Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Well the parts for our AP system Arrived. Yeah!!!

We are going to set it up on thursday, and when its done we will have a BonFire, to celebrate. We have waited almost 1 year to get a ap System up and running. Thank you Sybiotic Aquaponics.

Well our system is pu and running unfortunatly it was dark when we finished so I was not able to take any pictures. but I promise I will and will post them tomorrow.

I hadn't heard of Sybiotic Aquaponics so I had a look at their website. Looks like they have some government funding for a college greenhouse project. The GB depth they supply is a little shallow and is that a canister filter with the kit?

http://www.symbioticaquaponic.com


Very original with their nitrogen cycle illustration..



And BYAPs illustration, the most stolen AP image in all history..

That is pretty sad, not the kind of thing I'd want kids to learn, since it's not OK

the GB depth is 13inches.

13 inches is ok, but not ideal. 19-20 inches would be better.

But don't let that sway you, it will be fine. I just like criticising for some reason. Bad habit.

Ok Here are the pictures of our system. i would have loved to built our system from scratch but do to the nature and time limit of our grant we went with a purchased system. in fact we received the very first one from Symbiotic Aquaponics.

Ok some argument on grow bed depth.
http://www.theaquaponicsource.com/blog/grow-bed-depth/

How deep should your aquaponics grow bed be? Grow bed depth in a media based aquaponics system is a subject not without a little controversy. The majority of media-based aquaponic growers will say that you should have about 12″ (300 mm) of media, with the top 1 – 2″ being left dry to reduce algae and fungal growth. There are those, however, who claim to be growing successfully in substantially less than that.

Deeper beds are more expensive because of the cost of the extra media, the cost of supporting the weight of the extra media and the need for a larger fish tank to fertigate all that media. Plus, if you stick to a 4 – 6″ depth you can use standard hydroponic flood and drain trays which are widely available.

Here is why you don’t want to do that.

If you pay close attention you will notice that everyone who touts shallow grow beds expresses one or more of the following limitations
1.Limitations on the types of plants you can grow in your aquaponics system – shallow grow beds work great for shallow rooted and/or short lived plants such as lettuces and greens, but won’t work for longer lived, deeply rooted plants such as indeterminate tomatoes, cucumbers, corn, melons, etc. This is both because shallow beds don’t provide the base of nutrients and bacteria required for the relatively long life of these plants nor do they provide the space for large root zones. Travis Hughey, Murray Hallam, Joel Malcom (and I) all talk about the almost limitless variety of what you can grow in media based aquaponics. This is because we are all using beds about 12″ deep.
2.‘Dead zones’ and the need to clean out your beds – As the illustration below shows, in deep aquaponics grow beds a layered eco-system establishes that prevents the development of ‘dead zones’ (anaerobic areas) in your grow beds. Because of the thriving environment flush with beneficial bacteria and worms and plenty of space for the roots to grow, you never need to clean out your grow bed – they, along with the plants, do the cleaning for you. When there is enough room for a robust eco-system to establish itself, all the elements of that system thrive and become self-sustaining. That happens at about 12″ of media depth.

Here is an excellent explanation of what happens in aquaponics grow beds, excerpted with permission from Murray Hallam’s Aquaponics Secrets video:


Surface or dry zone (Zone 1) – The first 2″ (50mm) is the light penetration and dry zone. Evaporation from the bed is minimized by the existence of a dry zone. This dry zone also protects the plant base against collar rot. Additionally, by ensuring that this zone is kept dry, algae is prevented from forming on the surface of the grow bed media and moisture related plant diseases such as powdery mildew are minimized.

Root zone (Zone 2) – Most root growth and plant activity will occur in the next zone of approximately 6″ – 8″ (150 – 200mm). In this zone, during the drain part of the flood and drain cycle, the water drains away completely, allowing for excellent and very efficient delivery of oxygen rich air to the roots, beneficial bacteria, soil microbes, and the resident earth/composting worms.

During the flood part of the cycle, the incoming water distributes moisture, nutrients and incoming solid fish waste particles throughout the growing zone. The worm population does most of its very important work in this zone, breaking down and reducing solid matter and thereby releasing nutrients and minerals to the system. ‘Worm Tea’, as it is commonly known, will be evenly mixed and distributed during each flood and drain cycle. ‘Worm Tea’ and the fish are entirely compatible.

Solid collection and Mineralization Zone (Zone 3) – This is the bottom 2″ (50 mm) of the grow bed. In this zone fish waste solids and worm castings are finally collected.

The solid material has been reduced by up to 60% by volume, by the action of the resident garden/composting worms, and microbial action. During each flood and drain cycle, what is left of the solids percolates down into this zone.Further and final mineralization occurs in this area via bacterial and earth worm activity. Due to the excellent action of the flood and drain cycle, this bottom area is kept ‘fresh’ and vital by the excellent delivery of oxygen rich water during the flood cycle.



I can’t resist putting in a plug for our AquaBundance Aquaponics Grow Bed, which has been designed with all these principals in mind. It is about 12″ deep, with an inside lip at the base of the Dry Zone, and features 7.5 cubic feet of growing area. It is made of thick food-grade PE plastic and has been designed with enough strength so it will never bow out on the sides. It includes a gravel guard that has space for either flood and drain fittings or a siphon (purchase separately). It is very attractive and comes in 4 color choices. Check it out here and let me know what you think!

Posted by Sylvia Bernstein in Blog, Growing Aquaponically, The Aquaponics Life

we have been cycling our beds all week to evaporate all the chlorine, and get the timing on everything figured out, our sump and beds were overflowing, but with a little tinkering i was able to regulate everything. it takes about 8 minutes to fill the beds and only 4 to drain them. I find it funny that as the beds drain if you listen closely it sounds like Rice Crispies popping. lol

here is a link to a video of our system
https://plus.google.com/u/0/?tab=wX#100 ... 9044420884

Well it has been a few weeks and you can tell a difference in the size of the plants, and our 3 little Koi are happy. everything is running good with a ten minute fill on the grow beds and a 3 minute drain. I placed a upside down milk carton with the end cut off down in the grow media so you can see the water rise and fall.
Our Tilapia are ordered and have been shipped. they were deleyed do to bad weather. White Brook Tilapia Farm didnt want to ship them if there was any chance of them being delayed and dieing. Thank you for that. We should have them around Noon tomorrow ( 4/29/16 ). cant wait. oh we also ordered Duck weed and will be hanging a bug zapper over our Fish tank to cut down on cost of feeding our fish.

Well everything is going good, our Koi are now in our sump tank, and our Tilapia are in the fish tank. I'm alittle worried about the tilapia, we have had a down turn in temps this week and i pray they can handle it. if not it was a nother incentive to get the green house built as soon as possable. the beds are growing fast. and seedlings are popping up faster than kids in a candy factory.

Took some more pictures this weekend.

Looks like you did a good job on the setup . I am noticing a couple of things with the plants. If you notice the top leaves of some of the plants are yellow or are turning yellow (the oregano is a good example) - this indicates an iron deficiency which is pretty common in AP. Getting some Fe-DTPA iron chelate and spraying it on should help with this. It also looks like you may have a shortage of nitrogen since I'm seeing yellow leaves on the bottom with some of the plants (the tomatoes are an example of this). This could have something to do with the fish food you're using or just that you need more fish (I'm not sure which). Tomatoes are notorious for heavy feeding - I wouldn't be surprised if you also see a calcium deficiency in these when the tomatoes start to ripen, provided they make it that far (blossom end rot is what you would normally see). You have to be a bit careful adding nitrogen since too much will lead to lots of plant growth and few flowers. You also have to watch the form of the nitrogen since an ammonia spike can kill the fish. Shoot for a slow release form. I have used Blood and Bone meal (which works well but has some drawbacks especially where BSE is common) but a bit of vermicompost at the base of the plants would probably work as well.

Hope this helps