Is this the right section to be discussing aquaponics?
Is this the right section to be discussing aquaponics?
Search up Citizen Peng on youtube he’s big into aquaponics
Maybe someone else knows what i'm doing wrong. I've put together a backyard aquaponics system. I'm using IBC totes. I have (2) 275g for fish tanks and one 275g for the sump. I have 4 grow beds. Now I'm trying to use (what little I remember) my koi pond plumbing knowledge. Mainly i'm just curious what other people have done. I'm coming out the fish tanks with 2" and going to a radial flow filter from there to the grow beds and then to sump where the pump pumps it back to the fish. Im in the process of redoing the filter and using a 55 gal radial flow. So the new setup will be Fish tank>55 gal radial flow>grow bed>sump>pump>55 gal s/g filter>Fish tank. anyone have any other ideas if I'm doing it wrong?
Your set up seems fine but you haven’t described what is wrong with your setup. Pictures would help a bunch also. Are you having problems with water flow pluming? Veggies not growing, fishes not growing well?Here’s another YouTube Murray he’s from down under and he’s big into aquaponics as well
Some people don’t even use a sump tank. The have the pump in The fish rearing tank. They have a bell siphon and is gravity fed straight back to the fish tank.
What type of fishes are you growing?
https://www.youtube.com/user/fishandveggies
Last edited by Nguyen365; 06-05-2019 at 11:57 AM.
Well My plants aren't growing too quickly, maybe too hot. Here its been 95-100 degrees , We have beans, cucumber, peppers, lettuce. only one that seems it doing good is the peppers. I have terrible string algae, I think thats because of too much sun. I have just a 35g swirl filter on it now and it cant keep up. So im building the two 55g ones. I just want to know if you guys think I will have it plumbed right. Or is there a different way to run it. I will try and get some pics today when Im at the farm.
Just as in soil, since fish are the 'nutrient' source, there may not be enough to sustain the proper requirements the plants need for proper growth.
Backyard Aquaponics can be a wealth of information.
Adam
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You may need to add some iron chelate to your water, it corrects yellowing of leaves in new growth. Iron Chelate is added to aquaponics and hydroponics systems because soluble iron is not naturally occurring. Also, plants feed on the nitrate your filter system produces from fish waste. Water should flow from pre filter to planter back to fish tank. Some people use their planter filled with lava rock as a filter, but to me it accumulates to much muck and clogs the flow of water.
I would use small round plant basket to hold each individual vegetable, its easier to clean after harvest. Eventually the planter will fill up with muck and needs to be cleaned.
Do you use a bell siphon in your planter? A bell siphon allows water to fill and drain.
Iron Chelate link: https://www.amazon.com/Chelate-FeDTP...gateway&sr=8-8
Last edited by Roger; 06-11-2019 at 04:39 AM.
I tried aquaponics with the admitted skepticism about its viability, which came from seeing many aquaponics shops opening up around here. It made me suspect they were trying to cash in on "selling the dream" of cheap, healthy, and nutritious vegetables, instead of having it actually work.
My self-imposed rule was that it had to be cheap. This meant that only koi pond water would be used, and returned back to the pond, no additional nutrients. It was a failure.
While I know that it can work, I think people lose sight of the goal of why they bought into it in the first place, "cheap, healthy, and nutritious vegetables." The vendors poo-pooing dirt-grown vegetables quickly point out all the fertilizer and supplements needed to make it work, yet they themselves sell artificial fertilizers and supplements...
At the end of the day it was a bust because I refused to make a true standalone system. While I'm confident it could work, having to add all that extra stuff, to me, misses the whole point of having it. What you end up with isn't cheap and is probably less healthy that dirt-grown, and is a lot more work.
Just my experience. And yes, I do rain on parades.
Last edited by kimini; 06-11-2019 at 09:42 AM.
Kimini, Tahitian Taro can grow without adding extra stuff. I have also grown long squash, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, chives, and dwarf papaya trees. However, they all do better with a TBS of chelate iron once a month, my koi doesn't seem to care. The thing I don't like about gravel planters is pulling out the roots and the occasional clean up.
I have also grown lettuce and green onions on a floating foam aquaponic platform, the clean up is way easier. Right now my planter is growing Tahitian taro, I make lau lau with the leaf, and occasionally feed it to my koi raw. I haven't been adding anything to the water and its been growing wild for over a year.
Use your fish waste water on conventional grown plants and you will have loads of vegetables without the hassles, labor and cost of hydroponics. Hydroponics and fish in the same system are more of a interesting hobby than useful.
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