Fish Tank Completed and Tilapia Digging!

So the fish tank is now done and stands in the system base filled with water and some of my tilapias just to see if pumps, heater and things work. Also a couple of those tilapias i moved to the new smaller tank have been digging nests and things i my bigger tank but they get disturbed all day so nothing happens there. Thought i would move them to a less crowded tank to see if that helps them spawning but no luck yet, guess moving them maybe stressed them a bit coming to a new tank and all.

I will also start connecting the grow beds today with some pipes and stuff to get the water to flow from the tank to the beds but also from the beds back to the fish tank. The tank to grow bed will be connected using some hose i have and the drain back to fish tank will be done using some smaller PVC pipes i bought over at Aquaristic.net for both this and some other projects.

Bellow are some pictures of the finished tank (no fish or stuff on this picture, ill get one up soon) and also 2 nests that some of my tilapias have made in my bigger tank.

A bit of progress!

Howdy!

Been a while since last time i managed to post something here but there have still been some work done and i feel that i am not far away from getting it finished. Some smaller things that i have done are ordering tubes and hose for the pumps, connections, joints and what not, also building of the fish tank has been started but more about that in bit.

Going to try to run with 2 pumps in the system which i have in the "stuff-that-can-be-usable"-box. One will be connected to the hose that pumps water to the grow bed and placed in the fish tank. The other pump i have will just run in the fish tank as internal filter with some sort of sponge filtering media so the water will stay clear.

Bellow are some pictures of some work i have done, like adding some bolts and a bunch of "Tee Nuts" that will allow me to get the base flat and leveled out. Live in a old house and not everything is flat and leveled around here so it´s a nice feature, wheels could be added instead if needed.

Bellow are also some pictures of my new tank cleaners which are 3 big (15-20cm) "Glyptoperichthys gibbiceps" or just Gibbiceps that i got to keep the algae in my tank to a minimum and they are quite effective. Took em around one night to clean my 120x45cm big front window clean from all that green algae that was growing there.

Now to my bigger project of this aquaponic system, building a fish tank/aquarium from scratch that will fit into the wooden base. Never built an aquarium before so it was quite a challenge and a fun to see if i would manage to get it free from leaks, which i hope i did. Tank is 46x33x45 (Length x Depth x Height) and will hold around 60 Liters of water. Built it using 6mm glass that a local glass company, i got it cheap since it was scrap bits and some already used sheets that had been old windows in stores etc.

Since i am not a professional when it comes to apply silicone (yet!) it got quite messy and the joints where maybe a bit to big but there are solutions to that. Add some wood pieces over the corners and edges that covers the ugly silicone and you are back in the game.

May also have gotten my hands on a new aquarium that may be a nice addition to my living room and of course i got some great aquaponic ideas when i was asked by a friend if i wanted to have their old aquarium they have just standing in the basement for some years. Some cool indoor living room aquaponic system growing maybe some cool peppers and chili's maybe?

Progress update and some thoughts.....

Been working a bit today with completing the system and now i feel that i have come quite a bit just a bit small woodwork left on the base but that can be done anytime so i will wait with that until i have time to go buy some more material and paint.

Today i also mounted the consoles and test placed some grow beds and a temporary fish tank, plan is to build a 110L aquarium that fits in nice at the bottom of the system since it will be odd measurements guess i need to make it myself. A minor change to the system is that i will not grow in the netpots that i was thinking to do first, was a pain in the ass to make all the holes in the lids so ill just fill the entire grow bed with expanded clay and grow directly in that.

Next thing that i need to do is figure out how the system will work, ill probably go the ebb & flood way flooding one grow bed at a time and let the top bed drain into the bed directly under and keep doing so until it drains back to the fish tank. Or should one flood all the beds at the same time? Not sure whats the best solution but i guess the future will tell.

Have not yet came up with a good design for the reflectors and fixtures for the grow lights but there is no rush yet since i have no plants in the system, or fish. Planted some different seeds today some bush tomatoes, peppers, herbs and lettuces which i hope will survive and get transplanted into the aquaponic system in the future.

On Monday i plan to go out and buy the last pieces like hose, tubes, airstone, airpump, water pump and all those other small bits and pieces that i will need for the system.

Bellow are some pictures on how it looks at the moment and some "under construction" pictures.

More parts for the indoor system

Yesterday after work i went by the pickup point and got some more of the parts for my indoor aquaponic system. The content of the package was some 3" netpots, 6x1.25m Diamond Mylar (A reflective sheeting that i probably will use for my DIY reflectors) and 300 Rockwool Plugs that will be used to raise seeds and cuttings before they are transplanted into the netpots. Later today ill update after with some pictures from the mounting of consoles and other parts on the "base" structure also some sketches on how i thought the DIY Reflectors will look.

Bellow is a bad cellphone picture of the stuff.

My first small DIY Aquaponics System

ELLOOOO World!

At the moment i have no running Aquaponic system but i am currently building one that i hope will be up and running in a short while. Bellow are some images of the "base" of the system where all hardware will be mounted. This is a "smaller" system that i have based on the simple design of a Hydroponic system called "Eliooo" (more about this can be found over at eliooo.com) easy to build using parts from Ikea.

This will be a indoor system that uses artificial light from low energy CFL bulbs to grow smaller things like herbs, lettuce and also for propagating seeds and cuttings. The system could be directly mounted on a wall using the brackets and stuff from Ikea but since i want to be able to easily move the system i constructed a simple "base" that will house everything and make the system easier to move.

The base are built using standard 45x45mm, 22x95mm wood that are made in the form of an "L" with in my case is about 190cm high, 48cm wide and 48cm deep that will fit 3-4 grow beds and a fish tank at the bottom. Over each grow bed there will hang a diy fixture with 4 CFL bulbs each at around 20-30w and 2700 to 6500 Kelvin depending on their purpose. I have also been thinking about mounting PL-L lights instead but those ballasts and sockets are a bit more expensive than standard E27 Socket bulbs and hardware. Maybe 3-4 PL-L lights per grow bed rated at say 55w each would be great but that will be a future project.

What kind of fish this system will use i am not sure, since it is so small and the fish tank probably only will end up being 50-60L they are not for eating but i could use it for smaller fingerlings or been thinking about goldfish which are quite hardy fishes. :)

Below are some pictures of the "base" waiting for another coat of paint and some minor work left before i take it out the basement and mount the consoles etc from Ikea.

Welcome to my new site!

Hello and Welcome!

This is a new site about my DIY aquaponic systems that i am currently building this site will be some sort of sandbox where i can collect ideas, thoughts and details about growing plants and fish with the help of aquaponics. My personal goal is that in the future have a simple and stable system that produces crop for my family year round both indoor and outdoor with almost no effort.

Since i live in Sweden with quite cold climate there is quite a struggle to find fish, plants and solutions that are cost effective!

Hope you will come back when the site gets more posts! Stay tuned!

Regards,
Tom