Hello from central Illinois

[Roger R.]

I'm new to aquaponics but have had a backyard pond for a number of years and have always had a garden, so it was time to combine the two. We always bring the goldfish in to an aquarium each winter cause it's too much of a hassle to winter them over. The pond is too shallow. So instead of cleaning the tank every couple of weeks I'm trying my first aquaponics in the basement. Might as well put the fish to work while they're inside!

It's set up, seems to be working, and we have plants up and growing. This will most likely lead to a larger system with food fish instead of goldfish, possibly in a greenhouse. But one step a time.

Looking forward to browsing and learning on the forum.

[urbanfarmer]

Greetings Earthling, and welcome to the addiction! :mrgreen:

[bsfman]

Welcome! Post pictures of your system! :)

[alex281]

Welcome to the forum! :mrgreen:

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Roger,welcome to the forum.... :)

[Roger R.]

Thanks for the welcome! Here's what I've done so far.
I built it on the end of some existing storage shelves in my basement. I reinforced the shelves and added a few bits for the sump tank and grow bed. The fish tank is a rubbermaid 31 gallon tote, the grow bed is a 17 gallon tote and the sump is a 20 gallon aquarium. I tried a loop siphon first and it worked until I put in the medium then it went crazy so I converted to a bell. The bell is working perfectly. The little swirl filter is a 6 quart fuel funnel from the farm store.

I made the grow light with about $6 worth of electrical parts plus (4) 100 watt 6500K CFLs. The rest of the material I had around the house.

We are still using the top shelf and half of the other two shelves for storage.

A few pics...

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00908600x800.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00912800x600.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00899800x600.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00910600x800.jpg
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00911800x600.jpg
The sock is gone now. That was to filter out some of the dust from the lava rock.

Three days after planting.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00914800x489.jpg

Today, two weeks after planting.
http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00954800x600.jpg

[davidstcldfl]

:lol: ...love the swirl filter, very clever.... :D

[Roger R.]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AJayYc_YHw4

[Deadeye]

awsome, very creative. do you have some more pics of the stock tank? i would like to see how the pvc is set up..

[Roger R.]

awsome, very creative. do you have some more pics of the stock tank? i would like to see how the pvc is set up..

It's pretty simple. It comes thru the side at the height I wanted the water level to be and then turns down to the bottom of the tank. I probably could have gotten by with stopping it there and just put a screen over the end of the pvc to keep the fish out, or just a single pipe across the bottom, but I went with two pipes.
The pvc across the bottom has saw cuts on the bottom half about 1/2" apart to take up the water and waste. The end caps are glued on but everything else is just dry fit together so I can take it all apart to clean if needed. There's a 1/2" hole drilled in the top of the elbow above the water line to prevent any possible siphoning.
It seems to be keeping the tank very clean so far.

It's all 1" pvc and I'm using a pump rated at 170 gph. With the height it's probably pumping around 120-130 gph and the 1" pvc runs about 1/3 full coming out of the tank.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC00959.jpg

[Deadeye]

thanks for the extra pic, that must pull the solids out pretty well

[Roger R.]

thanks for the extra pic, that must pull the solids out pretty well

It may have been overkill but the bottom of the tank is as clean as the day I set it up.

[Roger R.]

Haven't posted anything since November, so time for a small update.

All the goldfish in the system were born and raised in our backyard pond. Last summer a local blue heron discovered the pond and I thought wiped them out but there were still 3 large and a bunch babies when they came out of hiding. They moved into this basement system in October and it's been a lot of fun feeding them and growing stuff all winter. Two weeks ago I moved six of them back to the pond with idea of adding a outside growbed, which I will do.

Anyway here's a pic of my hungry hippos in the basement. I haven't lost a single fish since moving them in.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC01044_zps0b8cf0af.jpg (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/rlr43/media/Aquaponics%20test/DSC01044_zps0b8cf0af.jpg.html)

I took the little swirl filter out. It didn't do that much and it started to leak some. The bucket is full of sliced up water bottles and has an air stone in the bottom. It seems to do more that the swirl filter did.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC01046_zpsa71bff2e.jpg (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/rlr43/media/Aquaponics%20test/DSC01046_zpsa71bff2e.jpg.html)

Time to harvest some more chard.

http://i1242.photobucket.com/albums/gg532/rlr43/Aquaponics%20test/DSC01047_zpsdd3a317d.jpg (http://s1242.photobucket.com/user/rlr43/media/Aquaponics%20test/DSC01047_zpsdd3a317d.jpg.html)

I had planned to shut this down for the summer and put the fish back outside but I like it so much I'll just let it run.

Still don't own a water test kit. I checked the Ph a couple times in the beginning with test strips for the spa. Haven't tested anything for months. Just feed 'em, add a little water when I hear the pump sucking air, and cut chard.

I'll get some pictures of the outdoor pond, the dirt garden and my start on the outside growbed this week.

[JCO]

Roger R,

Don't know how I missed your update but it was great to know all is doing well. I hope when you move them back to the yard, you put some bird netting over them to keep the herons out.

They sure have grown and your plants are looking great.

Have you started your outside growbeds yet. Keep us posted and by all means post lots of photos so we can keep up with your ingenious way of doing things. :mrgreen:

[15mules]

Thanks for the pics. and the update. I look forward to seeing the pictures of your outside stuff. I had a bird getting my fish a few years ago. I cold not afford to cover my pond in netting, so I did the nest best thing.

No, need for netting when there is no bird!!

[Roger L.]

Original or extra crispy? :D

[15mules]

I was just looking at your pictures again. That fish tank water sure is clear, I can see the fish way down in there. That filter thing you have must really be taking a lot of the solid stuff out. :shock:

Roger, a little lead diplomacy can solve many of mans problems. Problem is, they are not enough Diplomatic Men left in this Country it seems. ;)

[eddiemigue]

That tank is crystal clear! Very nice job and I wish you continued success.

[Aloha Don]

You used a sock to filter out dust/dirt from your media?
How well did that work for you?
Did you clean it first?
I'm trying to be lazy and if this works, then I wont have to clean my cinder...lol

[Roger R.]

You used a sock to filter out dust/dirt from your media?
How well did that work for you?
Did you clean it first?
I'm trying to be lazy and if this works, then I wont have to clean my cinder...lol

Did I clean the sock or the rock??
The sock was clean and I didn't wash the rock. The sock just kept the dust (mud) out of the fish tank. A lot of it settled in the sump and I did suck out the bottom of the sump a couple of times with the shop vac.

[Aloha Don]

:lol:
Thanks
I will try that "clean" sock method when I start tinkering with my system again...

[JCO]

Remember the key words are "CLEAN SOCKS" :shock: :? :mrgreen: