Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all!

I'm new here and to AP in general, and full of questions and ideas. I can't stop thinking about a raceway trout AP design with a horse-shoe shaped raceway circling a greenhouse full of media beds where water is pumped out at one end and returned to the other,creating a current. The speed of the current would depend on pump speed and width of raceway, and could be tailored for optimum trout exercise and growth etc. The greenhouse could be extended to cover the raceway during winter months to keep water temps a little higher optimizing growth.

Please; comments, opinions, suggestions...

Unfortunately this is a mere brainchild of mine which I will not have the opportunity to follow up for at least a few years. For the time being I'm setting up a 40 gallon aquarium and LED lights indoor flood and drain system with goldfish + salad and herbs to get some hands-on exp. I have researched plenty, but any advice would be great!

Looking forward to hearing from you all!

Hi Danny and Welcome
Good luck. Read a lot and be patient. Its taken me about two years to get my system running smoothly.
Couple of things for you to consider and perhaps read up on.
High summer temperatures cause me more problems with my Rainbow trout than cold winter ones. Yesterday here in Wiltshire my outdoor FT was at 4.5* C but the trout were still feeding. This morning its dropped to 2.6*C and I will not feed and have switched on a small 300W heater in the sump. Once back above 4 ish I will switch it off.
There are loads of threads here about cooling the water in summer.
all boils down to throwing money at the problem.
Optimum fish tank shape in a re-circulatory system can be summed up in three words; round fish tanks.
Raceways are generally used in a flow through system.
Divert water from a stream through the FTs and then return it lower downstream.
Its all about getting rid of fish waste.
An indoor system requires bright lights as with most things you get what you pay for.
Do your research and get the right light for the job
Have fun. Thats what its all about

Hi Titus,

thanks for the advice, I appreciate that patience is of the essence! I remember how lack of it made my guppies sick when I was a child, hehe. I did a shop today and got the grow bed, 40lt of clay pebbles and 10kg of volcanic rock gravel, and the tubing for siphon etc. I was thinking of grabbing a few 15 watt LED bulbs at the cheapest available price, maybe a mix of cool and warm bulbs, I've heard they tend to work fine for leafy greens etc. I've had my tank (150lt) for about a month already and have read a lot since. Once i've sorted the FT stand arrangement I will fill the tank and turn on the pump with air intake, hopefully i can get a bag of FT water and some goldfish food from the pet shop and prepare the water pre-fish. Then I will add the GB and substrate , and a few days later add two small goldfish to start, and baby lettuce, basil plants etc. Best to build it up bit by bit i gather...

Its great to here that you have been successful in Wiltshire! Is it your first system? I'm from East Sussex, but currently living in Spain. I would love to set up a system back there one day. How well do the plants grow during winter btw? I imagine that cold temps and lack of sun mean that the system is way less productive than in summer... do you do anything to extend the growing season, extra lighting/heating etc?

The idea of diverting stream water and returning it clean is nice, I guess the cost of such land and permission would be the biggest challenge in England. I guess the circular fish tanks are best for temp stability, are there other reasons for them being optimum? I was wondering how a current could be created, as I think trout are supposed to enjoy swimming against a current...

Thanks for the reply, hope all's going well over there!!

Hi Danny
Where about in Spain are you?
I have family in Malaga

Hi Titus,
I'm in A Coruna, Galicia, not quite as warm as Malaga! A fair bit more forgiving than the UK though...
I've been busy, and hopefully will be ready to fill the tank in a day or two!

wow! thats crazy! you should get some trout that are naturalised to australia sent over for summer.
i cant believe they are eating in such low temps, trout i have had hardly eat much at 10c, and only start eating well at about 15c+.
i cant imagine summer in england ever getting too hot to keep trout, even in a bucket.

Hi
The trout are sourced from Bibury. A village about 30 miles away in the Cotswolds.
As I understand it the hatchery/farm is directly fed from the River Coln ( Limestone) and has a constant temperature of 9*C +/- 1I
My home is in a bend of the river Kennet ( chalk). I have a well in my house.
This has a constant year round temperature of 10*C.
Last year in our summer. ( OK English ) the temperature in my main FT hit 23*C
At this point I switched off the pump and air and drained the tank.
Fish were transferred to freezer/plate.
Some time later I found a survivor.
He still rises to the food everyday.
As I understand it the CET of Rainbow Trout is 15*c
All I can suggest is local conditions have affected this.
In view of recent ,closer trade possibilities, after Brexit I am more than willing to talk to any and all interested parties.
Oh Gosh! Now I venture into risky territory
Our trout are cool!
You guys like it hot!

I have finally salvaged the last of the wood needed for my project, hopefully i will be filling up tank before the weekend! I have however been hit by a last minute doubt; do i put the tank were was thinking, under a few cheap LED bulbs, or under the sunniest windowsill in the flat? The tank is a 150 lt and a approx 30-40 lt F&D growbed sent above it. I plan to have just 2-4 goldfish in the tank. I have been weighing up the advantages and disadvantages that have occurred to me about both sites.

Under the window the tank should be mainly out of the sun, while the growbed will be just at sill level, the window is facing east and gets decent sun from 9am-3pm atm, so plant growth would be decent (but will be excessive light for fairly limited nutrients?). However, this window is in a spare bedroom, not the living room, so it's service as an entertaining feature (which was part of the appeal) would be limited. Also, I'm worried that the tank could get too warm in the summer for the fish, it can get pretty hot here in Spain, especially in the middle of the day under a sunny window.

In the living room the tank would be in probably the coolest spot in the house, and power sockets conveniently close. However, I'm wondering if the cheap chinese LED bulbs i'm planning to buy (3 or 4 bulbs at 4.50€ for 15w) will cut the mustard and be worthwhile bothering with. I would stick with leafy greens and herbs etc which i hear don't require too much light, but if its not enough, how much more might i have to spend on lighting..?

It kind of seems wrong to be considering electricity with good sun lit windows in a fairly sunny country, although I do stll plan to make the most of it with pepper, tomato plants etc in pots.

Any suggestions or advice? :-)

i'm lookin forward to postin a pic for y'all to see!