Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I thought it was time I started posting some pictures of where my system is at.

There's a little bit of info on what I'm planning and my background in my intro here viewtopic.php?f=45&t=27413

Since posting that, I've cleared the ground, put down weed mat and gravel to suppress the weeds, and started actually building the system, when work allows.



The above pic was to give my wife and myself an idea of how it was going to be laid out. Incidentally, those orange beams are pallet racking that were given to us a couple of years ago. I looked up the price of them recently and you can pick them up second hand for around $15 Aus. Might be worth looking at for anyone after ideas for grow bed stands.

Here's where I'm at today.



I spent some time today, levelling the ground a bit, although it doesn't look it in the picture. There's a small amount of water in the tank, just to help it settle.

The sump tank will go on the plate from the bottom of an IBC. I didn't want to put the sump straight on the ground, but leaving it on the pallet wasted a couple of inches of what could be used for extra sump tank capacity.

The pallet near the tank was another freebie from a mate. It's there so short people (the missus) can see into the tank. It had a bit of a wobble on it if you stood on one end ( the pallet, not the missus), so I cut the wobbly bit off and it's now a shelf at the end of the grow beds, as shown in the next pic.



It'll eventually hold a swirl filter. I know I don't necessarily need one, but I figured I could use the solids in the dirt garden, plus I wanted to have a go at making one. That yellow bucket is just a place-holder.

Anyway, heaps more to do. I still have to cut the slots in the media guards and make up all the plumbing. Another IBC needs to be sourced for the sump. The top part of that will probably get used as a wicking bed, although my wife has suggested using it as another grow bed, somewhere in the foreground of that second picture. I recently discovered there's a hydroponics shop literally walking distance from where I work, so I'll be getting my media from there.

So far I'm loving the idea of repurposing old stuff and making the parts for the system.

By the way, eagle-eyed members might notice the blue wicking barrel in the first two pictures. It had only just been made in the first. In the second, the asparagus I planted is already about 5 feet high. How come I never discovered this stuff years ago.

Hi psteve,

looks good - you are well on your way.

still be worth checking the prices on your media (and brand etc) as prices can vary a lot and there should be a lot of options in the Brisbane area.

although my wife has suggested using it as another grow bed
always good when the minister for all things important is on side

That was exactly my rationale for building my RFF and mineralisation tank! And wicking barrels are awesome, I was only going to make one to hold my little blueberry bush, but now I have plans for a whole line of them.

Good point. I think I'll be dropping in on my way home from work tomorrow morning (if they're open then), and buying one bag to see what it's like.

We currently have six of them with plans for more. Three of them are the air-pruning variety, a'la RobBob. They have three different types of pecan. The non-pruning variety are so easy and cheap to make.

I would LOVE to be able to track down that type of shelving/supports to be able to build support stands for various components.

I had a chance to grab some, but i am a framer and use to working with wood and not much on steel. Funny how a welder/cutting torch can expand one capabilities.

However, in looking at current setup, i would be concerned with the block on end supporting the shelving beam. I would turn the block supports 90 degrees, as well as block on end, and add another block to make up the difference in height. One bump, and fear something could/would be toppling over.

Adam

I did consider that, but after seeing heaps of pictures of other people's systems where they'd done the same, I figured it must be pretty stable. Also, putting the extra blocks there might make it more stable from side-to-side, but it won't make any difference front-to-back. I am tempted to go outside and give it shove now though, just to satisfy my curiosity.

Yes, it would be the same height, but you would have 16" length supporting the weight in 8" increments as opposed to having an 8" base on end supporting 16" high up. Thinking of spreading the weight out over a larger footprint.

curious as well with what your curiosity decided to test out.


Adam

Well, I now have all my IBCs, the fish tank and sump tank are in their final positions.

I've put pavers on top of the Besser blocks, just to give myself about an extra inch of clearance. I wanted the sump to have enough capacity to hold the contents of both grow beds, but didn't want to dig a hole to accomodate it. I've measured and there's just enough clearance for me to get the pump into and out of the tank.

I'm thinking of moving those top blocks in toward the middle, just so the weight is more evenly distributed, not just supported at the ends. Either that, or I'll follow BroHay's advice and get some more blocks, they're only about three bucks each, after all.

I've cut slots in the media guards, using a 3mm thick cutting wheel on the angle grinder. As Mel said in her thread, it's much quicker than drilling holes, but also very messy.


I think I'll put another row closer to the bottom, or even some holes. There is a row right at the bottom, but I figure water flow is going to be a lot slower by the time it gets past that last row of slots.

Next job is to silicon the bottom plates of the syphons and attach them to the grow beds. I have tomorrow afternoon off, so a trip to the local hardware is in order to buy all the pipework to start the plumbing.

That hydroponics place up the road from work has been closed every time I've driven past recently, so I haven't had a chance to drop in there, but I believe their clay media is Canna.

One thing I've noticed, now that there's a small amount of water in the tanks, there's a fine dusting of spores on the surface. That Staghorn in the background (in front of the rainwater tank) is going to have to go, because it's the culprit. Rats have been nesting in it anyway and it's really looking ugly.

I am going to have to try and be more patient when cutting media guards with a grinder. I just get a sharp 3/8 drill bit and look like a bad spray from a automatic weapon. Lord help me when I have my saw out. But I am of the mindset if I don't see it, who cares.....(until I stick my hand down in the media guard to clean out some debris)

Nothing will make you be filled with joy (anger) when your newly planted crops are freshly eaten before it is time for you to enjoy. I am about to go San Quentin with electrified fence/razor ribbon wire and post a 24 hour guard (cat) to stop the mice/rabbits/squirrels from eating inside the greenhouse.

Do what you can to eliminate the rodents.

Adam

Looking good! Just be careful with slots that narrow in your media guards, keep an eye on them because it'll be very easy for them to clog.

The system is progressing well. The pump is now in the sump tank and the plumbing is mostly done. Nothing has been glued or screwed yet as I'm still in the testing phase.

I found the 8000 l/hr pump is a bit too much for my 40mm SLO, so I followed the advice someone gave on another thread and put in a t-piece to divert some of the water back to the sump. It took a bit of tweaking, since the water wanted to follow the path of least resistance and all go to the sump. I found that, if I stopped the flow to the sump briefly, the water would then go to the fish tank and continue once I let it into the sump again. After a few adjustments to the ball valve, I found I didn't have to do that when I started the pump.

Once that was sorted, I found the SLO still wasn't keeping up and would overflow the tank, so I drilled a couple of holes ear the top as an extra overflow and that's solved the problem.

With the media guards fitted, I discovered the siphon was breaking to early, as the water flow was being restricted. I solved that by drilling two rows of holes lower down. I'm thinking I might just as well have done holes instead of slots initially.

Instead of cutting the lids on the media guards to make them easier to remove, a la RobBob, I bought a couple of cheap cupboard handles and screwed them on. they give enough grip to make it easy to remove the lids.

I've added very basic venturis to the inflow to the FT and outflows from the GBs. There's not a great deal of aeration, but it was so cheap and simple to do, I figured, why not. I intend getting something like an ACO-328 anyway for aeration. Incidentally, Bunnings were selling 2 inch long pieces of 8mm plastic tube for about $1.70 each. The same stuff in 5m rolls was $17. It's not hard to guess what I bought.

I pick up my media tomorrow from Logan Hydroponics. It turns out the place up the road from work has closed and they're gradually getting rid of all their stock. The clay balls went very early.

So, it looks like my next job will be washing the media, then I can start cycling the system. Spring is just around the corner and everything in the garden seems to be going into top gear growth-wise. I'm looking forward to planting in the grow beds and getting the fish.

I must say too, I'm really enjoying solving all the little problems that come along. I said to my wife last night, It'd be boring to just go out and buy a commercially made system.

It's been so long since my last update, I had trouble finding my own thread.

The media is now in the grow beds, everything is together and I've been cycling since the beginning of September. The Pak Choi, Tat Soi and a few other cabbagey type plants were showing some pretty serious chlorosis which I've fixed with a couple of applications of Iron chelate, one in the sump and a foliar one about a week later. Nutrients have been provided with Powerfeed and good old pee-ponics. I never realised how much two people could pee in one day.

Anyway, after 4 weeks it looks like everything is cycled, ammonia and nitrites are disappearing quickly, especially the nitrites. The pH was up around 8.2 when I started and that dropped to where the API test kit wouldn't go. I didn't know how low it was, as the crappy $53 Kekida pH meter I bought only works when it feels like it, so I added a couple of teaspoons of hydrated lime over a few days and it's come back up to around 6.4.

So, I now have 25 Jade Perch on order. Livefish.com process their orders on weekends, then ship them the following Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday. So if you order on a weekend, like I did, you end up waiting over a week for your order, because it won't be processed till the following weekend. Oh well, at least I've got time to make sure everything is definitely ready.

A couple of weeks ago, we had two trees pruned right back on the northern side of the property and there's a hell of a lot more light in the back yard now, to the point I had to adjust the standpipes due to algae on the media. There also seems to be a bit more evaporation happening, so I'm going to have to keep an eye on that and keep some top up water handy.

Looking forward to getting the fish and I'll post some pics once they arrive.

Scrap that bit about taking over a week for the fish to arrive. I just got a message to say they're being dispatched today. Woohoo!

Hooray!