Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm about to embark on a new system that's going to be built with my daughter (8 years old). This will be my 4th 1000L system having built 3 CHIFT-PIST systems in the past, all using a mix of IBC and 200L dog bath beds but all outdoors.

I've got a 2.5m x 1.9m greenhouse to play with that contains our first daddy/daughter project, a 40 hole NFT hydroponics system for growing strawberries that we built during the 2020 lockdown. I want to incorporate this into the new aquaponics system and only use a single pump if I can.



At the moment, I have the IBC tucked next to the greenhouse. I plan on raising it a little so the SLO is just a little higher than the inlet for the NFT system so gravity can do the work there. The glass panel of the greenhouse is going to be replaced with a wooden sheet so the SLO can come through. I think I'm going to have to put a filter in between the SLO and the NFT pipes so maybe I can squeeze in something next to the NFT system?



On the outside, I have this space currently taken up by a poorly built raised bed with no drainage and soil like dust! Nothing grows in it so I plan on ripping it out and replacing it with 3 or 4 of the 200L dog baths and using them as regular clay media beds.



You may be able to tell from the images that the paved garden is built on a slope so one enge of the greenhouse is raised. This means the floor inside is lower to the right side of the greenhouse. I plan on placing another 200L dog bath here to act as the sump. One of my outstanding questions is will this heat the water to much in the summer and upset the fish (I plan on stocking common carp and generic goldfish)?



All comments very welcome!

_________________
Matt

"Spooky action at a distance."

This would be a good time to put the bin in the greenhouse, fill it with water, and monitor the temperature, same with the IBC. I’m in Florida where the summers are hot and my water temps reach nearly 90 F. some days. I put shade over my grow beds and my fish tank is covered, and the goldfish do well.