Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Im from Chicago and just started my aquaponics last year around March.
I started with a 55gal drum cut at 3/4s from the side, so i can have more surface area, and laid the tank down.
Another 55gal drum but cut in half for growbeds and using gravity and a siphon bell sys.
I added rosy red minows (about 80 lol) as an experiment to see and gauge what i could do with that.
In growbeds i had 2 zucchini, 2 basil and 4 tomatoe plants. Oh and some alfalfa.
So little by little i started adding and decided to upgrade and now have 2x 300gal tanks and 4 growbeds and one additional filtration with finner mesh and sponges that trickle down into it to crate that bacteria that helps clean nitrates or convert them into useful nitrates for plants.
Have tilapia in one tank and red claw crayfish on the other (there were also macrobrachuim rosembergi with them)
So far i have them covered in 2" insulation all around for winter and planning on adding a small greenhouse this spring and move it all inthere.

Sounds like you have this outdoors. Tough climate for an AP system but sounds like it's working. Do you still have fish in the system and are you aerating the fish tanks other than just pumping the water to provide air?

Cheers

Yes, they are outside all insulated. Both tilapia and blue crayfish with minnows lol

Start a system thread and post up some pics, I'm sure there are other people in your climate that would like to see your setup for some ideas and maybe could give you some as well.