MY BACKYARD SYSTEM

[krfoerster]

Hello. New to the site and this is my first post. Here is a low down of my current aquaponics system. I have come along way since the 10 gallon 4 goldfish tank I started with. Did that for awhile then barrel and kiddy pool and now a large tank and grow bed. Had to clean out the media bed a month ago. It had locked up from massive summer growth. Had 5 foot tall Basil trees and massive Roma tomoatoes. Now running with lettuce and Broc. Tilapia are doing great and had a female release 50-75 fry last week. Check out the pics and my attempt at a DIY egg tumbler which is working. Check out my You Tube site (krfoerster) to see how I have grown to where I am today. Getting ready for winter and getting a semilarge greenhouse in 3weeks to really get serious and grow some amazing food. Anyways check it out and give me some feedback. I love it and learn mostly from failing a few times.
Rockon
Kenny

[krfoerster]

3 More Pictures

[stucco]

Nice setup! Are you running one pump? Are you doing a flood and drain? Where are you located? What kind of soda bottle has a teal lid? Thanks for posting and welcome!!!
:)

[badflash]

Cool looking system, but please update your info to tell us your location. If you are half way around the world things are different...

[krfoerster]

Located in Central Oklahoma south of Norman. I think the bottle I used for the egg tumbler is from a water flavored drink and WalMart. I use one pump and a flood a drain. System works great. The green box thing under the bed is for 2 air pump attached to air stones. I have about 50 tilapia, 3 coy, 7 Comet goldfish, and 2 yellow persch I caught fishing. All are doing great and the perch have grown to almost a pound. Hava had great success with Basil, romaine lettuce, and Roma tomatoes. 3 tomato plants yielded 39 large tomatoes. Basil tree was easy 5 ft tall. All this locked up the bed where I had to clean it out and start over. Greenhouse coming soon. Plans for additional 3 grow beds and a raft bed to come. The next upgrade after greenhouse will have a solar water heater and will be a modifed Chop system. Total setup should be running for under 50 watts. Looking forward to the winter challenge.
Kenny

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Krfoerster....welcome to the forum.... :D

Very nice set up....Looks like you put alot of thought and design into your system. I like the egg tumbler too.

I love your avatar.....it reminds me of a 'certain administrator', when he's kickin' bottoms of spammer's....... :lol:

[JCO]

Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers.

Watch it David, I'm not that fat however that is a good cape :lol: :lol: .:mrgreen:

[davidstcldfl]

And I thought you'd like the 'tights' too...... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[JCO]

David...David...David...when pigs fly....Oh Yes, I forgot, they do in your neck of the woods :shock: :o :lol: :lol: :lol: :mrgreen:

[davidstcldfl]

Hi krfoerster....'sorry' for taking over your thread, just trying to have a little fun, much needed in this crazy world !

JCO....OK, OK...no tights. But the big black boots, look like they'd be great for 'stompping' on spamers !

[JCO]

I'll give you that one. :mrgreen:

[samtheman]

Nice setup! I like the idea about the egg tumbler...

[krfoerster]

Thanks egg tumbler was not as fancy as ones I have seen. But it did the job. I released my first ever batch of Fry into the tank last night. They are doing fine. I have lost a few but I would put mortality on this flock/school at 80%. Real happy with the results.
Thanks for the comments.
I built another sysem at my buddies house last night. Pretty close to mine. I am taking him some fish today and he should be off and running.
Kenny

[Big Al]

hi there krfoerster, good luck with your system it look's pretty interesting. good luck with the fry.
and thank's for sharing the addiction with your buddy keep up the good work. Big Al

[Ironfish]

Hi Krfoerster,
You have a nice looking setup. Have fun with your winter challenge.

Ironfish

[urbanfarmer]

Very nice system!

What is the egg tumbler for? (for tumbling eggs, DUH! but no seriously...)

[krfoerster]

Bought Greenhouse today. Pick up Saturday. More photos and updates Sunday. Will be up a ready for winter in 4 days.

[davidstcldfl]

What is the egg tumbler for? (for tumbling eggs, DUH! but no seriously...)

A female tilapia, is constantly moving the eggs, she is holding in her mouth, until they hatch.
People try to collect the eggs before they hatch. That way, the female goes back to eating a lot sooner.....maybe a couple weeks.
The 'tumbler' takes over the 'moms' job of taking care of the eggs.

[urbanfarmer]

What is the egg tumbler for? (for tumbling eggs, DUH! but no seriously...)

A female tilapia, is constantly moving the eggs, she is holding in her mouth, until they hatch.
People try to collect the eggs before they hatch. That way, the female goes back to eating a lot sooner.....maybe a couple weeks.
The 'tumbler' takes over the 'moms' job of taking care of the eggs.
OH, that makes a lot of sense... it seems painfully obvious now... LOL :lol:

[Big Al]

hi krfoerster, what size greenhouse did you get. good luck Big Al

[krfoerster]

Small 8 x 10. This is my first greenhouse ever. I have zero experience with one. My wife asked me to start small and work my way up. She had on her good robe, so I said yes. I have visions of a really big one next year. Saving every penny for my grande. I almost finished it last night. 3 more hours of work and It will be up. Moving the tank and grow bed in tonight. I am going to build a solar heating system next weekend using a hot water circulation thing to help keep heating costs down. I will post pictures soon and ask for advise on my system. Thanks for the kind words.

[davidstcldfl]

Very cool krfoerster ! :mrgreen:

You may already know......don't use metal pipe with your heating system. Copper pipes, are NOT friendly to fish.... :cry:

[krfoerster]

Right. Using copper in the collector then switching to PVC/Plastic after the pump. Going to use Glycol as the fluid to prevent freezing and failure. Excited to get it going. Lows here are now in the 40s. Don't want to break the bank on heating costs.

[krfoerster]

Here it is finally. Greenhouse is up and running. Finished a second growbed today. Sump is controled by an Arduino Microprocessor. Look me up on You Tube (krfoerster) for a video discription. Really proud how things are going. Pictures show my progress.
Later.

[krfoerster]

Broc has gone crazy. Harvested 3 times so far.

[krfoerster]

[youtube:2zc08mtr]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPqoTv5RrLw[/youtube:2zc08mtr]

Here is the you tube link.
Rockon
kenny

[JCO]

Krfoerster, I edited your last post and wrapped your YouTube video with the youtube bbcode available in the post and it allows members to see your YouTube video on the forum without having to go elsewhere. You are welcome. :mrgreen:

[urbanfarmer]

Any updates krfoerster?