Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello all this is my first post here on the forums and I was looking for some friendly feedback and tips. I live in a 100+ year old farm house. I have a decent amount of land and a 5 min walk out back brings me to the edge of the woods and a large pond. Not sure how long it has been there but a 92 year old neighbor remembers it being there when he was little. The pond has fish (at least two kinds), frogs, tadpoles, turtles, and lots of aquatic insects. Next to the pond along the tree line gets full all day sun. So for years I have been thinking it would be a cool for fun hobby project to set up a test aquaponic setup.




You can get a better view of my full setup here:




My solar panel pump low lighting test here:




What I did was install a 12V pond pump which I'm powering with some solar panels (through a buck voltage regulator to stabilize power). Water flows from the pond and into the pvc. When the PVC gets half full a pipe I have installed at the side drains the water to another area of the pond. It's been working for three days and draining properly for three days. I then found this forum and thought it would be wise to ask some questions before I possibly run into any problems.

Following the suggestion of a friend I made some holes in the bottom of the pots for the roots to come out into the pipe. She told me to use only small holes as the roots would find their way out. Though I've been worried perhaps the holes should be bigger?


I was testing mediums I had on hand to hold the tomato plants. 1/2 are in mulch and the other are in peat moss. Any issue with these? I grew mint out of my in house fish tank in peat moss and it grew like gangbusters. But I know these are tomatoes.

This is basically a for fun project to learn as I go. If it works I plan to maybe ad 10 more PVC tubes next year. Any tips/info? I did this before I found the aquaponics internet community so hopefully I did not do too bad. Thanks again for all constructive friendly help.


Few more pics:

Pond pump.



Setup with solar.



At a distance.

best not to use any soil. gravel or emdia would be best option.
The roots will feed off the water once they establish.

your tubs are fine. a few more small holes at bottom but don't worry too much.
your pipe may sag in the sun over time.

how deep is the water in the pipe ?

have a look at this thread.... viewtopic.php?f=11&t=29093&p=558200&hilit=not+nft#p558200 don't worry about Mr D's rant. the discussion covers a few things.

Good on you for having a go!
Most newbees agonize for months before dipping in.

Before you get too carried away you might want to think about the size of veggies you can grow in certain sized tubes/troughs.
Tomatoes have a largeish root system and will try to fill the tube resulting in blockages. The plants also grow tall and often needs staking or tying. You could obtain another larger tube or trough and hang it on the other side of the posts lower down say 2' of the ground, plumb the out put of the top tube into the top of the lower tube. Transfer the toms down there and grow smaller plants in the top tube.
Tie strings along the posts to attach the toms to when they start to climb.

Thanks for the replies!

dlf_perth:
Why is soil bad? Is the peat moss I'm using bad?

That's good to know the roots will get out. I have holes in the bottom too.

I got it supported in 3 spots but I could add more support if you think that would help? It doesn't get as quite hot this far north north here normally. Usialy peaks about mid 80's and then drops low 80 to mid 70s. But I have several more of those steel fence posts if that would help? Would the flowing water in the tubes (%50 full) help keep it cool enough not to bend or is it not enough?

I looked. But I am not sure what to make of it. Am I calling my system by the wrong name?




Petesake:
This is actually my second attempt. Though this is my first outdoors attempt.

A few years ago I set up a small indoor winter system. I have a OLD 5x5 foot sun window in my dining room. I also have a 75 gallon fish tank at the base of the window. One winter I decided I wanted to see if I could get some fresh lettuce out of season so I built a ply wood shelf above the tank (poly/stained it for water protection) and put two huge but shallow Rubbermaid tubs up there (the short but big tub you can roll under a bed). I hooked a hose to the out of my tank power head (it just normally released into the aquarium) and I drilled/installed a gasket into the side of the 2nd tub to catch the overflow where the water would fall back into the fish tank. I also made a U shaped pvc and filled it with water connecting the two tubs which kept the two plastic bins equalized on water level. This PVC U let me fill the first bin and have the excess water flow "up" via gravity feed through the PVC U and into the second bin for flowing out of the the gasket as the water level raised equally in both bins. I then floated sheets of Styrofoam on top of the water in both bins. The Styrofoam had holes in it which I stuck the plants and let the roots dangle down in the water. Amateur first timer attempt. But seemed to work for me.


%50-%60


That is some good ideas. I plan to drill some holes and put clear caps in the top of the PVC. That should let me peak inside and see how things are growing. If it gets too big I'll defiantly get me a bigger pipe. I just have the 1 pipe as this is my experimental run to "learn" what works and what doesn't before I expand. I appreciate all tips and insights!

It would be interesting to see the water chemistry of the pond. A test kit will give you an idea of the available nitrates etc and help determine what sort of veggies could thrive with it, again toms and other fruit bearing plants use a lot of nutrients. The API kit (shown) I use gives 5 tests (high and low PH's) but there are others that give more.

best not to use any soil.
Why is soil bad? Is the peat moss I'm using bad?

many plants don't like saturated 'clingy' media. It tends to rot the roots and stem.
In an inert media (like clay or coarse gravel) the roots will work it out and the inside of the pipe stays moist.

your tubs are fine. a few more small holes at bottom but don't worry too much.
That's good to know the roots will get out. I have holes in the bottom too.
As Pete notes the main issue will be the roots clogging the pipe for bigger plants.

your pipe may sag in the sun over time.
I got it supported in 3 spots but I could add more support if you think that would help? It doesn't get as quite hot this far north north here normally. Usialy peaks about mid 80's and then drops low 80 to mid 70s. But I have several more of those steel fence posts if that would help? Would the flowing water in the tubes (%50 full) help keep it cool enough not to bend or is it not enough?
It looked like the support was rubber ? Anything in the sun will sag over time.
Short term will be OK. But yes will probably need a bit more support.

have a look at this thread....
I looked. But I am not sure what to make of it. Am I calling my system by the wrong name?
no not at all. I pointed to it because people discuss various ways they do AP in pipes.
Around the petty stuff there is some good information and ideas.

In your case the other thing to consider might be dutch buckets (bato buckets).
They may suit your tomatoes better - and could be placed at a level below the pipes, before the return.
They also allow some addition of things to help tomatoes grow better etc (like Blood&Bone).
Keep the pipes for the greens & herbs.

+1

I think you're going to have some issues with roots blocking the pipe. Bato buckets would be better for tomatoes. Another option would be something like a Self Watering Rain Gutter Garden setup - you'll find some examples out on Youtube. MPHGardener has some good information on using Dutch buckets to grow tomatoes in hydroponics - some of this information can be used in Aquaponics https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXy32Dr4Z4A

Petesake:

I ran a test as you suggested. It's a huge pond and covers I think about a 1/4 acre under the trees.





Based on natural light settings I would guesstimate these readings for the outdoor pond.

Nitrate .3
Nitrite .2
Ammonia .25
PH 6.4

Hopefully not too bad?

Another thing to possibly note? When the wind blows a lot of bud/leaf debris falls in the pond. Where the water return splashes into the pond there is white foam floating so I suspect there may be some excess proteins in the water from all the plants?

Well 10 days in and several of my tomato plants are showing lots of flower buds though they are still rather small. Some of the lower branches close to the media are turning yellow and dying off. But the upper leaves are looking good so far. *crosses fingers*

This is such a cool idea, thank you for sharing this.
Brian

This may not be the case with your tomatoes but the flowering could be a response to stress. Flower growers use this to induce flowering. Here's a short blurb on tomatoes that mentions stress induced flowering - http://www.tomatogrowing.co.uk/tomato-plants-and-stress

Hmm... when I transplanted them into water they looked a little stressed (may of missed watering at store?). However they have perked up. Branches close to the mulch/peat moss are dying and I may clip them. However the upper branches have perked up nicely now that we are getting sun (several days of storms when I first put them out). Over the last 10 days the plants have grown 1-2.5 inches except for 1 little runt tomato which has maybe grown 1/2 inch if that.

I'm now running around like crazy trying to make sure everything is working properly without my intervention. On Sunday I have a family reunion coming up and will be out of the state for 5 days. My plant babies will be all on their own and if there is a problem.....

However plus they have been doing good the last couple of days. *crosses fingers* If it wasn't so far I'd put a outdoor webcam on them! lol


This pic is from Tuesday June-5-2017. But you can see the lower branches going. Upper branches look fine.



Here is a pic of part of a section the old pond at the back of the property. Oh found out today looking around that it is fed by a spring!

>> Branches close to the mulch/peat moss are dying

if too wet that is a sign of root/stem rot.
In media with tomatoes they like the water level to be 5-7" below the surface.

If it were me I would locate a few 5-7 gallon (20-25L) buckets and give these a go.
Maybe even some blue 44 Gallon barrels and cut in half.
Fill with gravels rather than coir/peat moss.

Add a bit of blood&bone mixed with a bit of potash (bone meal - Scotty will know the US brands).

You should get much better tomatoes that way.
And can look at cucumbers and other similar fruiting plants.

Biggest issue for you at present is getting UV stable plastic.
OK for trial but you need the UV stability if containers/fixtures etc are to last.
Future option may be a hoop house / shade house / green house

Hmm interesting. I'm familiar with UV's harshness on plastics. I'll give it some thought.

Keeping you all filled in on what is happening. Pros, Cons, and Pitfalls... I'm learning as I go along and will seriously consider/apply advice with my next build. But I need an issue fixed now and timing can be a pain! Leaving for family reunion today at 9AM. So this morning I went and checked on the tomatoes and saw the water wasn't moving! Initially I thought it may of been a power problem and after checking and measuring all connections I checked the pump and found a massive clump of algae blocking the pump strainer (something someone here mentioned may be an issue with a pond). The pump ran for 10 days without clogging but that doesn't mean it could happen again while I'm away for 4-5 days. So I had to brainstorm a possible fix to add in a few hours to try and help protect my pump from algae. What I decided to try is using 2 sponge filters (I have a bag of several sponges I keep for my fish tank) and modify them to cover the pump strainer cap so all water has to come through the giant sponge and hopefully catch a lot more of this algae. With 2 of these modified sponges (to go over the pump cap) I can rotate a sponge each week. The used algae filled sponge can go into a bucket of bleach water to soak/dissolve the algae and then I'll finish manually cleaning it in the sink for use the following week.

I don't know if this will work. But it's the best I could brain storm before having to leave. Think this may help?

Here is a picture of a spare pump and sponge filter:




and after some quick jerry rigging (hole at the end of filter plugged with another cut piece of sponge filter):