Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We started this hobby...addiction a few years ago and learnt by some bad mistakes and over eagerness.

Settled into new place and this is build no.2 here.
Run is 2x400 litre sumps behind shade cloth, pump to F/T, then SLO via 70mm PVC to growbeds and excess back to sump tanks.

water is clear...most of the time, was feeding the goldies commercial pet shop fish food then got some quality grub, mixed the two lots together and now having to remove the petshop food, they dont like it.

toying with idea of EFF beside F/T so that from sump into RFF then maybe swirl but that could be overkill. But, I want to trial NFT down the left side so need extra clean water...your thoughts? If I go this way, water from RFF or swirl will go into another drum and from there pumped into the strawberry barrel and NFT system then gravity back to F/T

If I go RFF and swirl what size drums?

Crazy me is going to experiment with strawberries in growbeds, NFT tubes, a barrel (same as fish&foods) and also run a hydroponic NFT system for strawberries...just to prove whats best for us.

Growing beds are a mixture from various places so nothing really matches, but it works and we are seeing more growth in 4 weeks than we have ever seen before. I put this down to using rain water only (its all we have) rather than cruddy town mains water that has travelled 1000k from the Murray River and had who knows what in and through it.

Really good build out of what you could find

Go with the RFF in a 200L drum then into another stuffed full of Tuna Net (a mountain of it at the portlincoln dump) take the water down a middle tube then up through the net and on to your NFT or raft or whatever you end up with, you will have really clean water.

Ive used Tuna net in a 500L tank before for extra biofiltration when I was getting ammonia build up , its really easy to wash and handle .

I used to live in the Wanilla hills and grew some terrific strawberries in my systems there

Ive struggled a bit here with them they can be / are tempermental

Climate plays a big part / disease (spread by aphids) / nutrient both major and trace / and pollination or rather lack of.

I am going to have to get a bee hive we only get a few here all year round ive done heaps to encourage them

There just isn't big enough natural hollows to carry big hives

So you might need to think about bee access ect

A couple usefull links , the Bee page and the other one is commercial stuff but if you scroll down usefull pics on strawberry deficiencies.

http://beeaware.org.au/pollination/poll ... awberries/

http://www.haifa-group.com/knowledge_ce ... awberries/

And pics of my Berries

Holy cow, they are huge.......

Nice shade house Tonzz. I have similar cloth over my shade house, but have found it to be too fine for bees to get through. I usually leave the front door open during the day, but not many strawberries are properly pollinated as Terra implies.
Your set up looks pretty neat though, even if made of found odds and ends... well done.

Terra, *iss off, dont like show offs on my thread.............

size means nothing its the taste test, I'll pm you my postal address
When did you leave this beautiful place? I recently sold a business we had established here and covered all mid north & Yorke Pen because the only way to expand further was Adelaide and been there, done that, not going back.
The long term trial on strawbs will be interesting, hope it proves something. Thanks also about tuna nets, was going to use shade cloth but the net sounds easier.


Nhibbo, thanks mate, there is bird netting on both sides and shade on the roof. I also leave the front open each day and had to cut an opening in the back so bees and dragonflies could find a way out.

looking good Tonzz, that's some serious steel framing! definitely heaps of room inside that shade-house for expansion.

Yes The Port Lincoln area is certainly a nice area , we lived there for 27yrs and had done everything local 50 times . We are at a stage where we would like to have a look around also health specialists are a three day affair and 1400kms round trip .

I do miss the fishing however inlaws live there and my sister is in the area and I know the best times / spots so a productive fishing trip is pretty easy to organise .

The Strawberries were a big part of my food garden at my old place , wasn't very often I couldn't pick fruit in the garden somewhere , carefull selection of varieties gave us , strawberries then apricots then early and late peaches nectarines and plums then apples then mandarins then oranges , august was the tough one to fill .

Talking about the beams holding up your growbeds Tonzz, of course.......

Didn't even see the show off's fruit.. lol

Though I reckon you could drop a picture of those fruit on any thread to derail it Terra.. Damn, almost as big as the beams holding up the beds... lol

Was going to use timber but these were offered to me....with night time delivery a crazy cheap price and all above board.

There are comments around about galv and water but the way its designed each growbed sits on plastic pellet that can be lifted off by forklift and moved quickly and galv and water dont touch.

The fruit aren't real, i'll wager they have been injected with growth hormones and artificial stuff to pump them up. You just dont grow stuff like that in the Riverland

QUESTION..
air into fish tank is by venturi via return water and a air pump 2oL/M =1200L/H. If I was to run 8mm air hose around inside perimeter of F/T with holes all around it would their be enough pressure to do all the pipe.

My thinking is run airpipe around bottom edge of F/T that way supposedly pushing any waste into middle of tank and then using the SLO to draw it out. I do have a spare air pump that could be split into each sump and into base of SLO

2nd Question

wanting to put a RFF beside the F/T but want to raise to to same height.... would a 200 Litre blue barrel sit on a upturned half blue barrel ?

so after 3 months whats happened.

decided simple works, the system was ticking along so no RFF or other stuff added... gravity to growbeds, bell siphon to sumps, 3000L/H pump back to F/T.

Strawberries....all coming out of growbeds, going into hydroponic NFT system and Hydroponic blue barrel , plus another barrel with organic soil and sheep poo (similar to feedNfish barrels)

the solar hot water unit has been deferred until I get a plastic cover over the roof next winter,


amm, nitrites and nitrates all 0,, PH 7.6-8. and this is rain water from tanks only. PH straight out of tank 6, so what the 'ell is going on? there is NO limestone in the system!!! we threw out all previous gravel and tested and tested for limestone and quarry supplier. all resulted in NO limestone.

Bird netting down both sides allows bees in Ive seen them