Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone

Im just starting out and Im wondering wether to have the top of the pond level with the ground or would I be better off leaving it above ground I m planning getting a BYAP system which will be situated in Perth WA.
Apart from being astheticaly pleasing to my wife my though are around keeping summertime water temp lower. Looking for pros and con's.

Thanks in advance

Briggsy

the only drawback with top being at ground level is you can get a lot of crap blow in and things blow/roll/fall in.

Half-half might work. That way you can put the dug out soil around the tank.
It is lower but the rim is above ground level.

Perth FT temps definitely go up in summer but not a lot you can do about it except the obvious (shade, shadecloth, cool spot in garden etc etc).

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Darren ( dlf_perth )

May the fish sh*t and the plants grow.....

Wind was not something I had considered, we live quite close to the sea so and the afternoon breeze dose blow a lot of crap around. Thanks

yeh. Parents have 2 ponds in house in hills with easterlies.
one in ground flush and other has 2 rows of blocks around. The one with blocks around gets less crap in it and is also much easier to reach into etc. Low to ground sounds like good idea until you have to get down on your knees/bend over all the time.

the one with blocks is much easier to manage pond IMO.

The other aspect is fish themselves - when in ground everyone/thing moving around is likely to spook them.
Particularly if you have a dog.

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Darren ( dlf_perth )

May the fish sh*t and the plants grow.....

Above ground it is, the wind issue was a enough of a reason but when you throw in the ergonomic reason and spooked fish it seems like a no brainer.

Thanks

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I would go for the compromise.. part buried or completely buried with a protective wall/fence..

Remember the better temperature stability that comes from direct burial..

Eg. Half buried.. a wall a bit out... back filled for thermal innertia.. and nice capping for sitting etc..

How good does that sound
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Hiya Briggsy, I agree with BuiDoi having your tank buried should keep the water temps more stable even if just partially buried. Generally, if you are going the BYAP option, the gb sits over the ft and this keeps the systems footprint smaller, and shades the tank. This gives the fish somewhere to hide although getting the fish used to people is a good thing when showing your set up to your friends. Generally it is a good idea to put a cover on the ft or a fence around it to keep unwanted so out.

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Skeg In The Hills.

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and just adding.. You could create such a fantastic feature by half-bury and half-backfill the Fish-Tank, and then fully bury the SumpTank..
Most of the plumbing could be buried within the back fill and under the FT "Seat"..

and you can get some thicker PolyEthelene foam mat and tie at one end.. the sellers use these mats to give protection to silvers and keep the stress levels down

Add some KOI to the tank and that will give aesthetic colour.. something more to look at.. AND the KOI and Silvers will interact and the KOI might/will teach the Silvers to be more friendly.. I have had a few KOI in with my silvers, along with mullet.. EVERYONE will appreciate the KOI because they are visible..

Your GROW-BEDS can then be separate, and decorative and as the FT self-drains to the ST, and the ST pumps to the GB's which flows to the FT..

Given the space, you can make a truly impressive system that is not so "Industrial"..

PS - whilst there is a deal of emphasis here on IBC's, I have to be honest and say they are NOT that great as fish tanks..
Start local searches for round water tanks - ROUND is seriously better as you can sculpt the ground to give a sagging base and the solids naturally swirl to the center..
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Hey Budoi - need to read the thread better...



BYAP courtyard systems don't have sump tanks, and they come with a reasonably sized circular fish tank and GB.

Basically one of these .... viewtopic.php?f=10&t=25083

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Darren ( dlf_perth )

May the fish sh*t and the plants grow.....

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All good... pretty hard to work out what anyone is specifically talking about .. BYAP is a real generalsation.. I have three BYAP systems... all in the backyard.. all home assembled ..
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Hi All, please forgive me if this is a naive question; I'm new to aquaponics. If you bury the tank in the ground, how do you keep rainwater out to prevent the tank from overflowing?

I wouldn't think overflowing is a big problem, although my fish tend to jump out when I allow the water level get too close to the top. Where I am, the main concern would be what the rainwater washes into the FT; Rootknot Nematodes. I would highly recommend adding a berm around the edge of any inground FT.