Livingroom system

[SimonB]

Hello all,
after reading about aquaponics and different kinds of systembuilds i have now procured a 300L (100 x 60 x 50 cm) aquarium and the current plan will be to have a overflow from this to 6 grow beads and use a common sump to collect the water and pump it back up to the tank.

The grow beds will be made plastic storage containers with a depth of 21cm (slightly less than recommended in the aquaponics 101 but my livingroom isn't too spacious) and the siphons will be of the same type as Wolfracers build (Wolfracer's System Build).
Since the grow beads are unlikely to be sufficient for achieving enough surface area I'll have a filter in the sump as well.

I'm still purchasing material but I'll upload some pictures as the build goes on, probably going to start building next weekend, looking forward to making my pilot project!

[alex281]

sounds interesting! welcome to the forum!

[JCO]

Pictures, Pictures, Pictures .... I don't see any pictures... we love pictures...snap them and keep us posted...OH and Welcome to the show

[SimonB]

Thank you for the warm welcome!

I will post some pictures when i get all the stuff procured and start my build
Current status is that i have the glass tank but my pump is in the mail from Germany, all piping is only a shopping list that I'll take to the local hardware store tomorrow, the grow beds are still located in the supermarket and the supports for the same is still in the planning
attached is my sketch of how it will be built however

[SimonB]

Hi again!
Now i have collected most of the materials and now I'll start building it!
In the pictures below i have placed the aquarium and the growbeads in their relative location, the two 65L barrels are going to be the sump below the grow beds but I'll still have to build some tables or similar support for them.
I also got my delivery of pipes and components so I can start building the pipe system as well (needs some valves still but..)
One challenge still is to disassemble one side of the aquarium and drilling a hole for the overflow pipe, but that should be taken care of during next week as well!
With some luck i might be able to start filling and cycling the system next week, i think I'll go bother one of my friends for the bacteria culture from his aquarium.
Well, I'll be back with some more pics as the build goes on!

[JCO]

If your aquarium is all glass as it looks and it is tempered, you can't drill it...it will shatter. If it is plexiglass or similar then should be OK. Good luck

[SimonB]

hmm, it might actually be tempered glass in the sides, didn't think of that.
Oh well, cutting the side out and taking it to the glass shop next week, if i can't drill it i am certain that they'll come up with some suitable replacement.
the tank is all glass, was planning on building the system differently but the CHIFT PIST system turned out to be what fits into my apartment so i had to do a "slight" adjustment to my original idea.
any good tips on how to best remove and replace sides fastened with silicone?

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Simon, welcome to the forum...

I helped my buddy drill 2 tanks. He bought a nice dimond bit to use. I did it with the glass in place.
We too, were worried about the temper. He did a search and from what we read, most tanks have tempered glass, only in the bottoms.

[JCO]

Don't take it apart....take it as is that way you don't have to worry about resealing and leaks in that respect.

[SimonB]

Learning by doing, the glass is now removed after some minor mishaps..
Note to self: always warm the glass and silicone before cutting it out to (maybe) avoid breakages.
Well, at least the project is progressing!