Replies

  • Rachel September 8, 2010 at 8:39am
    Travis's is a great (and inexpensive) starter system. The only comments I have is that you need to be careful using brass fittings as brass is made up of mostly copper which is toxic to fish. Maybe it's chemically bound up in the brass and not harmful there but I'm not sure so I'm just putting this out there. Secondly, his pulley siphon system is cool but overly complex, an Affnan style siphon is much easier to build and very reliable so it might be worth looking into switching out the siphon mechanism. The bell reducers required (I use a 2" to 1.5" bell reducer immediately reduced down to 1" using a reducing bushing) can be found at plumbing supply stores, not home depot style stores, it's worth calling them to be sure before you go.
    I'm currently working on my second system, which is basically a barrel-ponics, except instead of blue barrels, it's made out of a 275 gallon IBC. The fish tank part of it will be about 150 gallons which will allow for more tilapia harvesting than the standard barrel-ponic system.
    • Rick Large > Rachel September 8, 2010 at 1:31pm
      Thanks for the input Rachel. I thought the flush valve siphon system seemed a bit over complex but hey it works. I was looking at bell siphon and thought about it using it as well; from what I remember, it looks like it has slightly different flow characteristics than the flush system. I'm still in the early stages of this so no big deal there.
      On that thought, I know many people have chicken coup and garden 'walk through' events to get ideas for their own setup, have you seen anything like that for aquaponic systems? I'm hoping to have my system up by the end of the month. What challenges have you had with heating/cooling the water temperature?
    • Rachel > Rick Large September 8, 2010 at 2:15pm
      I don't know of any tour of aquaponics... there are so few people doing it compared to chicken keeping. I've only had my first system up for a couple of months, but I can share with you what I've found in that time. :)

      It's shaded (currently) and I haven't had any problems with the water getting too hot. I anticipate that my problems will be in the winter. I will build a simple hoop house around it using pvc and greenhouse plastic and I'm sure I'll also need a tank heater or two. My third system which is in progress as well uses a 500-600 gallon in-ground pond. Hopefully that will be more thermally stable-- might be a good idea to mostly bury the fish tank in a barrel system.

      One lesson I learned the frustrating way is that when you're making a bell siphon, make sure that you use some aquarium silicon to seal the cap onto the siphon cover, pvc glue isn't enough and it won't be completely airtight and your siphon will shut off midway through the cycle and you'll be scratching your head for hours. ;). After I figured out that issue my Affnan style bell siphon has worked continuously since day 1.

      Keep us posted on your new system as it develops! No doubt we could all get some useful ideas from each other.
  • Rick Large September 8, 2010 at 2:35am
    I'm thinking on building something similar; need to make some housing to ensure the system stays warm enough in the winter and cool enough in the summer. I've got the framing up and am keeping an eye out for a deal on shadecloth. I am considering the use of visqueen in the winter for sides/doors to help hold in the heat.
    Once I get the stand frame built for the system I'll start taking pictures - until then it's still just a idea.

    Have you seen the pdf how-to manual that was put together by Travis Hughey?
    If not, check it out here:
    http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/documents/barrel-ponic...

    The thing I like most about a system like this is the ability to easily enlarge the system. Adding another grow bed or larger fish tank or even more raft and flood tanks if needed etc.
This reply was deleted.