Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all! Im new to the forum and aquaponics (1-2 years).

My current system is located in a greenhouse. It consists of 4 DWC beds (approx 22gal each) which are fed by two 40 gallon FTs. Each FT has a 550GPH pump sending water to two growbeds each. This system runs 30 min on and 30 min off for 12 hrs then it kicks off at night where an airpump runs all night to supply 02 to the fish. I currently have about 35-40 small goldfish in one of the FT which I feed twice a day. This whole system it run by solar system I have set up.

Could you guys tell me if I have my setup correct? And how could I get the most/optimize this setup (budget/DIY)?

Thank you

PS: how can I attach more than one Image to my post?

Pics and videos can be found by checking out my Instagram: Leafy Pete

Here are the FT Pics

FT to my 2 working DWC beds

Bump

Also a further update: I am having some Nitrite issues. I just checked my params today and got a little more than .25 ppm for nitrate and some slight, almost negligible ammonia. Everything else is fine. Could this be from too many fish? Or could it be the way my system is setup?

Nitrites or nitrates?

Has your system been cycled yet or are you doing that now?

My guess is that you probably have very little filtration established since this is a new system. With that in mind you need to salt the water to 1 part per thousand with NaCl (un-iodized that has no anti-caking agents) - this will help protect the fish against nitrite poisoning and help them build a slime coat. You also need to be careful with your ammonia and nitrite levels until your filtration is well established - you may need to stop feeding to keep the levels low. FWIW fish can go long periods without feeding - several weeks.

You'll need to check your pH and water temp. Combine those with the total ammonia readings and determine based on the chart located here http://ibcofaquaponics.com/information/tables-and-charts/, if you're readings are in the toxic range for the fish. If they are or they are close, stop feeding the fish and maybe even do a partial water change (keep in mind that if you add water with higher pH and temp it might make the ammonia left in the system even more toxic though). Eventually the system will cycle and the filtration will be adequate to increase feeding.

Thank you for the response!

My nitrites is the culprit. My system has been running for about 3 and a half months and I have added fish to the system about a month and a half ago. My ph initially was really high but then I started topping off and doing partial water changes with rain water to balance.

Ammonia is slight and nitrites are still the same as of this morning. Just recently I stopped feeding my fish 2-3 times a day. And I just did a partial water change this afternoon.

Could it also be that I have too many fish in the the system? (35-40 gold fish in 50ish gallons$
I also only have an air pump running at night in the fish tank. I was thinking maybe because water is not moving in the dwc beds at night the bacteria is dying.

From the pics you see above, could it be that the way I designed my system, the water quality may suffer?

Thank you

That's a lot of fish for 50 gallons and those good fish get huge by the way. I try to keep it about 1 fish to eight to 10 gallons of water. My Commit Good fish tend to get 11 or more inches big in about a year or two.

You may need to add a some sort of filter and BIO reactor. I didn't see anything in your discriptions about a filter. Grow beds with media act as a filter with surface area to consume ammonia and nitrites. It's common for me to have about .25 PPm ammonia. But I don't get nitrite spikes.

You can make a quick easy filter out of 5 gallon bucket packed with filter or shade clothe materials, or bio balls. That will increase your biological surface area up to handle the bio load.

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You could also put a sponge filter attached to the airline in your FT to keep filtering the water. I wouldn't stop the water flow or have it on timer. I would keep it constant day and night.

When the water flow stops, your filtration stops.

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Yeah that was my thought as well. Unfortunately I have to keep them all together until I get the water in the second fish tank right, then I would split them btw the two. I dont have any bio media but I do have a DIY plastic pot filled with polyester that filters the water coming from the DWC beds down to the FT (shown in pics above). Would it help to add plastic bio balls to that filter? or you think I would need more filtration like a swirl filter. (I do get solid buildup on the bottom of the DWC beds and FTs).

The only thing keeping me from leaving the pumps on 24/7 is that my system works on solar (yes I fell into the hype), and I would have to spend a lot more money on solar panels and batteries to run it all the time, that is why I have an air pump running at night for the fish and bacteria.

Usually you base the fish load on the final grow out size and the system filtration. 50 is too many for the tank size though so you'll have to go light on the feeding. Even split out 25 per tank is probably too many. You can find some information on stocking density on this page - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6646. There are other sources as well but that will get you started. There is a PDF on Small Scale Aquaponic Food Production from the FAO that is a good read located here - http://www.fao.org/3/a-i4021e.pdf. There is also the IBC of Aquaponics that is a link at the very top of the web page is good for the basics - filtration other than grow beds isn't really covered in this.

Thank you Scotty! I'll definitely take a look.