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A GUIDE TO BUILDING AN AQUAPONIC SYSTEM
Joel Malcolm
BACKYARD AQUAPONICS
A Guide to Building A Backyard System
Joel Malcolm
Western Australia
www.backyardaquaponics.com
Table of Contents
Preface ................................................................................................................................... 6
Introduction ..........................................................................................................................7
SO WHAT IS AQUAPONICS ................................................................................................. 8
The Concept .......................................................................................................................... 8
Components .......................................................................................................................... 8
The Ideal ............................................................................................................................... 9
The Dream ........................................................................................................................... 10
My Early Experiences ..........................................................................................................11
DESIGNING AND BUILDING A SYSTEM ........................................................................... 14
Tanks ................................................................................................................................... 14
Pumps .................................................................................................................................. 16
Grow beds ............................................................................................................................ 18
Growing Media .................................................................................................................... 21
Grow Bed Irrigation and Draining ...................................................................................... 24
Running Costs ..................................................................................................................... 27
Water Quality ....................................................................................................................... 28
Maintenance ........................................................................................................................30
SYSTEM DESIGNS .............................................................................................................. 32
Continuous Flow Systems.................................................................................................... 33
Flood And Drain Systems .................................................................................................... 35
THE FISH ............................................................................................................................. 40
Stocking Densities ............................................................................................................... 41
Feeding Your Fish ............................................................................................................... 42
Fin Fish Species ................................................................................................................... 44
Barramundi .......................................................................................................................... 44
Goldfish And Koi ................................................................................................................. 46
Black bream ......................................................................................................................... 48
Silver Perch .......................................................................................................................... 50
Murray Cod .......................................................................................................................... 52
Tilapia .................................................................................................................................. 53
Pacu ...................................................................................................................................... 54
Trout .................................................................................................................................... 55
Crustaceans .......................................................................................................................... 56
Marron .................................................................................................................................. 56
Yabbie .................................................................................................................................. 58
Fish Conclusions .................................................................................................................. 59
THE PLANTS ....................................................................................................................... 60
BUILDING A SYSTEM ......................................................................................................... 64
Building a shelter ................................................................................................................. 64
Flood And Drain Design...................................................................................................... 72
Building Grow Bed Supports ............................................................................................... 73
The Drain System ................................................................................................................ 80
The Growing Medium ......................................................................................................... 82
The Irrigation Piping ........................................................................................................... 84
Flood and drain Process ...................................................................................................... 89
Initialising The System ........................................................................................................ 93
Planting the beds ................................................................................................................. 95
Stocking With Fish .............................................................................................................. 96
Conclusions and my Thoughts ............................................................................................ 99
Thanks ............................................................................................................................... 102
Complete parts breakdown for full system as of 2005. ...................................................... 112
5
Preface
This book draws together information from around the world, from numerous sources, about a range of
subject matters concerning aquaponics, with a heavy focus on Australian conditions and Australian species,
aimed at a hobby to small semi-commercial system, and most of its stripped back to the basics.
A few years back when I wanted to learn all I could about aquaponics, and how to set up a hobby aquaponic
system, there was no real manual or book or any precise help on the subject so it was difficult to implement,
and required years of studying and experimenting to learn about different styles and set-ups…. I only wished
I could have had something directly related to hobby-sized set-ups, with particular attention paid to Australian
conditions. So I’ve tried to create what I wish I had a few years ago….
I've written this because when I discovered aquaponics, it amazed me, and still does to this day, it just all makes
so much sense... When I first started researching, I spent months searching the net for any information I could
find, but information was scarce, especially for the setting up of a hobby or small scale system and most of the
information I could find was directly related to not only other countries, but also climates different from that in
Western Australia.
Friends who saw the systems I had set up, were fascinated by the whole idea and keen to try it themselves. I
decided that ultimately this is the sort of information which needs to be spread to as many people as possible
who may be interested. I'd like to see every second backyard with an aquaponic system, to take some of the
power away from the 'factory' farms that produce substandard products with little nutrients, while degrading
the land and polluting our waterways.
Native fish stocks are declining worldwide and we have to find safe ways of feeding ourselves and I hope to
spur others to think outside the square, to devise new and better ideas, ways of feeding the world in a more
viable and sustainable way than the methods we presently employ in western society.
I don't claim this is a system whereby you can make a lot of money, I don't claim my designs are the most
efficient or the most advisable for all situations, each persons situation is different.. I don't pretend to
understand all of what is going on in the systems, all I know is that it works for me, and it can work for anyone
if they follow the tried and tested methods laid out in this manual.
6
Introduction
Aquaponics is the combination of hydroponics and aquaculture in a symbiotic system. I've spent the past few
years experimenting with aquaponics in it's many forms. Most of what I researched from the internet was
aimed at people trying to make commercial systems, to sell plant and fish products. My interests lie more along
the lines of creating something of beauty which is educational and useful as well. By creating medium sized
systems which can help supplement a family’s food requirements so that people can become less reliant on the
more commercial food products which have rapidly diminishing quality, while enjoying the pleasure of an
aquaponic system in their own home.
I’ve written this book over quite a period of time while I’ve been experimenting with different systems, and I
plan to keep adding to it in the future as I learn more myself by experimenting with different designs and
applications. Aquaponics is one of those things which the more you play with it, the more you learn, and as you
learn more, systems and processes adapt to the new knowledge gained along the way. I can’t stress strongly
enough that you have to keep an open mind when delving into something new, especially something like
aquaponics. Even in a simple system design there are so many variations and factors that influence the system,
and because it’s a closed loop system, when you change one thing it will have ramifications on other aspects of
the system.
So as you bravely move forward into playing with living ecosystems, listen to friends’ advice, speak with
knowledgeable people, read all you can, and above all use your common sense. Go with your gut feeling, if
something doesn’t seem quite right then chances are it probably isn’t, but always keep an open mind, just
because you may not understand something doesn’t mean it won’t work. Personally I couldn’t comprehend
exactly how the flood and drain systems would work with two pumps and nothing else, it didn’t seem possible
because I couldn’t quite get my head around it as there seemed to be too many variables to create a stable
cycling system without the use of timers and level switches as a bare minimum. But it works, and works
beautifully well.
There are a number of chapters in this book dealing with specific areas of aquaponics, the first chapter deals
with the basic system concepts, the different components of a system, and the history of aquaponic style
systems which can date back thousands of years. Then the chapters become a little more specific in their
subject matter, dealing with fish species worth trying to grow in an aquaponic system, plant species, system
initialisation and maintenance, and system designs. The final chapter is a photographic journal of building a
system in my backyard, it follows step by step how to build your own system beginning from the ground up,
including the construction of a pergola to house the system. It covers all the pitfalls I came across during the
design and construction, the choices that were made along the way, as well as the reasons behind the decisions
that were made.
This is a very personal journey of my learning experience where I’ll let you into my backyard as well as my head
to see how things can be done.
7
Chapter
1
So What Is Aquaponics
The basics of what the whole concept of aquaponics involves.
A
quaponics can mean many different things to different people, I guess purely breaking the word
down into it’s components, aquaponics is the amalgamation of two words, it’s a combination of
aquaculture and hydroponics. Aquaculture being the cultivation of aquatic animals, in natural or
controlled marine or freshwater environments. Hydroponics being the cultivation of plants by
placing the roots in liquid nutrient solutions rather than in soil; soil-less growth of plants. These are
certainly not new concepts to most people, but the combination of the two into a sustainable, successful
biological semi-enclosed system is a fairly new concept, though some may argue the concept is centuries
old.
The Concept
The concept seems fairly simple, the fish need clean well-oxygenated water to live and thrive, while plants need
water, carbon dioxide, oxygen and nutrients as well as sunshine. So surely we can use the plants to filter the
nutrients out of the water, developing a symbiotic relationship between the two, the fish feed the plants, the
plants clean the water for the fish.. The concept is mimicking nature, yet in a more compact enclosed scenario,
in reality it’s almost a micro system of a pond, stream and field ecosystem, plants absorbing nutrients out of the
water as the water flows down streams, or from plants at the edges of ponds and lakes. With fish adding
nutrient to the water, the water then being pumped back up to the top of the cycle again, and dropping in the
form of rain, a constantly cycling balanced system.
Components
There are three main elements to aquaponics and all three are essential for success, firstly there’s the fish, then
the plants, so what’s the third essential element? Bacteria. As the fish breath they give off ammonia through
their gills this has to exit the system somehow. Ammonia is of no use to plants and this is where the
microscopic workers, the bacteria, come into play. Two main types of bacteria break down the ammonia in the
water. Nitrosomonas bacteria break down the ammonia (NH) into nitrites (NO), then Nitrobacter bacteria
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steps into play and oxidises the nitrite into nitrate (NO) . Nitrates are a form of nitrogen which plants can use,
3
extracting it from the water and thus cleaning the water at the same time. Other nutrients essential to plant
growth such as potassium, phosphorous, magnesium etc come from the food fed to the fish, the faeces of the
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Description:BACKYARD AQUAPONICS A Guide to Building A Backyard System Joel Malcolm Western Australia www.backyardaquaponics.com
