Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,


Long time no visit.

My lads are both in the STEM program at their local high school and their project this year is to design an Aquaponics system. Hopefully with a view to build it next year on site and have some healthy production going on.


At this point the equipment they have been supplied with consists of a large, insulated steel wine tank (called an agitator or something along those lines?) that is approx. 2000L in volume. They also have the remnants of a small hydro system that was pvc pipe based. They've got approx. 8 metres of PVC pipe with pre-drilled holes (15cm across) all linked up by garden hose. They've also got some sort of old timber frame to hold the pipes up that needs repairing.


We are in Adelaide and the temps here can be awful for year round fish - I seem to recall most Adelaidians went with trout over winter and silver perch over summer.

The teacher is keen on the kids finding the best fish that will have an estimated $$ value, same thing for the crops they grow - something like Wasabi etc that will be a good earner. They have a restaurant trade school on site and I'm assuming there might be some local restaurant links that could use the goods if they can make this work.

A few issues - in school holidays there will be no one around to maintain/check on the system so it may need to be shut down, especially over the 6 week Christmas holiday period.

If anyone has any suggestions for me that would be great - trying to figure out the best way to plan things.

Thanks
Ali

Trout would be the obvious choice as they would have to be out before the Christmas break (water will get too warm) they grow fast and are great fun at feeding time.

System could / can run fishless for a few weeks no problem a splash of ammonia and some seasol will keep it going

Plants if timed right would need to be harvested at the same time and a new crop of seedlings put in so there would be nothing to do over the break .

School systems have a history of failure due to the need for someone to take 100% responsibility , as soon as that person is not around trouble turns up .

Vandals , overfeeding , power outages , water leaks , fish disease , possums , aphids snails ect ect ect .

We can certainly help you put together a system with what you can find

A six month system would be worth a try for a start , could be shut down or kept ticking over fishless with a small pump until trout time again.

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My System
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