Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all

So after many years of watching, reading and learning about aquaponics I have finally designed and
built a system. Unfortunately I built it for my dad so that he would have something to do rather than torment my mum.

One of my brothers decided and talk to dad about aquaponics before I could explain what was really involved This resulted in a few things

Dad: Can I order fish??
Brother: Can I order fish?
Both: When will the system be finished??

So after a long chat about build time, equipment and cost my brother and i started ordering all the gear to make the system chop 2

2 x totes
2 x 610lt grow-beds
1 x 450lt sump
1 x pump
1 x backup pump
etc













So after 3 full days of work we finally turned her on. We only had few problems with the original design which were:

1. The stand pipes in the fish tank needed lengthening to stop a few different issues.
2. The clay beads started floating had to take a few bags out and lower the fill rate.
3. Brother in trying to keep things neat cut the hole for the fish tank too low thank god I had spare uni seals.
4. Sump tank side bulged out - needed to brace it
5. Might change radial filter to swirl as the jury is still out? IDEAS

System has been cycling for 12 days and is already starting to shown signs nitrite and nitrate wow!!!

Finally I must thank everyone that has shared their experiences and ideas on this forum, as they have helped shape my ideas and without which this project would not be possible at all. You have all made one old man a very very happy one indeed.

Anyway this is my first post on this forum (Not really a big poster people I do apologize though I do read a lot)

Cheers

Ras77

Looks nice Ras77!

I'm drawing up plans for a similar sized grow bed system for my plunge into Aquaponics with a 2m x 1m x 30cm growbed. I've been debating how strong to make the grow bed support stand in order to handle the 600+ kg weight without way overdoing it.

What size is that square tubing your stands are made out of? Something like 30mm x 30mm x 1.5mm ?

Is the stand nothing more than the 6 legs with a rail around the top, short-width cross supports under the bed between each pair of legs, and 1 long-length support from end-to-end? After seeing how neat some of the SketchUp models look, I started playing around with it and it seems to be pretty nice for modeling things like this:


So is this picture pretty much how your grow bed stand is made? I would have guessed that a stronger stand would be needed, but I guess that is what the Art of Engineering is about...

Good luck with the new system!

--
Sam

Pretty flash system for a first atempt Rass... Why is the jury out on the radial flow filter is something wrong with your incarnation of one?

Three days! wow, very good effort

Ok just finished 3 week at work and back to normal




we used 40 by 40 1.5mm

i would but 2 bars at the bottom holding you grow bed nosliwmas as we only have one and grow bed is bowing in a little.




Raidial filter looks like it is working well i guess patience is the key on that one

finally got to check out the system again yesterday after 3 weeks away! I cannot believe the growth rate my dad is getting. We haven't even added fish yet

Will add a few more photos soon to show progress

Cheers

So here are some test result taken over the last couple of weeks





Here are the Grow-Beds


28/12/15


12/1/16

So thing seem to be going well

Cheers

Great looking system.

What is the steel mesh made from over the fish tanks?

Also, Where did you get the grow beds and how much were they?

Thanks

Hi




Steel mesh on top of fish tank are lids under construction. Will be operated by a pulley system so dad can easy
access the fish tanks without much trouble.

Also to stop the grand kids from

a. Falling in
b. Playing with fish once they arrive




The grow beds are 610lt
From RapidPlas
http://www.rapidplas.com.au/categories/livestock-watering-2.cfm?special=categories
$440 each

WE DID NOT PURCHASE THE STAND $934.80 each


Cheers

Good Morning

Well it has been awhile but here are some update photos












So had to over come some problems alone the way

1. High Ph (buffer down only to bounce back up again)
2. Sump running out of water
3. Wrong type of roof panels (Still on the list to be fixed)
4. Backup water supply installed
5. Plants over growing (Still a problem)
6. Water has cleared up finally (patience is the key on this one )
7. My Son grabbing a handful of clay pebbles and pouring them down the siphon pipe

I have had normal vegetable gardens in the past and i still cannot believe the growth rates we are achieving in the aquaponics system.

Oh and the fish have arrived 120 silver perch The fun begins

Cheers

Fixed a few problems with the setup today



Setup the auto feeder still working out rate to feed




Installed a float to top up sump tank automatically as we have run dry a couple of times



Tape started to leak a little so we had to shutdown and repair

Quick couple of questions some members might help me with

1. How much feed / how many times a day (Using the 5min method at the moment once a day)
2. Backup water only feeds fish tanks which goes through the radial filter and bio filter and returns. Does not feed grow beds should I be concerned about this??
3. Has anyone tried a bug zapper over fish tanks to feed fish?? Do fish like there meal cooked

Other than the few problems we have started building vertical towers today as well.

Cheers

1. I'll let someone in Australia answer this. How big are the Silver Perch?

2. Without knowing anything about your backup water supple this is a tough question to answer. If it's basically getting enough filtration from the RFF and biofilter then it should be good. The grow beds are essentially just another filter that does both solids and biofiltration. My only concerns are
a) If your backup water will accumulate nitrates or go anaerobic because of too much waste (but I don't know if there are any fish in this part of your system )
b) If your water source contains chlorine or chloramines you'd be killing the biofilter.

3. I think some people have but I think many just put a light over or in the water. Nice free feed for the fish. You can also buy lights that have a fan to blow the bugs or a whip to knock them into the water

Here's an example of a light and fan type catcher - http://www.amazon.com/Dynatrap-Ultralight-Insect-Mosquito-Trap/dp/B00I4R1SA2/ref=redir_mobile_desktop/187-9630296-4130517?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0#Ask/?tag=pfa12-20

I'm not sure about the claim that it catches mosquitos because I was under the impression that they weren't attracted to UV light .

http://insects.about.com/od/StingingBitingInsects/a/Do-Bug-Zappers-Kill-Mosquitoes.htm