Thanks for watching folks & don't forget to subscribe to be kept up to date with future Aquaponic Clips. Share the clip around with family & friends if you think it could help them out as too. 🐟 🌱🍅 Cheers all & have a top one. 😊
Can you help me layout a aquaponic system? I want it more for fish and have the veggies as a bonus, but I have a 1200gal fish tank and at first I want to stock it with 100 tilapia then down the line stock at higher rates. I do want media beds but don’t know how many I need. If you get around to this thanks. Scot
Hi Rob , can you make a video on how make automatic or mechanical fish feeder in aquaponics. If not , any ideas how to go about it . As I am from poor backgrounds financially can't buy ready made one down there in market.
Pretty much doing the same design for my setup. I've the many years I've spent doing little bits I've changed my design a few times. One thing to add. That feed line going under the deck might get some build up of the pump velocity isn't high enough. Great response!
I appreciate your suggestion of adding a couple goldfish to the sump for the kids. A similar suggestion on another page explained another reason that made sense too...in order to eat any mosquito larve that happened to get in the open water.
Mozzies won't tend to lay their larvae in moving water from what I've seen. Still doesn't hurt to add a few fish in for the kids to check out.😉 Cheers Richard.
That's no real problem JH, just need to design the flow differently. 👍 Letting gravity do a lot of the work is just make designing a bit easier in most situations. You can still incorporate a filter & sump then pump up from there if you want to maintain constant water height in the fish tank. 👍 Hope that helps a little.
Nicely done Rob as usual, great advice and layout. We are up in Northern California about 100 miles south of San Francisco. My system is 2 years old now and has evolved into a clone of your design with split flow. I am using 1/2 55 gal barrels with U Siphons for grow beds. Next updates will be to increase the flow rate which will also mean increasing the size of the feed pipes to the grow beds as well as larger diameter siphons, and add a bio filter, and eventually get a couple of solar panels and back up batteries. Biggest lesson for me was the Solids Lift Overflow - SLO, followed by your approach to the swirl / settler, which works great, so thanks for everything - Cheers - David C.
I am setting up an aquaponic garden in a small patio. I can make a video on my channel if it helps to see what my set up would look like. In the meantime, here's my plan; I have a 100 gallon tank I plan to use as my fish tank to be occupied by 10 Tilapia fish. I have built an enclosure to protect the fish from raccoons and other predators. On top of the enclosure, I will place a 60 gallon grow bed that I've built from wood. The grow bed will be filled with clay media and I estimate 20 gallons of water will be running through it. I also have a 407 Fluval filter (rated for 100 gallons) from an old tank set up that I can use to filter solids from the fish tank if necessary. I also have an unused 20 gallon tank that I can use a sump tank. The sump tank would have to either sit on top of the enclosure along with the grow bed or off to the side if I use it. Depending on how I set everything up will determine how I plumb it. What are your thoughts about the equipment I have at my disposal?
Sounds like it would work OK Captain Lou. Did you end up building the system yet? I checkd your channel & only saw the older build. Sorry it took so long to reply mate. Cheers.
Hi Rob Curious could you share a design you would approach to have a fish tank as more of a pond. As a bit of a water feature rather than just another object in a design. Also curious would running the water from fish tank through a stream or natural filter prior to grow bed.
That might be something I do one day BC but would like to build it first before I post about it. I am looking at using a sand bed as a natural filter in a future design. It will collect & process the solids waste before the clean water is dumped into a sump tank for re distribution. Cheers.
They turn up almost as soon as I post most clips so it's someone that has subscribed with a bone to pick methinks. Would be nice if they actually vocalised their problem so we could sort it out. 😉👍 Cheers & all the best.
Thanks for the information... Also, thank you for the new word I added to my vocabulary (Schmicko) I love it! Keep up the great work and i look forward to an update on the progress on your home remodel and the Aquaponics at your place. Goodday
Cheers Jeff. Will be posting a look at the reno's next weekend I think. Most of the asbestos was removed on the weekend so the builders will be flat-strap into the framing this week. Cheers & have a top one.
Awesome video Rob, chock full of great tips and advice, and highlighting some of the things we need to be thinking about before designing an AP system. Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge and experience with us all, it is much appreciated by many 😀👍 _(...and I for one can appreciate how much time and effort would have gone into those graphics and animations alone.)_ Top job mate 😀👍
Thanks MACF 👍 Not sure I'll be doing any more until I learn SetchUp or a similar program. Doing it all in Paint.net was a tad time consuming. 😉😂 Cheers & all the best mate.
Hey rob... my setup is basically the same as your second system.. all IBC based.. and your bell siphon tutorial gave me a hassle free start up... loved the vid and your beard is cracking on nicely.... cheers...
That's great to hear Mick. 👍 The daughter threatened to give me a trim in my sleep the other day. Said I'm starting to look a bit too much like Grizzly Addams. 😃 Happy growing mate.
I like how you worked out your issues in real time environment there is some issue with temperature sensitivity if you live in a desert or anywhere or you decide to design
I had the same result when using a lid and found that having a viewing window for the fish and a lid was the way to go for me at least. I have one tank without a window and has a lid and the fish get spooked really easy vs the fish tanks with the windows the fish will nibble your hand and fingers lol Great stuff Rob! Thanks for sharing and as always Keep Building👍
Would like to pop a window in one of ours. I recon the Jades would love it after seeing Ben's silvers flock to the window when folks came over for a gander. Cheers Mr Todd & happy growing mate.
In a lot of these systems I see on YT, there is quite a lot of green algae...especially on the ones that seem to be not particularly well maintained. Could a person use algae eating fish added to the tanks to clean that up? I don't see any vids about using them in these systems for some reason. How about using crustaceans to help further utilize the solids before the water leaves the fish tank (or directly afterwards in the filter or a tank between the fish tank and the filter. I would think that crayfish would clean most of that sediment the filter catches right up. Maybe also fresh water mussels?
Some of the green is also bio slime that isn't necessarily algae. Many folks use algae eating fish to help keep walls clean & have seen crays used as well. Crays are also food for some species used so they don't tend to last long i the fish tank. ;) The crays will also produce a solid but some will be assimilated into their own make up as well. Mussels can be problematic depending on what variety used. I have read that some rely on their young being deposited on the gills of fish to develop but am unsure on what damage that may cause the fish or, as I said before, which varieties do this. Hope that helps some.
Hi Rob, if i have a media bed (expanded clay) i you don't need a biofilter? so i guess if i have a DWC then i have to use a biofilter? and thank you very much for all the videos
Will be doing a clip on one when I install ours Changes. 👍 It will be a while before I post it as we are still out of our house while it's being renovated. Cheers.
Hey Rob, loving your videos I'm working on my design of my second aquaponics system. First system I had was a chop2 which I found was not very efficient with pump flow so this time I'm going to have a pump in the sump tank but grow beds are going to be gravity feed much like the last design you showed. I plan to have the sump right next too the fish tank so the pump doesn't have far to pump with the grow beds emptying into a larger pipe to gravity feed back to the sump. For grow bed media I'm thinking I might go scoria this time I used drainage gravel years ago on my old system.
The single loop would have to be the easiest to build & cheapest to run I think Matthew. 👍👍 Our first system ran a treat set up that way after I added the radial flow settler. Cheers mate & have fun with the build.
I like the idea of adding a viewing window to the tank. I plan on doing this myself. Question is, with added access to sunlight is there an issue with algae growth? Does the 1.5 to 2 x cycling of the tank water take care of the algae growth?
From what I've seen in mates systems, you will get a bit of algae build up. I have seen folks build doors that they can close when not viewing the fish. Others leave a large magnetic aquarium glass cleaners on the window & clean it as needed. Hope that helps some.
Great video Rob, thanks for the info. Could you please let me know how do you connect your PVC fittings? I use pvc adhesive bought from bunnings to do my house plumbing, but I am not sure if it can be used for aquaponics since it might be toxic as I understand.
It's only toxic when it's wet from my understanding taking to blokes that install rainwater tanks& the blokes at my local plumbing store. It's probably best you ask the folks at a plumbing store or contact the glue company yourself if you want proper verification. 👍 Hope your build is going well.
Hello, what material do you put in the moving bed, and what is its importance and benefit, and is there an alternative to it if it is not available in my country, thank you teacher
Hi Rob been a fan for a long time. I clean my 55 gal bucket RFF every 3 weeks but lately it has a stench of what seems to be anaerobic bacteria. My system consists of a 200gal FT, 2 grow beds and ST. Any ideas what to do about the anaerobic bacteria of rff pls?
It could be that there's more solids collecting if you've increased the feed rate. Change in temperature as it gets warmer can speed up the decomposition of the solids. Probably best just to clean it out a bit more frequently. Hope that helps some.
Cheers mate. Don't be offended if I don't get to them straight away as the inbox gets smashed at times with requests. Will keep an eye out for yours as you've been supporting us for quite a while & it's the least I can do. 😉 Have a top one Jeff.
Another great video. I’m learning so much from you, I can’t wait to move back to Florida and get started. Once again thank you for your excellent videos.
is there a way to rig the flood pans so that as the system starts to drain the first bed, it sends water to the next bed, so on and so forth. so that way you can have this style but keep it as a constant flow from the fish
Hi again Jak. Some folks set their beds up that way but it isn't necessary. It also creates more fail points where roots could possibly clog drains & overflow the beds running the system dry. Cheers.
Hi Rob, i have a strange question. If I have a 500L tank for a bio filter and only put 100L of media in it will it work correctly? Or should I maybe raise the hight ofthe 500L tank and lower the outlet so lets say it's 400L or 300L? What is the iddea ratio of media to the filter tank size? Thank you I really enjoy your videos. I fish farmer and crab farmer is closing down in Cairns and I have a great oppertunity to buy some cool stuff VERY cheap. Hopeflly you can have a look at my design before I build it.
Having a larger vessel will hopefully give you a much longer retention time which is always a good thing. 👍 Will give the bacteria a longer period of time to process the ammonia through to nitrate. Cheers Warren.
Hey mate I'm up here in Brisbane and love watching your videos. Thanks so much for taking the time to run through these things. I'm currently in the Marine aquarium hobby and am contemplating a HUGE Marine aquarium in our home when we move or setting up large system like this outdoors in our new house. Your videos are really helpful and simplify things for us newbies so we can understand our other research a bit better! Is there a store here in Brisbane you would recommend going into to have a chat with people and look at things "face to face"?
They're not really an aquaponic store but Aqua gardening do have some folks that know a bit & they have an in house system there you can suss out. aquagardening.com.au I would like to operate a small weekend only store/market stall at some point but need to find a decent market or space closer to Brissy I think. Cheers mate.
Hey Rob, I’ve been growing hydroponic leafy greens in NFT and kratky tubes for a few years, and I’ve done a couple of flood and drain plants over the years, but I’ve recently been collecting equipment for an aquaponics setup, I’ve scored an IBC and 2 bathtubs, and I’ve got pumps and air pumps, what’s the best system I can build with an IBC and 2 bathtubs? I’ll obviously find some materials for solids filters etc, I’m just chasing the major layout idea. I have half a pallet of scoria stone, probably enough to fill 1.5 bathtubs...
Hey Madaxe. Sorry I it took so long to respond. I can't see why you cant build a basic system with those components. 👍 Did you end up having a crack at building one?
@@RobsAquaponics hey champ, I’ve got the two bathtubs currently setup as a flood and drain hydroponics setup, I had NFT tubes on that system as well, but got rid of them for now. The IBC isn’t setup yet, Ive done a chop and flip and I’m gonna do it as a basic flood and drain hydroponic system and have the tubes go into that system. Then in the future I’ll do a separate aquaponics system. I now have almost unlimited access to IBC’s for free too so I can go as big as I want, but I just can’t find the time at the moment. I’m stoked you caught up with hoocho too, I’ve been following him for about a year, nice to see two of my favourite Aussies get together. Just need a crossover with self sufficient me and it’ll be complete.
@@madaxe79 I think Mark's too busy now for a collab. We did discuss it when we met a few years back but that was just before his channel took off. Would be great just to go see his setup in real life. Cheers mate.
@@RobsAquaponics yeah man, you, hoocho and self sufficient me... what a video... haha... Hope he can find the time away from his: 5 tips for growing lots of subscribers, videos.., haha
I need to set up a new biofilter system. I was using the bio wheels, but those things keep getting into the pipes and hanging up on the turns. How to you keep the wheels from traveling, please
I use custom drain fittings I made by drilling holes & cutting slits in 90mm/3½" water pipe Flo B. Will be doing a clip on the one I'm making for our new system in the not too distant future. Cheers.
@@RobsAquaponics Thanks Rob, you are the best! I love your videos. I'm still working out the kinks in my system. If a mistake can occur, it has my name on it. All this after I spent months studying the concept. Fortunately, the fish are very forgiving and have suffered through the feeder dumping 2 pounds of fish food in their tank to the return water being too forceful.
@@flob4332 This section of an old clip may help you some with fitting ideas. I remembered it yesterday after a chap asked about the bio fittings ua-cam.com/video/NUpAYGvzeuk/v-deo.htmlm50s Will still be posting one down the line as well. Cheers.
can anyone explain to me why the flow is split between the grow beds and the fish tank? Why not just send the single flow to the growbeds and then drain back into the fish tank?
Having the water flow split allows you to isolate the plants from the fish if you need to do maintenance on either. It also allows you to have greater control over the water flow rates to the different parts of the system. That's not to say it's better than a single loop system though. It all depends on what sort of layout & it's size I think. Hope that helps.
Have you ever considered a mobile system? I'm working on one now. It's shy on water, since it's so heavy, but an automated system will maintain monitoring tasks and minor adjustments.
Have thought about a small one for talks & demonstrations Bryan. Not sure I'd use real fish though but a bed I can disconnect & attach to a mock system to help explain the concept. 👍
Hi rob ive been watching your vids for days now but still havent figure it out. Im planning to make 3 cement pond (180x120x120cm) connected using pvc so i will only use 1 big pump. Im planning to use fluidized sump for filtration using 5 plastic barrels. Im planning to start an aquaponics with 6media beds and 2 raft beds. I dont know how to plumb it all up. Can you help me out or give me tips on how to do it?
Is a bit hard from this side of the keyboard sorry RC. Best think I can suggest is to run the water from the fish tank through some sort of solids filtration then into some bio filter/reactor before allowing it to go back to the fish. From there you could plumb it up as a single loop or as a split flow (water sent to fish & grow beds from sump). Cheers mate.
I'm a bit busy with work at the moment sorry & have a number of documents others have asked me to go over as well that I haven't got to yet. Just don't have enough hours in the day at the moment sorry rc.
I'd love to say "send it through" but I have a fair bit on at the moment Kelly & it took about a full week to edit this clip wit my primitive skill & tools. 😉😅 Are you based here in Australia?
@@RobsAquaponics Thanks for the reply Rob. We are in Western Canada where it hasn't gotten above -7C for about 3 weeks now. Needless to say, we're building an indoor system.
Hello Rob, we made a nice system with all the information provided on your channel ! We are now ready and want to setup a bigger system, would you please do us a review on will the system work and your suggestions on it ? We would be very excited to learn more from you ! :D
Hi there. I'm a bit flat out doing other work at the moment sorry. This clip took about a week to produce which makes it unsustainable for me to do any more at this point. I've have had a load of requests since posting this one around the web so am thinking I might start doing private calls once I work a few things out. It will be a while as I need to build a site to host them so stay tuned to the channel if you want to be kept up to date. Cheers.
great video Rob, I'm totally onboard with your ideas and suggestions. Love the animation work you did. I have wanted to do something similar for my videos but cant really find a programs thats good for it. which programs did you use ?
I used Paint.net www.getpaint.net/ & my editing program to animate the different layers. There are much easier ways to go but I didn't have the time to learn them at the moment. 😉 Cheers.
I have seen folks float rafts with plants growing in them on pods with fish but that's about it sorry. Would be interested in seeing some if you ever find them. Cheers.
Have seen a few folks that use their ornamental fish tanks as the base of aquaponic systems. Some of the aquarium chemicals can't be used though as they are toxic to humans & will be taken up by the plants. Would be OK if you were just growing ornamental plants though. 👍🌷🌹
The window in the tank towards the end of the clip is actually in an IBC tank that was clad with recycled pallet timber. Ben made the whole garden area of his restaurant out of IBC's with tables in between the grow beds & the fish tanks situated towards the back of the courtyard. The clip below gives you a closer look. 👍 ► ua-cam.com/video/01butOO3m_Q/v-deo.html
Thanks for watching folks & don't forget to subscribe to be kept up to date with future Aquaponic Clips.
Share the clip around with family & friends if you think it could help them out as too. 🐟 🌱🍅
Cheers all & have a top one. 😊
Can you help me layout a aquaponic system? I want it more for fish and have the veggies as a bonus, but I have a 1200gal fish tank and at first I want to stock it with 100 tilapia then down the line stock at higher rates. I do want media beds but don’t know how many I need. If you get around to this thanks.
Scot
Hey 1T. This clip runs through stocking rates for media bed based backyard aquaponic systems,
► ua-cam.com/video/MeYtUfBKwNo/v-deo.html
HTH 👍
Hi Rob , can you make a video on how make automatic or mechanical fish feeder in aquaponics. If not , any ideas how to go about it . As I am from poor backgrounds financially can't buy ready made one down there in market.
Pretty much doing the same design for my setup. I've the many years I've spent doing little bits I've changed my design a few times.
One thing to add. That feed line going under the deck might get some build up of the pump velocity isn't high enough.
Great response!
Good point Nathan.
Cheers mate. 👍
I appreciate your suggestion of adding a couple goldfish to the sump for the kids. A similar suggestion on another page explained another reason that made sense too...in order to eat any mosquito larve that happened to get in the open water.
Mozzies won't tend to lay their larvae in moving water from what I've seen. Still doesn't hurt to add a few fish in for the kids to check out.😉
Cheers Richard.
Not all of us can have the fish tank higher than the grow beds. I did learn a lot from this episode. Thanks!
That's no real problem JH, just need to design the flow differently. 👍 Letting gravity do a lot of the work is just make designing a bit easier in most situations.
You can still incorporate a filter & sump then pump up from there if you want to maintain constant water height in the fish tank. 👍
Hope that helps a little.
This has been terrific information. Densely packed with no social affectation. nice work.
Glad you enjoyed it Dorian. Hope the build goes smoothly as well if you have a crack at building your own.
Cheers.
Nicely done Rob as usual, great advice and layout. We are up in Northern California about 100 miles south of San Francisco. My system is 2 years old now and has evolved into a clone of your design with split flow. I am using 1/2 55 gal barrels with U Siphons for grow beds. Next updates will be to increase the flow rate which will also mean increasing the size of the feed pipes to the grow beds as well as larger diameter siphons, and add a bio filter, and eventually get a couple of solar panels and back up batteries. Biggest lesson for me was the Solids Lift Overflow - SLO, followed by your approach to the swirl / settler, which works great, so thanks for everything - Cheers - David C.
Am glad the clips have helped some mate. 👍
Hope the system renovations went well for you.
Cheers David.
I am setting up an aquaponic garden in a small patio. I can make a video on my channel if it helps to see what my set up would look like.
In the meantime, here's my plan; I have a 100 gallon tank I plan to use as my fish tank to be occupied by 10 Tilapia fish. I have built an enclosure to protect the fish from raccoons and other predators.
On top of the enclosure, I will place a 60 gallon grow bed that I've built from wood. The grow bed will be filled with clay media and I estimate 20 gallons of water will be running through it.
I also have a 407 Fluval filter (rated for 100 gallons) from an old tank set up that I can use to filter solids from the fish tank if necessary.
I also have an unused 20 gallon tank that I can use a sump tank. The sump tank would have to either sit on top of the enclosure along with the grow bed or off to the side if I use it.
Depending on how I set everything up will determine how I plumb it.
What are your thoughts about the equipment I have at my disposal?
Sounds like it would work OK Captain Lou. Did you end up building the system yet? I checkd your channel & only saw the older build. Sorry it took so long to reply mate.
Cheers.
Hi Rob
Curious could you share a design you would approach to have a fish tank as more of a pond. As a bit of a water feature rather than just another object in a design. Also curious would running the water from fish tank through a stream or natural filter prior to grow bed.
That might be something I do one day BC but would like to build it first before I post about it.
I am looking at using a sand bed as a natural filter in a future design. It will collect & process the solids waste before the clean water is dumped into a sump tank for re distribution.
Cheers.
Who’s the 1 hater? People have no passion if they did they’d know what Rob puts in to these vids for us all to benefit!!
They turn up almost as soon as I post most clips so it's someone that has subscribed with a bone to pick methinks.
Would be nice if they actually vocalised their problem so we could sort it out. 😉👍
Cheers & all the best.
It’s someone with a channel who is envious instead of maybe reaching out to collaborate :)!! Only love Rob ty for your tremendous efforts to teach us.
I love the detailed explanations on your videos Rob. Thanks.
Hope it helped some Afuno.
Cheers mate.
Thanks for the information... Also, thank you for the new word I added to my vocabulary (Schmicko) I love it! Keep up the great work and i look forward to an update on the progress on your home remodel and the Aquaponics at your place. Goodday
Cheers Jeff. Will be posting a look at the reno's next weekend I think. Most of the asbestos was removed on the weekend so the builders will be flat-strap into the framing this week.
Cheers & have a top one.
Awesome video Rob, chock full of great tips and advice, and highlighting some of the things we need to be thinking about before designing an AP system.
Thank you for generously sharing your knowledge and experience with us all, it is much appreciated by many 😀👍
_(...and I for one can appreciate how much time and effort would have gone into those graphics and animations alone.)_ Top job mate 😀👍
Thanks MACF 👍 Not sure I'll be doing any more until I learn SetchUp or a similar program. Doing it all in Paint.net was a tad time consuming. 😉😂
Cheers & all the best mate.
Dr Rob, thank you for the inspiration. I think the second system is more user friendly and simple to maintain.
I think so too 👍
I still prefer split flow systems though. 😉
Cheers mate & happy growing. 🌱🌱
Excellent advice.
Glad it was helpful Robert.
Cheers mate.
Hey rob... my setup is basically the same as your second system.. all IBC based.. and your bell siphon tutorial gave me a hassle free start up... loved the vid and your beard is cracking on nicely.... cheers...
That's great to hear Mick. 👍
The daughter threatened to give me a trim in my sleep the other day. Said I'm starting to look a bit too much like Grizzly Addams. 😃
Happy growing mate.
Thank you Rob for this informative video....blessings
Am glad you enjoyed it Nonu.
Happy growing.
nice to see the update on aquapoincs
Cheers Dave. There will be an update on our system this weekend. 👍
Faster water also stops algae or mulm build up in pipe work
I like how you worked out your issues in real time environment there is some issue with temperature sensitivity if you live in a desert or anywhere or you decide to design
high rob I started my first and the veggies are doing awesome thank you so much for your help
Am glad the clips have helped some KC. Did you build your own frames for the wicking beds or use containers?
Cheers.
Tanks .merci pour vos explications. Très intéressant 👍
Je suis heureux que vous l'ayez apprécié. 👍
Google Translate)
I had the same result when using a lid and found that having a viewing window for the fish and a lid was the way to go for me at least. I have one tank without a window and has a lid and the fish get spooked really easy vs the fish tanks with the windows the fish will nibble your hand and fingers lol
Great stuff Rob!
Thanks for sharing and as always Keep Building👍
Would like to pop a window in one of ours. I recon the Jades would love it after seeing Ben's silvers flock to the window when folks came over for a gander.
Cheers Mr Todd & happy growing mate.
good day to you my gardening & Aquaponic friend, excellent video today Rob !!
Thanks 50SOG.
Hope all's well with you.
Great design Rob... Good information for advanced aquaponics growers...
Thanks Mallu.
have a top one.
Great video rob👍 thanks for sharing
In a lot of these systems I see on YT, there is quite a lot of green algae...especially on the ones that seem to be not particularly well maintained. Could a person use algae eating fish added to the tanks to clean that up? I don't see any vids about using them in these systems for some reason. How about using crustaceans to help further utilize the solids before the water leaves the fish tank (or directly afterwards in the filter or a tank between the fish tank and the filter. I would think that crayfish would clean most of that sediment the filter catches right up. Maybe also fresh water mussels?
Some of the green is also bio slime that isn't necessarily algae. Many folks use algae eating fish to help keep walls clean & have seen crays used as well. Crays are also food for some species used so they don't tend to last long i the fish tank. ;)
The crays will also produce a solid but some will be assimilated into their own make up as well.
Mussels can be problematic depending on what variety used. I have read that some rely on their young being deposited on the gills of fish to develop but am unsure on what damage that may cause the fish or, as I said before, which varieties do this.
Hope that helps some.
Epic informative videos cheers Rob!
Cheers mate.
Am looking forward to moveing home so I can knock together some more.
Cheers mate.
Hi Rob, if i have a media bed (expanded clay) i you don't need a biofilter? so i guess if i have a DWC then i have to use a biofilter? and thank you very much for all the videos
That's right L Y. 👍Some folks with small systems will have heir media beds drain into the raft beds to act as both a bio & solids filter.
Cheers.
Thank you from a future aquaponist! Great info!👍
No problem LD. 👍
Cheers.
That was a great video clip you dun there rob 👍
Cheers Mick.
Have a top one bloke. 👍
Very helpful, Thanks.
Glad it helped some.
Cheers Koko.
Could you one day do a bit on the fish tank " window" ....how to make sure it is both watertight and fish/food safe.
Will be doing a clip on one when I install ours Changes. 👍
It will be a while before I post it as we are still out of our house while it's being renovated.
Cheers.
Hey Rob, loving your videos I'm working on my design of my second aquaponics system. First system I had was a chop2 which I found was not very efficient with pump flow so this time I'm going to have a pump in the sump tank but grow beds are going to be gravity feed much like the last design you showed. I plan to have the sump right next too the fish tank so the pump doesn't have far to pump with the grow beds emptying into a larger pipe to gravity feed back to the sump. For grow bed media I'm thinking I might go scoria this time I used drainage gravel years ago on my old system.
The single loop would have to be the easiest to build & cheapest to run I think Matthew. 👍👍
Our first system ran a treat set up that way after I added the radial flow settler.
Cheers mate & have fun with the build.
Beautiful diagrams. Thank you.
Cheers David. 👍👍
Thank you for sharing. You are the best!
No Problem MrDenver.
I like the idea of adding a viewing window to the tank. I plan on doing this myself. Question is, with added access to sunlight is there an issue with algae growth? Does the 1.5 to 2 x cycling of the tank water take care of the algae growth?
From what I've seen in mates systems, you will get a bit of algae build up. I have seen folks build doors that they can close when not viewing the fish. Others leave a large magnetic aquarium glass cleaners on the window & clean it as needed.
Hope that helps some.
G'Day
Howdy ✌
Great video Rob, thanks for the info. Could you please let me know how do you connect your PVC fittings? I use pvc adhesive bought from bunnings to do my house plumbing, but I am not sure if it can be used for aquaponics since it might be toxic as I understand.
It's only toxic when it's wet from my understanding taking to blokes that install rainwater tanks& the blokes at my local plumbing store.
It's probably best you ask the folks at a plumbing store or contact the glue company yourself if you want proper verification. 👍
Hope your build is going well.
Hello, what material do you put in the moving bed, and what is its importance and benefit, and is there an alternative to it if it is not available in my country, thank you teacher
I use a product called PE03 wich is also available as Kaldnes K2 biomedia.
Sorry it took so long to respond.
Hi Rob been a fan for a long time. I clean my 55 gal bucket RFF every 3 weeks but lately it has a stench of what seems to be anaerobic bacteria. My system consists of a 200gal FT, 2 grow beds and ST. Any ideas what to do about the anaerobic bacteria of rff pls?
It could be that there's more solids collecting if you've increased the feed rate. Change in temperature as it gets warmer can speed up the decomposition of the solids. Probably best just to clean it out a bit more frequently.
Hope that helps some.
@@RobsAquaponics Thank you Rob! I learn so much from you
Like seeing other peoples ideas. Send you a look at my plans when I finish them, and get your thoughts.
Cheers mate. Don't be offended if I don't get to them straight away as the inbox gets smashed at times with requests. Will keep an eye out for yours as you've been supporting us for quite a while & it's the least I can do. 😉
Have a top one Jeff.
Very informative Thank You!
No Problem mate.
Cheers.
Another great video.
I’m learning so much from you, I can’t wait to move back to Florida and get started.
Once again thank you for your excellent videos.
No problem William. 👍
Have fun with the build mate.
Wow thank you for this info!!!!!! Thank you!!!! Needed this
Hope it helps you out some.
Cheers.
Awesome video Rob.
Glad you enjoyed it Paul. 👍
Hope life's treating you well mate.
Cheers.
is there a way to rig the flood pans so that as the system starts to drain the first bed, it sends water to the next bed, so on and so forth. so that way you can have this style but keep it as a constant flow from the fish
Hi again Jak. Some folks set their beds up that way but it isn't necessary. It also creates more fail points where roots could possibly clog drains & overflow the beds running the system dry.
Cheers.
Hi Rob, i have a strange question. If I have a 500L tank for a bio filter and only put 100L of media in it will it work correctly? Or should I maybe raise the hight ofthe 500L tank and lower the outlet so lets say it's 400L or 300L? What is the iddea ratio of media to the filter tank size?
Thank you I really enjoy your videos. I fish farmer and crab farmer is closing down in Cairns and I have a great oppertunity to buy some cool stuff VERY cheap. Hopeflly you can have a look at my design before I build it.
Having a larger vessel will hopefully give you a much longer retention time which is always a good thing. 👍 Will give the bacteria a longer period of time to process the ammonia through to nitrate.
Cheers Warren.
Hey mate I'm up here in Brisbane and love watching your videos. Thanks so much for taking the time to run through these things. I'm currently in the Marine aquarium hobby and am contemplating a HUGE Marine aquarium in our home when we move or setting up large system like this outdoors in our new house. Your videos are really helpful and simplify things for us newbies so we can understand our other research a bit better!
Is there a store here in Brisbane you would recommend going into to have a chat with people and look at things "face to face"?
They're not really an aquaponic store but Aqua gardening do have some folks that know a bit & they have an in house system there you can suss out.
aquagardening.com.au
I would like to operate a small weekend only store/market stall at some point but need to find a decent market or space closer to Brissy I think.
Cheers mate.
Rob Bob's Aquaponics & Backyard Farm I’ll definitely check them out. Thanks and good luck with the stall. 👍🏾
Hey Rob, I’ve been growing hydroponic leafy greens in NFT and kratky tubes for a few years, and I’ve done a couple of flood and drain plants over the years, but I’ve recently been collecting equipment for an aquaponics setup, I’ve scored an IBC and 2 bathtubs, and I’ve got pumps and air pumps, what’s the best system I can build with an IBC and 2 bathtubs? I’ll obviously find some materials for solids filters etc, I’m just chasing the major layout idea. I have half a pallet of scoria stone, probably enough to fill 1.5 bathtubs...
Hey Madaxe. Sorry I it took so long to respond. I can't see why you cant build a basic system with those components. 👍
Did you end up having a crack at building one?
@@RobsAquaponics hey champ, I’ve got the two bathtubs currently setup as a flood and drain hydroponics setup, I had NFT tubes on that system as well, but got rid of them for now. The IBC isn’t setup yet, Ive done a chop and flip and I’m gonna do it as a basic flood and drain hydroponic system and have the tubes go into that system. Then in the future I’ll do a separate aquaponics system. I now have almost unlimited access to IBC’s for free too so I can go as big as I want, but I just can’t find the time at the moment. I’m stoked you caught up with hoocho too, I’ve been following him for about a year, nice to see two of my favourite Aussies get together. Just need a crossover with self sufficient me and it’ll be complete.
@@madaxe79 I think Mark's too busy now for a collab. We did discuss it when we met a few years back but that was just before his channel took off.
Would be great just to go see his setup in real life.
Cheers mate.
@@RobsAquaponics yeah man, you, hoocho and self sufficient me... what a video... haha...
Hope he can find the time away from his: 5 tips for growing lots of subscribers, videos.., haha
really helpful stuff, this has exactly what I was looking for
No problem PSVT.
Have a top one.
I need to set up a new biofilter system. I was using the bio wheels, but those things keep getting into the pipes and hanging up on the turns. How to you keep the wheels from traveling, please
I use custom drain fittings I made by drilling holes & cutting slits in 90mm/3½" water pipe Flo B. Will be doing a clip on the one I'm making for our new system in the not too distant future.
Cheers.
@@RobsAquaponics Thanks Rob, you are the best! I love your videos. I'm still working out the kinks in my system. If a mistake can occur, it has my name on it. All this after I spent months studying the concept. Fortunately, the fish are very forgiving and have suffered through the feeder dumping 2 pounds of fish food in their tank to the return water being too forceful.
@@flob4332 This section of an old clip may help you some with fitting ideas. I remembered it yesterday after a chap asked about the bio fittings
ua-cam.com/video/NUpAYGvzeuk/v-deo.htmlm50s
Will still be posting one down the line as well.
Cheers.
Gday Rob.
Howdy Eco Geek. 👍
can anyone explain to me why the flow is split between the grow beds and the fish tank? Why not just send the single flow to the growbeds and then drain back into the fish tank?
Having the water flow split allows you to isolate the plants from the fish if you need to do maintenance on either.
It also allows you to have greater control over the water flow rates to the different parts of the system.
That's not to say it's better than a single loop system though. It all depends on what sort of layout & it's size I think.
Hope that helps.
Have you ever considered a mobile system? I'm working on one now. It's shy on water, since it's so heavy, but an automated system will maintain monitoring tasks and minor adjustments.
Have thought about a small one for talks & demonstrations Bryan. Not sure I'd use real fish though but a bed I can disconnect & attach to a mock system to help explain the concept. 👍
Hi rob ive been watching your vids for days now but still havent figure it out. Im planning to make 3 cement pond (180x120x120cm) connected using pvc so i will only use 1 big pump. Im planning to use fluidized sump for filtration using 5 plastic barrels. Im planning to start an aquaponics with 6media beds and 2 raft beds. I dont know how to plumb it all up. Can you help me out or give me tips on how to do it?
Is a bit hard from this side of the keyboard sorry RC.
Best think I can suggest is to run the water from the fish tank through some sort of solids filtration then into some bio filter/reactor before allowing it to go back to the fish.
From there you could plumb it up as a single loop or as a split flow (water sent to fish & grow beds from sump).
Cheers mate.
I have a design or blueprint. Can I send it to you?
I'm a bit busy with work at the moment sorry & have a number of documents others have asked me to go over as well that I haven't got to yet. Just don't have enough hours in the day at the moment sorry rc.
Excellent Rob. Love the design sessions. How can I send you my design for review?
I'd love to say "send it through" but I have a fair bit on at the moment Kelly & it took about a full week to edit this clip wit my primitive skill & tools. 😉😅
Are you based here in Australia?
@@RobsAquaponics Thanks for the reply Rob. We are in Western Canada where it hasn't gotten above -7C for about 3 weeks now. Needless to say, we're building an indoor system.
@@KellyBurnham I can see where an indoor system would be the best for you folks. 😉 Hope the build goes smoothly for you.
Hello Rob, we made a nice system with all the information provided on your channel ! We are now ready and want to setup a bigger system, would you please do us a review on will the system work and your suggestions on it ? We would be very excited to learn more from you ! :D
Hi there. I'm a bit flat out doing other work at the moment sorry. This clip took about a week to produce which makes it unsustainable for me to do any more at this point.
I've have had a load of requests since posting this one around the web so am thinking I might start doing private calls once I work a few things out. It will be a while as I need to build a site to host them so stay tuned to the channel if you want to be kept up to date.
Cheers.
@@RobsAquaponics Thanks for replying ! No problems, we love your work, keep us enlightened :D
great video Rob, I'm totally onboard with your ideas and suggestions. Love the animation work you did. I have wanted to do something similar for my videos but cant really find a programs thats good for it. which programs did you use ?
I used Paint.net www.getpaint.net/ & my editing program to animate the different layers. There are much easier ways to go but I didn't have the time to learn them at the moment. 😉
Cheers.
Great, thanks for sharing, will have a look after work today. Cheers :)
yeh keep the pumps out of the fish tanks they get clogged up fast
Obrigado muito bem explicado !
Espero que te ajude um pouco de Diego.
Feliz jardinagem 🌱🌱🌱
(Google Translate)
Hi Sir.. do you have a aquaponics design that dont need a water pump? just to save electricity.. :).. Thanks in advance
I have seen folks float rafts with plants growing in them on pods with fish but that's about it sorry.
Would be interested in seeing some if you ever find them.
Cheers.
👏👏
😊👍
could the fishtank be an aquarium with plants and fancy fish? like the 2000gallon aquarium The King of DIY has
Have seen a few folks that use their ornamental fish tanks as the base of aquaponic systems. Some of the aquarium chemicals can't be used though as they are toxic to humans & will be taken up by the plants. Would be OK if you were just growing ornamental plants though. 👍🌷🌹
PUTTING PLANS T IN YOUR GROW BED HOW BIG DO THEY HAVE TO BE
Hey Alfredo. The next clip I post will be on starting off plants for the aquaponics system. 👍
Thanks for the support too mate.
Cheers.
Plants
@@alfredofoutch450 Hope you enjoyed the latest clip mate. 👍
Show de bola 👍👍👍👏👏👏👏👏👏
Obrigado 👍👍
👍👍
👍👍
Like
Cheers mate.
sorry my first wicking bed
How it he going to make the timber box water proof
it would be a timber box with a plastic liner id assume
@@AllThingsTubecomau would that be the only way because with the window wouldn't you have to worry more about leaking g
There are food safe pond liners that folks use to line fish tanks & grow beds. 👍
The window in the tank towards the end of the clip is actually in an IBC tank that was clad with recycled pallet timber. Ben made the whole garden area of his restaurant out of IBC's with tables in between the grow beds & the fish tanks situated towards the back of the courtyard. The clip below gives you a closer look. 👍
► ua-cam.com/video/01butOO3m_Q/v-deo.html
god💜💜💜
😁👍👍👍