Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Gurkan your system is getting there, I recommend wrapping some high % shade cloth or similar over the top edges of the GBs and down beneath the media surface to prolong the life of the plastic.

Hi Pete, Just saw your message. Did you mean like between the media and HDPE plastic? To prevent sun hitting the HDPE directly?

Yes, it looks nicer than plastic sheet but the better the shading the longer life of the IBC. I've got to do more on my wicking beds and sump tank too.

Out of many things I wanted to do with my system, I finally installed 2 venturi, one in the sump and one in the FT. The one in the FT only activates during the night when the air pump stops. The one in the sump is always on as it is connected to the main circulation pump. I have now continues air to both reservoirs.




I also removed 25mm pipes feeding my grow beds with 40mm in an attempt to increase the water flow and use syphons rather than constant flood. I bought 40mm uniseals from Rob but cut the hole slightly larger and cursed myself for not reading instructions Rob sent. I managed to extend the seal diameter with Teflon tape and fill in the gaps. With increased flow, syphons are still not working, they just don't activate no matter what I did. These were working before. Maybe the drop underneath the grow beds is not enough.




I received my 30 trout on Saturday from John Burgess. Shifted the 10 silver perch to sump and installed the trout in the main FT after acclimatizing them in 3 hours. pH was really different between the bags and the FT so I am glad I did that part properly so fish are not stressed.



With my crude filter on top of the FT including some charcoal and a filter cloth, my FT is cleaner. I can now replace the charcoal and burry it in my garden for increased microbiology.

That looks awesome Gurkan and new fish too. On the filter on top of the fish tank are you keeping it? How did it work? It looks fairly easy to clean, if so I need to do something like this over my sump tank.

Great to see your on top of things Gurkan.
Tis the season for getting fingerlings, what size did you get?

Hi Boss, the filter is an old seedling tray lined with fibre (old pillow fillings) and charcoal. I get roots and some dirt travelling from GBs to FT and this filter holds them all. Yes very easy to clean plus charcoal becomes bio-active charcoal which I use under my fruit trees and veg garden.


Hi Petesake, they are between 10-15cm. We are very happy with the fingerlings this year.

Thanks for this info Gurkan. I really like the idea and may build something similar for above the sump tank here. What type of charcoal did you use? Will any charcoal work? Something out of a fire-pit?

I did a similar but far easier (to me) my sump tanks are on the ground 500Lit each....I stretched bird netting really tight across them and where the siphons come out, place a POLYESTER insulation pad. Easy to remove when dirty etc///
will put a pic up later but just heading off on 9 hour drive taking grandkids home.

Any charcoal will do as long as the wood doesn't have any chemicals, pesticide etc.




Drive safe Tonzz. Waiting for the pictures.

I,m a newbie. I had that doubt about nft and round tubes. I found some square tubing, which gives a film of water. I had to angle the square tubes so that the flow was equal across the bottom. The depth is 5 cm. Couldn't find grow cups to that size, but little coffee cups fit oerfectly. I put in a face cleaning round cotton in the bottom and filled it with clay balls. The basil hasnt died yet and the leaves have clean faces.

I.m a newbie. I had that problem with round tubes and nft. I found some square pipes, 5 cm deep. the film of water is equal across the bottom( After adjustments. I couldn't fint grow pots small enough, but plactic coffee cups drilled fit perfectly.
I put in a round face cleaning cotton to maintain moisture and filled with clay balls. The basil is doing fine, and the leaves have clean faces.(Please see foto of gran canaria update with fotos)

Hey Shaun, have you checked South Pacific Hydro at Fyshwick https://www.southpacifichydroponics.com/

Yesterday, I woke up around 6:30 to go work but there was no hot water.

Later my wife called and said there is no hot water and some lights are not on.

Then it clicked!!!

The fuse that feeds AP, hot water and some lights was off.

It shut off at night around 3am, judging from the timers.

Came home around 4pm and ran to the back.

Nothing was working, the system was off for 12 hours.

Turned on the fuse quickly and checked the fish. All 30 trout as well as 9 silver perch are ALIVE.

Low density and temperature combining with the slow metabolism of fish probably saved them.

Due to some high nitrate issues, I wasn't feeding them to the max. So that may helped too.

Strongly thinking of a backup system now.

This event would have been a disaster in spring temperatures.

Yeah It's all too easy for something to stuff up. Both of my systems run on backup all the time its just that while the power is on the charger provides the power.