Phoenix Arizona Aquaponics

MattBlak

Hi All

This will be my 5th aquaponics system.

Renting every year sucks because you got to set one up and tear it down.

Now i have bought a house. Small backyard. And ready to start my new system.

instead of using the IBC Totes, I went with a plywood GB with pond liner that worked well for my last build.

3ft x 8ft x 1ft plywood GrowBed.

95 Gallon FT

Gravel for media

When we bought the house it came with a old Wheelie Bin that was clean enough and thought i would use it for a fish tank.

I dug the bin about a foot or more into the ground and built the GB high for drainage purposes.

Here are some pics.

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I was worried the Fish tank wouldnt be big enough but it had enough water left over for the fish at the peak of cycle. (about 2/3 left)

Water quality levels suck at the beginning.

PH 8.2
Ammonia .5ppm
Nitrite .25ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

Im use to most of this so its no worries.

Getting some local fish soon but wanted to get it rocking with some goldfish.

got some cucumbers, tomato, jalapeno, and lettuce seeded.

Lets see how they do.

earthbound

Yeah fish tank is fairly small, so plant growth may be a little slow, but neat system... :thumbright:

MattBlak

earthbound wrote:

Yeah fish tank is fairly small, so plant growth may be a little slow, but neat system... :thumbright:

would you recommend adding a sump tank below the GB to add more water and fish to the system?

maybe an extra 40-50 gallons?

earthbound

No, I would think that if you want to turn that into a really nice system with a "next step", then I'd look at adding an IBC in the future as a fish tank. Stick an IBC at the other end of the growbed, use the current bin as a sump tank and run it chift pist pumping from the sump to the fish tank, overflowing into the bed.. Lovely...

MattBlak

earthbound wrote:

No, I would think that if you want to turn that into a really nice system with a "next step", then I'd look at adding an IBC in the future as a fish tank. Stick an IBC at the other end of the growbed, use the current bin as a sump tank and run it chift pist pumping from the sump to the fish tank, overflowing into the bed.. Lovely...

Alright, i'm taking your advice.

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dont mind the blue barrel. it is not being used.

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I will need to level it a bit more but:

Ill run the pump from the sump to the grow bed like you were saying and do the chift pist (thought it was a Australian swear word haha so i had to look it up) from the Fish tank to the grow bed.

My system is getting a little tall...as you see i had to stick a couple bricks under the IBC to get it a few inches above the top...i am not sure if i want my water level that high all the time. What are your thoughts?

I can raise it another 3 or so inches by adding another brick i guess. I dont mind as much as im a tall guy. Just want it dont right before i ass 275 gallons of water into the tank.

Thanks,

Matt

earthbound

Nice... Yeah, first glance at the picture and I thought the IBC looked a bit low, you might get away with it, but it would be good to get it another brick higher if it's not a big problem for you height wise. ..

rininger85

Either another brick higher or the bed comes down further which means the sump needs dug down farther... Brick is probably easiest and if it gets too high build a step around the tank to look down in it.

Tagging along to see how this turns out.

MattBlak

Major Update Here.

Got my IBC almost installed. Been Battling with it for the past day or so.

Ill post the pictures and explain what we are all wondering.

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First off, yes, i had to put the tank sideways, the hole was cut when i was a rookie a while ago. previous system.
If you havent seen my systems, check them out. i used this tank around page 2 half way down.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=23640

I had another tank planned for this system but the pressure washer blew a hole in it. And i didnt want to buy one.

Second, this old tank came with some holes, you can see in the picture. got a uniseal and capped the pvc. Also used a little aquarium silicone.

Now here is my issue so far haha.

A forklift poked a hole in the bottom! my plan was to cut it out with a hole saw, get a uniseal and do what i did with the sides....

the hydroponic store guy recommended i used a bulkhead fitting...been giving me nothing but problems.

slow drip.. i used aquarium silicon on it once i dried it off and let it cure over night.

this morning i filled it a quarter full, no leak.

Once it got about half way we got a slow drip.

I am thinking the pressure of the extra water made it flex slightly and broke the seal of the silicone...

I went in the tank, wrapped some plastic wrap around it to get it to stop leaking and am going to go get a tube of marine silicone and lather it on there.

if this doesnt work. i am removing the bulkhead and doing a uniseal. Im just trying not to waste 100+ gallons of water.

-Matt

MattBlak

Alrighty, the silicone worked. we are all sealed up...for now lol.

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As you see, the 2in overflow pipe is a couple inches lower than i wanted it to be...i might have been drinking

the water level is pretty high. Going to need a screen or something so my fish dont jump out haha. Going Wednesday to one of the lakes around here and snagging the first 6 or so i catch. Catfish/tilapia preferred but if i catch some bass, so be it.

i think ill get my floor jack and try to raise up each end to get a normal brick under there. dont need more than 2 inched i feel like.

also going to cut my overflow pipe back a little and put a fitting on it to go into my GB. that way i dont have crazy algae build up.

-Matt

I guess my only question is.

-i have two airstones in the sump tank. can i leave them there? should i move them to the fish tank? are they enough?

everything is popping up though even when its 110 degrees.
cucumber is doing the best. got lettuce, jalapeno, and cherry tomato as well all sprouting. fingers crossed

rininger85

you should probably reinforce the top (now side) of that IBC... notice how much it has bowed already... give it 6 months in the sun and you might see it decide to crack due to not enough support... those two bars just aren't enough to make me feel comfortable... I'd probably buy some more round stock or square tubing or something and run it down in a couple more places to reduce the bowing.

rininger85

the airstone location shouldn't really matter -- it's adding O2 to the water no matter where it's at... the only thing is if you had a power failure then the oxygen is going to be used up in the fish tank faster -- but if you don't have backup power supply for the air stones it's not going to run anyways so doesn't really matter.

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