Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi there boys and girls.

I thought I should post and say hi.

I am fairly new to Aquaponics, I only started about a year ago while I was recovering from some rather unpleasant injuries. I am unable to work, for the first time since I was 6, so in order to contribute to the family and keep myself sane I went looking for a hobby.

After 6 months of researching every productive hobby out there I settled on aquaponics. I had many reasons but the most important ones were:

1. I don't have to work on it every day.a S I'm bed bound at least 3 days a week.

2. Doesn't take much physical labour to keep things happy.

3. It produces something that is worth having and gives a real sense of achievement.

My first step was to build a 2.4mx2.4m greenhouse, (with a lot of help from friends and family). This was built on a raised platform with a 1000L IBC tank dug into the ground below. This meant I had a permanent sump tank for any system I chose to build.





Once the greenhouse was up I put in an IBC fish tank with 2 grow beds and 2x 60L drum filters 1x swirl 1x moving bed filter.





My reason for the extra filtration was the stocking density.

This was a Novice error. Don't get me wrong, it ran perfectly with 100x tilapia in a 1000L IBC but when my toddler turned off the power to the greenhouse, I lost 90 of the fish in just 24hrs without power.



This failure was very disappointing but it was also a blessing in disguise. In fact, if I had not lost them all I would have sold them on. I dust couldn't afford to heat the water in the system. I had 2x 600w heaters running all winter and the bill was astronomical!

So I took the chance to make a change. This change meant a lot more design and construction and it was important that it was up and running for this summer.

So we got to work. The lads from work, my neighbours and my wife all pitched in without being asked.

We built the new grow beds. Out of marine ply and A1 Pond paint.



We fitted them into the greenhouse and filled them with clay balls which were pre-rinsed (no chlorine)



We then built a platform for the IBC fish tanks. This allows me to use just one pump and to move the water through gravity.



With 3 tanks and 2 large grow beds I doubt I would have had an issue with my nitrification cycle but to be safe and to allow for heavier feeding I fitted a fluidised bed filter. I also installed a high capacity UV steraliser.



Now that I knew what it costs to heat just one IBC tank I decided to go for a cold water fish species and I ended up choosing trout. I currently have 2 types of trout.

Triploid, Rainbow trout and natural golden trout.

(Triploid fish don't mature sexually so can not be used to breed future generations)

I plan on growing triploid trout for food and keeping a few of the strongest golden trout for a few years and then using them to breed my own.



Once the system was up and running, I cycled it for 2 weeks using ammonium chloride. I then introduced the fish into the system.

Trout are good at jumping so in order to prevent them from committing suicide I welded up a cover for each tank and I used shade cloth to cover the frame. Each frame has a hinged section to allow access to the fish for feeding.



Trout require a very high level of dissolved oxygen so I have both a venturi in each tank and a 275LPM air pump running 2 air stones in each tank. This pump is rather noisy so I built an insulated box to limit the impact on my neighbours.



Within a week my nitrification cycle was keeping up with 200 fingerlings and 25 3month old trout. Ammonia=0, Nitrites=0 and Nitrates=60-80ppm.

I then planted up my beds.



They have grown very well and we have already harvested radishes, french beans, cress, mixed leafy veg and a few courgettes.



Still to come are tomatoes, cucumber, sweet peppers, carrots, corn, peas and squash.. no need to start your seedlings in desperate trays. Just choose your area in your grow bed and sprinkle in the seeds. They grow better than they would in seed trays.




Well, that turned into a long post but I hope it shows the system as it is. I call this build 2.0 and I still have more ideas to increase the yield from my greenhouse. I will also be building a vertical wall of plants up the dark walls.. (The ones that don't let in any light)

I will also be extending out of the greenhouse and along the fence with a vertical grow wall of flowering evergreen plants. This is mainly there in order to use up some of the nitrates during winter when I will have fewer fruiting plants.

Thank you all for reading my post. Please feel free to comment. I would like to know your constructive thoughts on the project.

Looks good Ron . Access to the sump tank looks pretty tough without removing some media and a grow bed but maybe that's a good thing with kids around. I'd cover what's left exposed, just in case.

A couple of things that might save you money or that you might improve - The UV light won't need to run 24/7 or even every day and you can save some money by running it at intervals. If you haven't already done this, it's good to reduce the splashing around the water outlets in the grow bed as this can cause disease issues for the plants and the larger the dampened area that is exposed to sunlight the more area that algae can grow.

I see you have a fan in the greenhouse - good job

Great job on the grow beds and version 2 of the AP setup made a lot of progress from the earlier setup

I don't know about temperatures in your area but trout can only handle up to around 75 F. Having the tanks inside means you can probably maintain this but it might be difficult if they are connected to the grow beds which will be warmer and will act as a heat exchanger. Any thoughts on this?

Hi Scotty.

Thanks for the input.

First the UV light. I have had it on 24/7 but I will change it to a few hours every second day.

Heat. It has been a slight issue but I have set up a 12" extractor fan to push hot air from the rafters of the garage which has kept me at about 20°c.

I also covered the tanks with the light side (of blackout curtains) pointing up to reflect the sun.

Lastly I have a 700 LPH pump shooting water across the surface of the tanks with a fan to try cool the water which seems to help.

Splash issues. I have been looking at fitting a bell over the water that flows from the pipes. This would limit spray. It would also keep the water out the sun.

The fan in the greenhouse was to drop the humidity and I plan on fitting a 4" extractor fan in the back corner of the greenhouse to run on sunny days.

Thankfully I have a 4kw solar panel setup on my house so the extra bits that run on hotter days don't cost much.

My last change I am planning is to switch to an external pump. The current 13m3ph pump is working too hard with the 3m head (1m below ground to 2m above) so an external pump will save me a fair amount on power leaving the current pump as a backup. This will be more important when I add another IBC.

As an afterthought I am also considering an old chest freezer as a tank in this system. I could set it to keep the water much cooler or set it to freeze solid on cold days to act as a heat exchanger on hotter days. That is the extreme though [WINKING FACE]

Looking long term, I want to build a trout farm on a friend's land. It has perfect access to the local chalk stream.

This would turn into my hatchery and nursery.

Thanks again for the input.




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If you start getting too close to the limits the trout can take temperature wise and you have a way to aerate the tanks then disconnect them from the grow beds except at night when the temp is cooler. Because you have solar a water chiller might be an option since electric cost is not as much a factor. Gunagulla's (Gordon) does things like this so you may want to check out his system thread.

Great looking system there!

Just one recommendation, don't stock so high with fish next time, you'd have probably been looking at disaster anyway when they got bigger.

How are the beds holding up? I would have been paranoid that the would might swell/expand and crack the seals?

Great looking system, well done.
I agree with Colum and stocking density. 225 trout in the 3 tanks will give you no lee way when they get larger and hungrier. Breeding trout ain't so easy either.
Keep the updates coming.