Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Of course the problem is that the power WILL go out when you are away at shops/market, sound asleep, or visiting friends.. First world growing systems don't always translate well to third world conditions. Having people start systems like this in a third world country with micro loans will only put people in a worse position than not having one in the first place.

I think column has the easier, if less effective, answer that I would pursue.
Google spirulina paddle wheel, and then drive the wheel from a falling weight. Even just a rope wrapped around the paddle shaft would work, if the weight is correctly sized for the paddle area. I'd run one rope wrapping and one unwrapping at any time, both run up over pulleys as high as you can get them, and when the weight hits the ground you will have to carry it up to the end of the (now shorter) rope at the top and connect it. The paddle will turn the other direction, and as the weight drops, it will wrap/shorten the rope that was previously unwrapping/dropping.

My other choice (not actually better, once I've thought it through) would be another IBC raised above the fish tanks (a few extra feet would be even better, but more work), with a sprayer bar to distribute the water across the surface of your tanks. Then you need a hand or other human powered pump of some sort, or a bucket brigade to fill the IBC from your sump. If the output is throttled to regulate flow, you could fill the ibc once per hour and have continued circulation of 1/2 tank volume per hour. If the raised IBC was above the sump you could just lift buckets on a rope/pulley. You could probably lift and dump no more than 3 buckets per minute this way if you are in decent shape, and you'd need a clear opening on the top of your sump. A small weight on one side of the bucket will make it fall over and fill up faster than without. It would still take you twenty minutes out of every hour to fill the tote. A good pump would be faster, if available.

Actually, this is where real innovation is born.

yep - I sometimes wonder that going with the IBC's as wicking beds and growing veg that way is a simpler route and still water saving. Then grow carp or something hardy in a large pond with pond plants, duck weed and edibles. Bit more user-proof than an AP system.

Wicking bed production is pretty massive from get-go and you can use local sand, rock straw/hay and manures etc without any issues. What I would do in a third world scenario anyway.

plus what are they going to use for fish food and trace element deficiencies.
hardly going to source high quality AP/AqC pellets like Skrettings......

And you don't have to be third world to think that way..
AP is a cute concept.... kinda perpetual motion, which ain't perpetual unless you keep it going with Fish Food..

Plus one to.separating the fish and the plants... but that won't fix the air issue, for the fish, unless. They are in a suitable large surface area pond, but that is outside the challenge of a small back yard..

I wonder if it would be just better to collect animal.dung and mineralize that, as plant food.. or...
Collect dung etc for a worm farm.and then mineralise the.castings.. that does work very well..
I suppose it will be all determined by how important the FISH is as a protein .source, and how you can economically feed the fish

Back to the OP.. I have trouble seeing a paddle-wheel aerator in the top of as simple IBC, and especially, given the graphical representation of a "system"..

Something "remote", seems the most appropriate

If only you could eat innovation... Seen people try it many times over the years and none have been successful long term. Travis Hughey made many trips to Kenya, even bought land there and set up a few systems, all have failed for multiple reasons.

It is already done in 90% of "fish raising" Asia and parts of Africa etc anyway.
Book a holiday and tour the real world - trivial AP rules are broken to the max every day

Course you can put it in a backyard - every thread here already does it, and there are some good SE Asia courtyard examples and some Indian roof top examples. Many backyard Koi /goldfish ponds can hold a lot of fish. These people are not going to be eating trout, barrumundi or perch.

Silver Carp and Grass Carp along with common carp (European) are hardy. Many in Asia (India etc + SE Asia) grow these things in a muddy hole at the side of the road. The power cut issue is irrelevant unless it goes on for a more than a day. UNless seriously over-stocked these fish will cope with the power being off for a day easily.

In terms of food - carp is already eaten in many parts of the world - grass and silver carp are actually better fish than the common European carp. But then European carp is a delicacy in many eastern European countries.

yea i dont think its going to solve all their problems or be a perfect system, but one doesnt improve by doing things that are easy for them, neccessity is the mother of all invention, he is going to do it anyway so might as well help, etc, etc.....

the important point most Europeans have never got from day 1 is that it is better to help them improve upon the systems they already know and use, than it is to force them to adopt a completely different system with technology, instructions, morals and principles they do not understand.

Plus things like preventative-maintenance, heavy/toxic metals and water-quality etc are sometimes not as well appreciated or understood.

And there is the odd side effect.... suddenly have low quality PVC pipe or IBC's that have been used for.....


I suspect IBC-AP and NFT (as per OP) is not really the answer.... there are many more highly productive ways to grow food at lower cost and overheads.

[edit] and the best bit is when we recommend buying $20 worth of fish food/plant food/mineral supplements to grow $20 worth of veggies.

I think far too many people here are assuming that this guy DOESNT live in a city and that he is in the middle of nowhere with no access to food. :rolleyes:

He most likely is, and [hopefully] aiming at a middle class educated client scenario with some extra cash to spend else the problems will really mount up .
But it is still Ethiopia and (like India/Pakistan etc) is subject to power cuts of [quote OP] normally 4 hours with 8-20 hours 1-2x per month.... with a NFT dominated system that relies on circulation..... for a system that the OP has identified is going to have issues that need to be fixed for less than $50....
so mostly you are on a par with most developed parts of Asia.....

lol so we are going to sit here and argue about how he shouldnt do anything to do with AP are we?

"i am currently setting up"...... its too late to tell him not to do it and to dig huge ponds (which i dont know where you guys think he will get the water to fill such ponds :rolleyes:) in a yard half the size of said pond......


better to come up with ideas to help him than tell him ways of growing fish which he probably already knows of or are not available to him??? i think so.

YES.......... That's exactly it...

Encouraging people to take out loans to build aquaponic systems to feed themselves is a bad idea.. Chicken tractors, wicking beds, raised beds, organic growing, pond growing, container growing in recycled containers, would all be far better things to encourage requiring little to no capital outlay.. Aquaponic systems in this area are not proven, in fact many systems have been tried and failed for numerous reasons, including the larger system in the OP's other thread. And with such an unreliable power supply????

To put it in some form of context, entry level salaries in Ethiopia are between $30-40 a month, so this discussion is about spending more than a months wage on a backup system for a home AP...

I'll toss in my opinion. I agree with Joel but if he decides to try then some of the things below won't cost much and could make a difference.

I like the idea of using carp or similar fish with the ability to survive low oxygen levels.

Low stocking levels and making plants the system focus would be good. You don't need tons of fish to grow plants. Having a relatively shallow tank with high surface area would help as well because of having more oxygen exchange (maybe 2 ft deep but no less). Shade tank and some times of year the grow beds, to keep the water temp down which helps the oxygen levels.

Don't feed or at least reduce feeding during and preferably before outages (if you know when they are coming) to reduce oxygen use by organisms as they break down food.

Time your fish grow out to be mostly done before the hot weather hits. Start them small near the end of summer and grow them until just before summer then harvest (you'll need a fast growing fish). If you harvest fish before the water temp goes up, any fish left in the system may have enough oxygen and you may still get decent fish harvests. A lot of the nutrients will still be in the system to break down for the plants but you can supplement if needed.