Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello aquaponics people,this is my first post.I found out about aquaponics a few weeks ago and have to say WOW!I have decided to put a system together myself but I am not sure if it will work.It will be a flood & drain system initially running of a timer,but with some fancy stuff coming later.I live in the Upper Hunter Valley where it reaches 40 degrees in summer & -1 degrees in winter.I was thinking bass or silver perch for the fish.Gravel or blue metal road base for the grow beds.Would a 10000 litre/hr pump be to big or small.I will be using wine 6-8 half wine barrels cut long ways as grow beds.any tips for a newbie.Here is a dodgy plan I made(looks like my 4year old drew it).
RedBuddah.

Hi RedBuddah, welcome to the madness of AP.....

If you're interested in Bass then check out the portal page for "Livefish.com.au" members offer......

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/portal.php

Bass are probably a good choice for your area/temp but a bit slow growing compared to other fish.... you'd be looking at a minimum 12-18 months maybe 2 years, depending what size they are when you get them.

Options are perhaps two crops... Silver Perch from late spring to late autumn.... Trout from late autumn to mid spring....

Your 4 year old draws well!

Welcome, RedBuddah

my drawing didnt make the page.i will try again

see if this works.

Hey guys,me being a noob and all,is Joels book & DVD set worth buying or could I just wing it for a while?Thanks for the welcome.

RB, i've converted your BMP to JPG and posted it within your post

size reduction from nearly 2 meg to 60K and easier for people to view!

Design should be fine, just a few pointers......................

1) Raise the two drain pipes above the water level to get free oxygenation from the return water

2) barrels may be easier to plumb / mount if cut the "other" way, but this is completely up to you

3) here is a cool idea, on the yabbie tank, mount your return to the fish tank about a foot lower, then elbow the pipe up to the required water level in the yabbie tnak and then back down to the fish tank. With this setup you can also grow duckweed (which floats) without it being sucked into the fish tank. Its sort of the same thing i did with my "trout spa" but for a different reason..............

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum ... 0309#60309

LOL RB, you're drawing DID make the page, you must have been checking it just when i was modifying your post. LOL

Just too keen I guess Steve What do you think?

Thanks for the tips.Are trout hard to grow?

Hi Redbuddah. I see you're adding some automation to your system. I'm in the process of doing something similar, although this is going to be a commercial venture for me. Perhaps we should keep in touch and share ideas. I have lots of them, I'm sure you do too. I'm in the US and will be building a microprocessor type controller with lots of options and also a host of standalone controls, alarms systems, measurement, data logging, etc.

Good luck on your system. I'm just now getting parts ordered but hope to start cycling by the end of the year.

I hope you'll keep us all updated on your progress.
mark

Go trout after your system is all stable and levels are perfect.

I haven't found trout as sensitive as i'd have thought, i have had them as high as 23C with no deaths and the day time water temp is now raging from between 21C and 23C, but i dont think they'll tolerate much higher.

O2 saturation (especically at higher temps) is a must with the trout, water quality is meant to be high, but that is such a broad term! I have found that with zero ammonia and nitrite and reasonable nitrates they are fine even with a fair bit of suspended solids.

But start off with goldies or silver perch and aim to be ready for the trout as the weather cools down.

Hi Mark,eventually I want to trend whatever possible ph,temperature,maybe even amonia and nitrate levels if possible.If think if I can get as much information as possible I will have something to go back on when my fish start dying I should be getting an old alanbradley PLC for very cheap in a few months.Programming it will be a challenge to start with(for a simple electrician) but I have help avaliable for when I get stuck.I will let everyone know how it goes when it happens.What sort of controls an monitoring will you be using?

Thanks Steve, trout for winter.What are the ideal levels I will be looking for in the water?

Ammonia = 0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = (will check where mine currently are)

O2 Aim for saturation but there are absolute minimums, just google rainbow trout DO

Who ya gonna kidnap and ransom for the specific ion probes for NH3/4, NO2 & NO3?