Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Dear Community,

In this time of need, there is nowhere to point my attention to, but this community. I have always appreciated the dedication and admired all the knowledge you people have. I have been impressed by how simple questions were answered with great details and thoroughness. This is why I come here with the following discussion.

I am building a new system! And I need help, assurance, courage, and encouragement...please, any recommendations are highly and welcomely received. Here are the details and following the links below you will find a sketch with more details:


Split Flow Aquaponics System

Link to the fish tanks BLUEPRINT - https://ibb.co/C9JzZxp
&
Link to the greenhouse BLUEPRINT - https://ibb.co/272ZX1R

Production of Edible Flowers, Herbs, leafy greens and few hot peppers using TROUT fish

Total Growing Area
40 containers = 13.2 m² (142.08 ft2)
DWC = 5 m² (53.81 ft2)
Towers= 0.72m²
Total = 18.92m² (203.65 ft2)

Total Fish Feed per Day
Containers = 50-60 g/m²/day (Edible flowers, herbs and 10 hot pepper plants)
Towers = 50-60 g/m²/day (Edible flowers, herbs)
DWC = 50 g/m²/day (Salads)
Total Fish Feed = 821 - 960.2 g /day

Total wet media volume and BSA
40 trays = 2.36 m³ (83.34 ft3)
Towers = 0.8 m³ (28.25 ft3)
Total wet media volume = 3.16m³ (111.59 ft3)
Total BSA = 948 m²


Questions:

1. Is it sufficient the Total Wet Media volume with its BSA to process all the waste for the DWC system as well? Or do I need a Biological Filter Tank as well?

2. How many kg of Trout can the system sustain, taking into account its BSA?

3. Are the Water Collecting Pipes (the PVC outlets) of 50mm enough to collect all the water from the growing containers, DWC and Fish tanks? Or will a bigger size be necessary (and where)?

4. Are the sizes acceptable for the fish tanks, Solid Separator, Sump Tank, Mineralization Tank? Or what should I change? Maybe the fish tanks? 1 Koi, 1 Trout Fingerlings and 1 big tank for Trouts growing to harvest?

I've never built a system this big,but if I was was going to attempt it,I would be worried about a few things.

The 40 containers filled with media.
Bell siphons are troubled at the best of times.Trying to depend on all 40 kicking off,well I wouldn't trust it.And the water compensation isn't nearly enough to have that much flooding & then flushing back to the fish tanks along with the DWC & towers,50mm with that much water flow probably won't be enough.As your fish tank blue print is;the 25mm pipes aren't big enough.All the siphons need flow in order to trigger.

Also in your fish tanks blue print,I can't figure out how the water returns to the fish tank.
From the water coming in from all 3 types of grow beds,I don't think that sump is big enough.

The 1000L fish tanks are too small for trout & koi (the amounts you're going to need),I can't say exactly how many fish you will need but you'll need a lot more than those tanks can hold.http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/guide ... -stocking/ Read this & you'll know what I mean.

I can't work out how much the pump runs at & exactly how many litres each grow bed is.If you could post that,that will help.

I'm sorry for the doom & gloom,but if I was going to do this setup,that's what I would be concerned about.Hopefully someone who has done something on this scale can come and help.

Factoring cost, labor and maintenance then I would avoid media beds. I would go with DWC and vertical towers. From a pure labor perspective and cost perspective DWC would better of the two but vertical and horizontal towers can be better utilized for space.

The money you saved from not buying media for the media beds could go to buying a larger enough tank like small above ground pool for the trout, two barrel filters and a couple IBCs as a sump.

Keep it simple. Use one pump and let gravity do all the work.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Hi Andrei

What are you using for grow beds they are very small more suited to a small hobby system

A 3.5 square foot growbed with a 32mm standpipe Bell siphon is way overkill they will take around 300 Litres per hr to work the siphon , this times 40 is 12000 litres per hr pumped water , with all the friction losses you will need a huge pump

The water will gush through your filters so they wont work

Just not practical

On top of this the water gushing through those little growbeds will never clear , trout need nice crystal clean water like we see in the mountain streams.

I suggest a rethink

Long term build 5 big growbeds and increase your DWC

Have your beds set up so you can siphon any of them , but run one on siphon at a time

Constant flood systems have really nice clean water

Have you run small Aquaponic systems before

If not there is lots to learn

Your questions well it depends so more info needed

Questions for you

How many Trout do you want to grow out per season

How long is your season (trout are finished once water Temp goes past low 20s celcius) so are sensitive to your weather

Must have

You will need 25 Litres of WET media per fish as Trout are big eaters once they get growing

If you can always have round fish tanks , fish do better and they are less trouble

Don't be discouraged by the negative feedback on your plans we just want you to succeed

I suggest you build a basic system with a fish tank that overflows into a settling filter of some sort then onto a growbed then onto a DWC then a sump where water is pumped back to the fish tank , tried and proven layout that wont fail.

Your DWC needs to be exactly that DEEP with a slow quiet flow or the sediment will be stirred up and coat your plant roots (sick plants)

This system can be your quarantine / fingerling system later on when you build your big one

You can iron out the problems without losing a lot of $$$

Keep the questions coming

We love Photos

Have Fun

Hey there all!

There is absolutely not discouragement. This is why I came here...for this high level of input.

As it seems I do need to redesign a bit. Towers and/or NFT sound like a great option in combination with few beds.

To this, I will have to add a Bio-Filter just to be sure.

The place where I am growing is The Netherlands. Trouts can be high maintenance but I do want to grow a nice fish that is sought. (Any recommendations for other species are welcomed)

Regarding my fish production, I just aim to have sufficient fish that can power the system. My aim is not fish production but more leafy greens

If you have good chats/threads on how to calculate the growing capacity of towers and NFT please fire them up

I will spend some time redeisgning this thing and I will come back to you. I will still make a pilot with 8 of these containers to see how it works and once is done I will share with you my work.

Please do not hesitate to continue with this great input. THIS is what I need

Hey Guys!!!

Thanks for all the input

Here is the new design - https://ibb.co/gRQKVLD

And here is the new thread I have created - viewtopic.php?f=8&t=31008

Any advice as always is more than welcomed.