I started an Aquaponics system last spring, i started cycling the system with minnows, then added 20 bg (found to be a mix of hbg, gsf, bg),, after a few weeks i added 25 yp.. the tank was a 110 gallon stock tank, the growbeds were two 55gal barrels cut in half..last fall i moved one pair of the gb's inside to keep the fish alive over winter, and used 3 55 gallon glass tanks on the floor for the fish, i added rosy red minnows and crayfish in one of the 55 gal tanks,, bigger fish in one tank, and new yp in the other tank.. i lost a few fish last year, some to disease, some stolen... the only fish i lost in the basement were 5 jumpers the first night (netting was added the second day, just ran out of time)
then i started thinking,,,, and thats when the trouble started.. i found an 8' intex pool for 15 bucks, so bought it and set on 1.5" insulation in the basement.. seeing all that water, i bought 50 rosy reds and a 3 dozen crayfish and put them in the pool.. i found two crayfish that made it from last year and they went in the pool as well..so since i had a pool with fish in it, i did up a quick filter in a 55 gallon drum..
i found 2 more 55 gallon tanks to use as well..
then i got 4 IBC Totes.. these will be cut down to be my growbeds and i'll continue to use t8 flourescents (32 watt) for my veggies... so, i downloaded google sketch the other day and layed out my "basic" system.. the pool filled to the "fill line" is something like 696 gallons.. i'd like to have at least 1:1 growbed to ft volume, but will probably have to settle for less.. the "formula" that i have been using is 25lbs grown out fish for every 100 gallons of filtration..so with 1:1 i can safely grow out 150lbs of fish.. i've got glass shrimp in the tanks, and daphnia.. snails made there way in with some duckweed (using duckweed for my crayfish tank filtration, been running for one month with now problems, but i regularly test my water for ph, nitrites, nitrates
anyways, enough of the rambling.. here's the layout;
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http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/download/file.php?id=40124[/img]
