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Ryan's Aquaponic System


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#1 aussiemcgee

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Posted 01 August 2013 - 11:27 AM

Gday all,

 

Been meaning to have a crack at this after seeing a mate's huge success with his system, so here is a basic run down on my plans and progress to date;

 

* Have an existing 360L pond

* plus extra ~400L from IBC base

* ~200L grow bed (IBC top inverted)

* Not planning to have any stock that grows too big due to volume space limitations and not going the seasonal Trout/ barra switch (maybe some silver perch?)

* Probably sticking with the existing koi/ goldies/ rainbows/ guppies for now... but just a S*&Tload of em !

* Will be a constant flow through system with a ~ 30mm 'water table' set by standpipe

* Media will be a mix of peagravel and vermiculite particles (can't remember what its actually called but is good stuff - will find out details)

 

Plants;

* herbs - parsley, corriander etc

* Chillis

* Spinach/ silverbeet

* Roma/ cherry tomatoes

* lettuce

 

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Existing pond/ waterfeature

 

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growbed area/ bar

 

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growbed are with top frame in place (excuse the mess !!)

 

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cut IBC - will be cutting the base tub a bit lower for access/ plumbing (water level will be the same as the old pond) and taking the middle horizontal brace out for front access.

 

 

Will be putting in place this week(end) and starting the plumbing

 

 

 



#2 malawiman85

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Posted 01 August 2013 - 08:29 PM

Im So Keen To Give AP A Go... One Project At A Time Though.
I Will be Watching With Interest Your progress.

#3 Litheon

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Posted 15 October 2013 - 04:09 PM

any updates? im interested in this too. I have an old metal rainwater tank that I am considering to chop up and turn into a pond / gardenbed.



#4 malawiman85

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Posted 29 October 2013 - 10:44 AM

Hows the AP setup coming along?



#5 aussiemcgee

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Posted 29 October 2013 - 11:47 AM

Unfortunately very slow progres due to work commitments and focussing on re-establishing my marine set up. Have got all the plumbing parts ready to go, just gotta find the time and will power to get er up and running!



#6 malawiman85

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Posted 29 October 2013 - 02:39 PM

Work seems to always get in the way of more important stuff :-(

#7 aussiemcgee

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Posted 30 December 2013 - 12:18 PM

All done !!!

 

Plumbing sorted, took a bit of time drawing it up to be able to isolate and rinse/ run different areas independently and happy with the end result. Have a Eden 1150 and 2000 running in each pond which works well for a single small grow bed AND... I can still run the original water wall when needed for parties (which keeps the minister for war and finance happy... enough)

 

Media went in and took ages to flush all the fines out), flows adjusted over a few hours of trial and error. 

Couple of herbs that I had laying around are in to start with and some tomato seeds are planted ready to be transplanted when they get big enough.

 

Have about 20 goldies divided between the two ponds and hope to have another heap o silver pearch fingerlings from a mates project in shortly.

 

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Loving it ! aquaponics and my marine system are both crankin !



#8 Ivan Sng

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Posted 30 December 2013 - 05:58 PM

Great work. Looks like your growbeds could do with some more plants.


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#9 aussiemcgee

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Posted 02 November 2014 - 01:11 PM

Am doing the rounds updating all my journals ! have done my marine tank, now time for the aquaponics system;

 

The system was originally set up as above, but I ended up putting a second overflow in between the two tanks just to get the water sitting at the right level and not overflowing, so now there are 2 x 32mm overflow pipes which work great. I have also put another circ pump in the limestone pond and a shade up to keep the algae under control as it gets a fair whack of sun.

 

Originally I got a hold of some vermiculite as media which I mixed in with the expanded clay (long story), it worked really well over summer and I was getting great plant growth and harvesting regularly, but I guess the vermiculite was just too fine and the grow bed became waterlogged and that led to water pooling on the top and string algae growing in that and through some of the media. It also started to give the chilli and basil collar rot around the base.

So, I took the whole lot out, collected as much of the expanded clay as I could and then filled the rest with new expanded clay - (big shout out to Hydro Hill in Jandakot). I also changed the plumbing from surface spray bars to twin outlets buried in the clay.

 

I trimmed back the plants - in particular the majorum and thyme which were just going nuts and replanted everything in a bit more of an orderly fashion! As far as fish go, I have 25 ~100mm long silver perch, ~6 goldfish about the same size  and a couple of larger koi ~150mm. I am looking at heading out for another 20 or so silvers when I am back in town.

 

water logged media and overgrown plants

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new plumbing, media and twin buried inlets

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shade up

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#10 aussiemcgee

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Posted 28 April 2015 - 02:38 PM

HI All,

Quick update as I haven't posted here for a while;

Had a great growing season over the summer and had bucket loads of cherry tomatoes, basil, sage and chilli. The coriander went gang busters early on but went to seed while I was away - at least now I have a heap of coriander seeds to plant out !

I had to remove the spinach as it was getting shaded over by the basil and tomatoes so in a darker environment it was more susceptible to attack from pests.
I lost about 8 nice sized silver perch (150 - 200mm), after the return pump failed over night. At the moment I am getting a bit of a caterpillar outbreak which I am hoping will be pretty straight forward to deal with after speaking with BYAP.
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Attached Files


Edited by aussiemcgee, 28 April 2015 - 02:39 PM.


#11 Poncho

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Posted 28 April 2015 - 05:13 PM

That's great stuff!

I've got werdnas old system cranking and also had tens of kilos of cherry tomatoes this season - actually still fruiting on its third crop (new plants each time). I've had a caterpillar plague too and think it's time to give the tomatoes a rest and break their life cycle. What was the advice you received?

#12 Mattia

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Posted 28 April 2015 - 10:07 PM

Ooooh look at that basil!!! So many things to cook with it!! :D

I can't wait until Androo and I finally start running our Aquaponic, we have been struggling with the clay balls and waterfall features

#13 aussiemcgee

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Posted 29 April 2015 - 01:20 PM

I've had a caterpillar plague too and think it's time to give the tomatoes a rest and break their life cycle. What was the advice you received?


Back yard AP suggested derpil, denpil ? something like that... sorry had a few beers over the weekend ! Both they and bunnings stock it - fish and human safe. Trim it back a bit and give it a spray (bout 5ml into a litre) and repeat after 5 days.

#14 aussiemcgee

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Posted 28 October 2015 - 04:08 PM

Spring Update !!!

Gave everything a good clean out - the gravel took ages to clean - would be nice to have a swirl separator to get rid of the larger particulates before it goes into the grow bed but prob not worth it for such a small bed. Thinking about at least adding a second grow bed though, maybe over the hols.

During the clean up and replant I lost one of my chilli's and the cherry tomato, so I was really careful with the other one not to loose it and just bought a new tomato plant only to have about 6 or more seedlings shoot up from random spots all over the grow bed. Will be plenty of salsa and bruschetta this year !

Still have about 15 or so silvers and a thumper koi feeding the grow beds, and as for plants - a shit load of cherry tomatoes !, chili, basil, sage, parsley, coriander and silverbeet.

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#15 aussiemcgee

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Posted 12 May 2016 - 10:41 AM

So after a pretty crap season for everything except the basil, I finally got around to making myself a swirl separator. The grow bed was just chockers full of shit and it was giving the vegies collar rot around the base of the stem due to the water level being too high.

 

I have heaps of fittings already so the whole build cost me the princely sum of $6.99 for the funnel ! took a few pics for the DIY people and also hopefully to spark a bit of life into this site.. been a bit dead lately !

 

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Cut the base out of a 25L bucket, hole saw

 

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use a heat gun to thread some hose tails in with a bit of rubber to act as a flange

 

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24cm $6.99 funnel from supa cheap, heat gun a 25mm fitting into the outlet and clamp while still warm, attach the valve

 

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Clean and sandpaper areas and glue up with marine grade sikaflex

 

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Build myself a stand

 

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Plumb it all up !

 

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Spread a bit of silicone grease around the top of the bucket to help with the seal

 

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Job done and works a treat ! Now to clean the grow bed out...

 






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