked through
- happened in trial run and had to pull apart ;-(
good part is that it extends contribution area across floor of planter rather than just corner.

neat little system, that provide some options to try a few different things.

best thing of all is that I now have crystal clear water in the IBC.
for much less cost than a pond filter and no need for regular emptying/backwahsing etc.

discharge is a pleasant vertical drop back into IBC as per main photo.
leave to lower tap open with pump on timer to effect flood and drain.

Looks very clean, and well functioning. Could you explain the effect of adding part C to the GB?

Provides a few options for the system. My real AP systems have been timer flood and drain with a standpipe.
But I did not want to do that here as I wanted the water feature as well. And I wanted to play with a continuous flood (by retaining water in planters) and timer flood & drain.

The main [potential] issue with a constant flood system is that stagnant water and dead zones can arise.
But I wanted water always to be within 5-7cm of the surface rather than a classic flood and drain.

So C enables me to
(a) run the ball valve open while under constant flow to flush the bottom of the beds regularly.
when I am away I can leave closed so no risk of plant deaths etc.
(b) enabled me to achieve a classic flood and drain with timer if left open.
(c) to simply allow me to manually drain the planters and refill with fresh water once a week / every now and again.

I initially did some basic testing flood and drain versus constant flow - I found that with our summer heat and days 35 degrees+ I ended up staying with constant flood for the flower seedlings not to be stressed.

I also started out with rock media but the clay outperformed it (I suspect by providing some wicking effect above the water surface and got less hot). Rock media seedlings did not do so well so I replaced it with expanded clay and threw in a couple of handfuls of rockery flower seeds.


As a pond filter it is amazing. There is no shade or cladding of the IBC FT. Before it was in I had algal issues. Never had one since. So AP really does work and much cheaper than a pond filter.

Drip irrigation is the process of applying small amounts of water, slowly and directly to the root base of the plant or shrub exactly where it needs it. Drip is best suited for shrub or flower beds and will not work to water a lawn area.

Welcome to the forum. I'm not sure what you're trying to get at clevenorton, as far as I could tell drip irrigation wasn't mentioned before in this thread? Are you suggesting that would be another option?

Hi clevenorton,

The intent is not actually the plants. I had a 'temporary' IBC that I was storing my fish in while renovating the back BYAP area. As a trial I used a flower box AP setup rather than a conventional pump & filter that would otherwise have been needed to keep a 500L 'pond' clean.

I used flowers rather than veg in combination with aquatic plants (valisnernia)
actually started with Marigolds and petunias but they are not so happy so moved on to Alysium.
So AP proved to be much cheaper than a filter from a pond shop.

I actually ran the trial as my mother was having issues with her pond that had a $200+ filter and
the guy who knew everything wanted $200+ to remove and install a new one.
I wanted to prove that $100 worth of AP would do better job - which is the case.
I have crystal clear water and the IBC is in full sun and is not cladded.

so the thread really documented that - every now and again we get people with ponds etc that wonder whether AP could substitute in place of a pond filter.

since the thread got bumped, here are some photos...

flower filter system at its best (may 2015)

current situation Aug2015 - Alysium at back, re-seeded front

Aug2015 - 500L IBC uncladded [still ] and in sun.

and Aug2015 water quality v.good

How about timber cladding for the front and micro orb round the corners. I think it was Icemandude (Spelling etc) who did this and it looked really classy. Always pays to make the wife happy and let your expansions go smoothly.

...Icemandude (Spelling etc) who did this and it looked really classy. Always pays to make the wife happy and let your expansions go smoothly

both IceManDude [ IceMan's Backyard Feature System ] and his dad [ IceMan's Parents system!! ]
and his IceManDude(TM) windows are cool

on the to-do list Sleepe..... actually got some zincalume and thought about wood surround.
wife still hopes it is temporary
Need to get the real AP sorted out around the side now the weather is moving towards spring.....

wife happy ? .... just thinking how I might sneak another IBC in for a large wicking bed like S.O.Ps.

send her out shopping for a whole day, when she gets home excited with what she has bought she will not be aware or interested in what you have done....win win