DIY Fish farm for the back yard, bit of a teaser clip...
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- Finally finished the initial build of the recirculating aquaculture/fish farm.. Still full of leaks & have a few pipes to alter but am most happy with how she's running :) Is nothing some blue glue & teflon tape can't fix ;)
Will be posting a more in-depth look later on once it's all up & running..
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Rob Bob's Backyard Farm & Aquaponics can you show me where you got your design and also a diagram with how everything works and how to connect it properly
Cool. Excited to see it in action. You've put in a lot of work on this build, so I know you are too.
Morning James :) Certainly has been a fun build :)
Waiting on one more part to be delivered but hope to have it up & running by tonight :) Have one more adaptation I might add but shall wait to see if it's needed first..
Cheers & have a great one sir :)
Looks like an excellent system. One I’d be very proud of.
It worked well while it was running. Think I'll be sticking to aquaponics from now on though. ;)
Thanx rob for your feedback on my question i couldn't find which video i subscribed to so i just put it under this one. i am constructing my own system out of ibc's but i will have trout in it because I am in SA. I have a silver perch in my fish tank and in one of your videos you mentioned how they don't really like the new food. My silver perch took quite a while to adjust to his feed and when I tried feeding him some new stuff he didn't like it for the first week or two but slowly got used to eating it. That's all from me hope that helps
Things are looking great my friend ! You truly are a handy man!
Cheers Stephen.. Has taken a fair bit of trial & error to get it all sorted..
Have a great one..
Looks VERY promising! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers mate & have a great one,
Rob.
Great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks 👍
Putting a thick cloth/rag over the venturi air intake should get you finer bubbles, and maybe muffle the sound too.
Hey there..
Ended up swapping the venturis for a couple I bought a while back when we were first planing the system.. I think they work a bit better than the Ebay units but still think the cheap ones are good for the $ you pay..
Cheers,
Rob.
That is just too cool! You've got it going on, Rob!
Cheers... Is all a work in progress ;)
Have a great one,
Rob..
hey Rob looking good and with the noisy venturi in mine i put a bit of old pillow filler that shuts them up make it a bit tight it doesn't alter the way they work the pillow filler also make for a cheap filter wadding as well keep up the good work mate.
Afternoon sir :)
Ended up swapping them out with some I bought a while back that were intended to go into the fish farm.. These cheap units work OK but the others have a bit more air coming through them I think..
Cheers mate & catch ya later..
Your system looks good Rob.
It is getting close to being complete :)
Thanks mate :)
Will be plugging it in this afternoon hopefully..
Cheers John :)
If you are still having issues with your pumps try grundfos they are very reliable and last for decades when used proper , they a little more money but well worth the money. 10000 lph pump models are 32-100 and 32-80 . Hope this is helpful
+Fish Enthusiast
The pump I'm running in the system now is doing OK 👍
Had a quick look thanks. Not quite the style of pump I like to use. Will have a better look at other models when I get some time.
Cheers mate.
Looks great. I may have to look into aquaculture. It would be a great way to pretreat/fertilize water for non aquaponic plants in the garden.
Hi Ronnie..
Think I will be adding grow beds onto this in the end but for now it all about getting some extra experience.. I think the plants in the soil patch are going to love all the waste..
Cheers sir & have a great one,
Rob.
Looking good Rob!
Thanks Graham...
Cheers mate & have a great week :)
I'm building a system just like this thanks for the ideas!
Nice one Brandon..
Any chance of a clip once it's up & running mate ?
Cheers & have fun with the build,
Rob..
Looks great! Inspiring.
Cheers :)
Have a great one,
Rob :)
There is no way for the gravity fed inlets to the radial filter to push solid waste up that long pipe. The larger waste will more than likely settle inside at the bottom of that pipe and might end up clogging that pipe. You had the design right on your moving bed bio-filter video.
Hey mate..
The system has been running since April 2014 & have found no large build up of solids accumulating in the pipes at all.. Haven't posted a clip on the cleaning of the radial flow filter with this system but shall do one next clean to show you how much solids actually accumulate over a week..
Cheers mate & have a great one..
Rob..
Looks good!
Thanks Susan..
Hope all are well & happy :)
Rob..
Much better now, Thanks!
Susan Rogers :)
interesting setup you have there.
Cheers Dave :)
Nice setup just 3 questions,1.Whats the wattage of the pump ?2.And what will be the purpose of the float valve that will be in the sump tank? 3.Is the SLO better than having the overflow exit from the bottom of the tanks as I have seen in other setups?
I gave the pump away so can't double check but from memory it was a 180W
The float was to keep the water level of the system constant at all times. Basically to act as an auto top up after filters were cleaned.
I like the SLO as it means that there is always a constant height of water in the tank at all times, even if the plumbing fails outside the FT somewhere else in the system.
Hope that helps some. 👍
Wotcha! Very impressive Sir! Try cutting some clean foam/sponge and stick it into the noisy ventury, it will stop the sucking noise.
What fish are you going with?
The foam acts like a choke and will reduce the bubble size. The more you push the foam in the smaller the bubbles get, but as the air flow isnt reduced (much) you still get the same volume of air.
Hey Michael...
Found an easier fix, replaced the venturi with another :D Couldn't find a fault in it so it must of been something hidden from sight..
I think the new ones actually work a bit better.. The cheap ones are for liquid dosing & I'm fairly sure the new ones are for gas...
Thanks mate & have a great one..
Rob..
The system looks great. Will you be running the system 24-7 when you have it up and stocked with fish? Are the fish you are going to use very sensitive to oxygen levels?
Hi there..
It will be running 24/7 on a 50W pump.. I think I will be running a separate airline into the bio filter & put an air stone in there.. will be playing around with that later today..
I think there shall be enough air going through with the venturi.. Would really like to get my hands on a dissolved O2 meter just so I can have piece of mind but the price is a bit prohibitive..
Cheers..
Hope you see this: first off thanks for all the videos Second even after watching you how to on the sold wast removal I can not seem to wrap my head around how it works. The smaller bucket has the water going into it from the tanks? But I do not understand how the water drains into the larger barrel back into the system. What am I missing? Used the stand pipe in the small bucket and the solids collecting in it. I hear you say you can drain the solids from the large barrel. Hope you understand what I am asking so you can point out what I am missing. Thanks
Hi there.
The small internal bucket has no base. As the water flows under its bottom edge it looses velocity so the solids can fall out onto the base of the filter so it can be collected later.
Hope that helps some. If not, I'm working on a clip that explains how the radial flow settlers like this one work & hope to have it uploaded to the channel in the next few weeks.
Cheers mate.
Great and thanks fromEast Canada and new subscriber
There was a restaurant outside Pumona California (USA)... and in the front window during hunting season it had a sign "You kill it we cook it". Jeannie (the owner) was in the office when someone came in the back door to the kitchen. "I have something for you to cook" Someone yelled. "Just give it to the cook and write on the specials chalk board what animal it was" Called Jeannie from the office. An hour later she came out of the office for dinner service and asked the cook why it said "My friend John" on the order board.
:D :D
Nice one... Thanks for the laugh..
Cheers & have a great one Terry :D
Thanks for the tips Rob, the information you gave a good. As soon as I am finished with the growbeds, I plan to do the same installation, with the venturis DIY. I am planning Tilapias because it's invasive, so I want to turn an ecological threat into opportunity.
Nice plan Frederic.. We have them in the waterways here as well but aren't allowed to keep them for some reason... There is no way they will be able to get them out of the rivers now :/
Have fun with the build mate,
Rob :)
Brilliant work Rob Bob!! (Y)
Thanks Daniel... Have had some great teachers methinks..
All the best,
Rob.
I found this very useful today. cool set up man! what kind of fish are you going to keep there?
saludos desde Costa Rica ;)
I was keeping Australian native Jade & Silver perch (_Scortum barcoo & Bidyanus bidyanus_ ).
Tilapia & some of the Central/South American species would work as well.
Very nice system so far. Looks like just a few details to work out, like that noisy venturi. If anyone can get it sorted, it's you. You may have mentioned this in a past video, but how many fish do you think you can keep in these tanks? I assume the limitation will be how much the biofilter can handle. Great work!
Hi there...
Ended up swapping those venturi out for some I had purchased ages ago from Earthan group.. The new ones are a lot quieter & look to be doing a better job for the time being.. Might play arounf=d with adding the home made jobbies in yet, shall see how we go..
I think for the first run we will only have 35 fish in each tank.. At this point it looks like it will be Jade perch in both & we will wait until next spring before we look at buying in other species..
Cheers & have a great one..
Rob.
Looks great so far. I can't wait to see it in full operation. Why is the venturi in the right so loud ? Is it that the right pipe run is longer ? Thanks for the update & keep up the great work.
Hey Lawrence...
No idea mate... Was thinking that there could be some swarf stuck in the air port... Shall check it out in the morning..
Cheers & have a great one,
Rob.
Nice good job !!!
Cheers..
Have a great one,
Rob.
I've wanted to grow fish in an aquaculture system for a while now. I always thought my biggest issue was figuring out and deciding what fish were eatable/sellable to grow. Now I'm starting to think the entire set up may be over my head.
Can I get some more details on the solid waste system ?
It's a basic radial flow settler Mikhail. An upscaled version of this one from our old aquaponics system.
ruclips.net/video/mKWXkf9j5Qc/видео.html
Hope that helps some for now. Will be uploading a clip showing how I build our larger one when I rework the main system in a few months time.
Question : the pump gets most of the solid waste from the tank either to the filter or the grow bed ?
@@mikhaildennis1014 Depends on how the system is configured. I prefer to pump water from a sump tank to the fish tank then let the exiting water pick up & transport the solids via a solids lifting outlet.
I give a description of it here,
ruclips.net/video/qXtvljDYkfI/видео.htmlm44s
Hope that helps
well done you!
Thanks Bella..
Have a great one :)
Rob.
could you provide a link to the venturis? Did you do a post on your homemade versions?
Hi there Scott.. Here's the clip you're chasing,
DIY venturi, a few easy builds for aquaponics, aquaculture or hydroponics..
When the little clips pop up in the corners they are normally linked to other clips I've done to save me banging on about it again & turning the clips into marathon efforts..
Cheers mate & hope the clip helps you out some..
Rob..
Rob Bob , hello this is my first time writing to you , i hope you are in a good healt and mood, first sory for my bad coming english
i noticed that you have conected the sump tank & biofilter at the bottom level, that will lead to sucking watter from both of sump tank & biofelter tank which will reduse water level in biofeltter tank by the time the pump works , so, i think it would be better if you drage the coming out pipe from the biofilter up to the top of the sump tank , so the amount of water in the biofilter remains the same as you pump water to the system from the sump tank ,,, that will lead to the water level in just the sump tank goes down not in poth. in case you needed to add more water the float valve for water tank will come i handy
Cheers
Hi there. A lot changed in this system between this clip & the finished system. Not sure if I showed it in this clip but there was a standpipe in the sump tank that kept the biofilter about 3/4 full of water at all times.
Cheers & all the best.
Can I ask where you got those big grommet's? I need one today Great look Thanks!
Afternoon mate :)
They are Uniseals we got from the Australian distributor... I think they are available in some of the chain stores in the States.. Mr Google might be able to help you out there as their main US site doesn't have a stockist list that I could see..
Cheers & hope the build is coming along well :)
Rob.
Hey bob i am currently adding Algae scrubber, the idea is to have a light on the Algae scrubber as much as possible and pump air and water over a knitting mat, the idea is to give the best conditions for growing algae in the scrubber so it uses all the stuff that grows algae in your system and every so often clean it out and use as compost, you might want to add this to yours as well the good news is you don't have to clean out the Algae in your tanks ect they will die out on there own, but i do not know if this is good for a system like yours. FYI, i am going to be growing some indoor plants with some of the water from my tank just not on the scale you have so if any of my plants have stunted growth from the scrubber i will stop using it and will let you know when i am finished.
Cheers for that.. Have had a few folks suggest using algae to help with the nutrient load.. Am looking at using the solids waste water to feed a few beds & maybe a mineralisation tank for another project ;)
How big is your system mate ?
Cheers..
well as i said bro its not as big as your setup its just a 4ft tank about 300L + 2 Eheim external filters + the algae scrubber that i made installed this morning i plan to use the return water to go into some 4" PVC to grow a small garden of herbs maybe some baby tomatoes, but with the Algae scrubber you still grow the Algae just in a area that you control by giving the best conditions for Algae, there is heaps of videos on Algae scrubbers on here, i will send you some links if you like.
The only thing missing in my setup is your solid waste thing.
Thanks BlackIce504, shall have a look for a few clips to see what the scrubbers are about..
Have seen some small systems grow some great food so you might as well give it a crak..
I'm looking to make a setup like this to raise prawns in
Can't help you there sorry mate. Hope you find the info you need.
Your bio filter will not stay at a constant height it will rise and fall with sump level. So its like the bio is part of sump.
Hey James :)
The set up has had 2 more wet runs since the clip with a few more changes made.. There is a stand pipe in the sump that keeps the water at the level needed to keep the Bio full & it helps oxygenates the water a little bit as well.. Have ordered the last of the fittings today & will have them glued in by tonight ready to switch it on one last time tomorrow :) Hope to be picking up the fish for the system next Friday at this point..
Cheers Mate & have a great one..
Nice Progress Rob Bob. I am curious though, is it normal for the sump to be "topped up" (because of water lossfor some unknown reason wher the water level becomes low), either in an aquaponics setup or an aquaculture set up? If so do you have any idea how often one should "top up" his/her sump?
Morning :)
Water will always be needed to be topped up in these systems as it evaporates out, gets used to clean out filters or is transpired by the plants in the case of an aquaponic system.. Any waste water we remove doesn't go to waste as we have more than enough soil beds to add it to ;)
I normally top up the aquaponics every 10-14 days with about 2-400L.. It really depends on the weather & the amount of plants in the system at the time..
I have float valves ready to install into the reservoir but am just waiting to see what the water level will be sitting at once the system has been up & running for a while before I do..
Hope that helps some..
Ok, thanks alot for your help Rob. All the best with your project.
Hi thank you for the useful information, I want start my own fishing farm in 4000 meter area and it will cost me a fortune if I will build a concert pools 2*3 meters, so I decided to make it in a barrel like you, because it will be cheaper. Do you have please lates video so I can follow it step by step. Warm regards
And all my farm will be in the blue barrel only please advise if it’s good idea to build such big in the barrel. Thank you
Hi there mate. This was a one off experiment that was finished a few years ago sorry mate.
I didn't go on to release any plans as such as I think I could have done better. Sorry I'm not much helps.
I have been following you for quite some time. Great video. Thank you for such quality and clear information. I was wondering how much bio media would be needed for 2 ibc totes? Looking at starting up soon
It all depends on how much feed goes into the system for the fish.
Just for reference only, I needed 1L of PE03/K2 media to process the waste generated by a 500g/1lb fish eating between 10-15g of 35% protein feed with the warmer waters we get here in the subtropics.
Hope that helps a bit mate.
Yes sir. Thank you very much. I really enjoy your channel. Blessings to you and your family
Well thought out Rob. Do you plan on selling the fish ?
Thanks Larry.. Still tweaking it a bit at the moment but it's nearly there :)
The fish will be for our own consumption but will be looking into regulations behind selling them... You never know what the future may hold ;)
Cheers sir..
Rob Bob
mate, super impressed with the system! If your State Gov. is anything like mine, well, they'll make it extremely hard for you to sell! First there'll be the environmental mob, followed quickly by the Food Dept. Don't mean to sound negative, have been there in a previous incarnation!
Hi Greg Comerford .. Have been reading a few comments made by Paul Van about the hoops you need to jump through & coin needed to sell fish up here... Think we're better off just selling produce with the systems & eating the fish.. Looking at getting a few more tanks & grow beds soon.. Hope to have them in & sorted for next summer so that will help us out a bit..
Cheers mate..
nice setup do you add anything to the water before add the fish
Hi there... Might help seed the bacteria in the bio filter with some of the grow media from the aquaponic system but other than than nothing will be added..
Cheers & have a great week..
oh, thank for the replay
No problem YIFFYoFORoLIFE :)
do you have an aquarium in your house? Would you ever try a reef tank? looks like you like this stuff :)
ivanthegod Used to want a large aquarium set up but just don't have the room in our small house.. We do have a few small tanks with a few white cloud minnows in one & an orange finger yabbie/fresh water crayfish in the other..
instagram.com/p/zLi269Fn17/
Cheers :-)
Rob, how many fish does a system like this accommodate? Thanks for sharing with us.
Hi there :)
We were told that up to 100 is possible but 80 tops is a lot less work.. We plan on putting no more than 70 in there so we have some room to move if need be..
Cheers & have a great one..
What sort of fish
Dear Rob
1st of all
thanks a lot for that video it was of great help.
2nd of all
could you pls advise me by the items needed for establishing the farm, i don't have a backyard but i'll manage to make it inside the house or an empty apartment, i like the idea so much that i want to take it as a professional & to gain profits out of it but i'm tight with the finance, (which is another thing that i need you help for by the way) as in how much is enough to start this project to gain some money...
many thanks in advance, i really need your help.
have a nice weekend
Hi Mohamed & sorry I missed your post.
I'm not sure a system like this would be the best way to go if you want to turn a profit from it. I have retired this system & am only growing aquaponically now as as it stood the system needed a lot of upgrading & I didn't have the time.
Cheers.
Rob.
Wonderful project ...
Can I have the blue print for this setups please ?
No sorry as I don't think they worked as well as they could of.
If I every set up another stand alone aquaculture system I may make up a rough mud map to share.
Cheers.
Are you going to use the Jade Perch again or try something else out? I was supposed to get my Tilapia today but the guy I was getting them from had to postpone. Hopefully before next weekend. Only problem is, I live in "Zone 6." and we get cold for about half of the year. Gonna have to figure out something for probably September through April or even May every year :/
Well, after reading previous comments, I learned that I could have answered my own question, or rather, you had already answered it :p Anyway, great job, Rob! I hope it works well for you.
Is all good Eric Mastenbrook ... I'm guilty of typing first & reading later all the time on YT :/
Have a great one Eric :)
Rob,
I have four grow beds (1/2 barrels) and a 200 gal fish tank (no fish yet). I also have a spare 55 gal drum. Would the spare drum be overkill for a swirl filter? Thanks.
Sorry for missing this mate. I'd add in a solids filter but would go with a radial flow instead of a swirl. They collect a lot more than swirls according to a study I've seen on commercial units.
Cheers.
Hello Rob. John here from Chicago, Illinois USA. I've enjoyed catching up on your videos. Can wicking beds be a part of the aquaponics water closed loop system? If yes, can you show me. If no, could you elaborate on the why. Thanks so much, mate. Cheers
Hi there John...
Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you... For some reason I didn't get notifications for a lot of comments about a month back..
The system we bought to set up had 3 soil based Earthan beds we had to dig out.. They grew some really good veggies for Paul & his family over the past few years & we will be setting them up in a similar way here very soon..
Paul has some info on the various Earthan beds he has set up on his site if you are interested.. www.earthangroup.com.au/earthan-beds-how-they-go-together/ Some of his beds have been up & running for a few years now & still pumping out the veggies..
Will be posting clips on how ours go together at some point as well.. 2 will be made from the ones we bought & I hope to do up a DIY version with an IBC as well to show folks..
Hope that helps some,
Rob..
Hey Rob! I have to admit I have been watching your progress and have enjoyed/learned every bit of your way of genius. I couldn't help but comment on this one so here are my questions:
Are you going to be using the same concept for amonia removal as Aquaponics?
If so, how are these bacteria going to be outsting all of the nitrate from the water (I keep hearing nitrate is bad for fish)?
Cheers mate!
-Paul
Morning Paul :)
The PEO3 bio media in the biofilter will house the bacteria that will be doing the job that the media in the grow bed would normally do.. Nitrate (NO3-) can be toxic at really high levels but that shouldn't come into play here so I have been told..
Nitrite (NO2-) is the toxic one.. It can block O2 absorption in the fish causing "Brown Blood" disease.. As long as there is a healthy colony of bacteria in the biofilter the NO2- should be converted very rapidly...
Hope that helps some Mate & have a great weekend,
Rob :)
I gotcha. Good morning! I was just concerned because of what I have been reading. I completely understand, if what you are saying is true, that that nitrate levels may not be high enough to be bad for the fish. I am sure you have put a lot more research into this than you are putting out. However, I am sure you have started looking into this for similar reasons as I have. That being said, remembering how difficult it was to get nitrates out of my water once I got a good bateria colony grown, I started reading in a bunch of published research about how nitrate was bad for you in your drinking water. Linking what you are doing and the drinking water thing together, I just wanted to bring it to your attention to keep a close eye on this. Although the level of nitrate is low enough in the water for the fish to be fine, I am pretty sure the fish ends up keeping high concentrations of it in their body. This is the reason I have found that eating the fish from an aquaponics system may need to better reasearched.
I am seriously excited to see how this project of yours works out (vicariously of course). Please let me know what your thoughts are.
Thank you,
Paul
Paul Pearce
I have done little research into the effects of high nitrate levels effect on us to tell you the truth Paul, mainly look at it for the system side of things.. Thanks for that :)
There isn't much info on small fish farms like this so I am winging it & learning as I go..
Looks great Rob. Question for you about the venturi in the fish tanks. Do you think that running the feed pipe all the way down to near the bottom increase the amount of oxygen in the water by increasing the amount of water the bubbles contact the water? We really enjoy your videos, and will be building our first aquaponics set up this year.
Hi there..
I read a paper from a University in the States that did a study on dissolved O2 & they suggested that that you would be right.. Small bubbles have a larger surface area by volume & the longer they are in the water the more O2 gets dissolved into it..
Unfortunately I lost the links to a lot of good articles & sites while transferring files to this computer.. Should probably try & hunt them down again..
Cheers & have a great one :)
Rob.
Good stuff Rob, this looks very exciting! I'm curious, why did you decide to build one of these systems? Is it to turn a profit and/or personal food production or... :) I think you're doing a great job man, keep it up.
Hi there Mr Wayne :)
As a learning experience as well as to see if we are able to provide ourselves with more home grown healthy protein.. Would love to have sheep & Dexter cattle but it's just not feasible here :/
I think this system will end up being turned into an aquaponic system eventually when I'm allowed to spread further into the lawn :)
Cheers mate & have a great weekend :)
Rob.
I enjoy watching your video, was just wondering with the fish farm, as you don't have plants to take up the Nitrate build up, how do you get rid of it from the water, because I believe a high level of nitrate is not good for fish over a long period
Morning Tiannella :)
Water & solid waste will be removed from the system 2-3 times a week via the radial flow filter clean out.. This should help keep reduce some of the NO3..
It will be something that get monitored constantly & if I think it is getting out of control it won't take much to add a few grow beds onto the system to help lower the levels.. Have been told by others that that shouldn't be the case so will be interesting to see how it goes :)
Cheers,/
Rob.
Im looking at setting up an aquaponic vegetable garden with my grandmother so she has something to do is there much work in setting up the water ponds for fish/ yabbies?
Hi Perrie. I spend no more than 5 min a day feeding fish & harvesting plants most days.
This clip here might give you a better perspective. ► ruclips.net/video/16gLZziEx_I/видео.html
Sorry it took so long to respond & hope the clip helps some.
Cheers.
Is this for saltwater fish? Or can it be used for salt water fish?
I'm not sure to tell you the truth mate. I built this based on a fresh water aquaculture designers workshop.
About how many liters of clay does it take to fill one of those icb tote trays?
I cut them at about 1ft / 300mm so about 300L / 80gal Mike. 👍
is your radial flow filter water level below the fish tank water level? if so do you need a much larger diameter pipe for the outlet of the radial filter?
thanks
Hi +Ferris Whitehouse & sorry for the slow reply.
The water level in the RFF can be below the water level of the fish tank. The pipe size exiting it can be the same diameter as the pip running into it as it will be a constant flow through the whole unit if that makes sense (think I need more coffee).
Sorry for missing your post when you made it mate & hope you have the filter sorted by now.
Cheers.
+RobBobs Backyard Farming Thinking back to when I asked that I probably needed more coffee myself. Thanks for the response, using the same size pipe throughout the system seems obvious now.
+Ferris Whitehouse
No problem at all mate.
Cheers.
Hi Rob
I am new to this, and really excited about it. I have watched many youtube videos and on aqua culture and aquaponics. I am looking to starting a system. When starting up can you tell me how you prep your water supply if you have to get it from the tap?
Also with the setup you show here, will you also be adding aeration via a air pump for the fish?
Hi Karen... Sorry I missed your post... Have found quite a few I have missed tonight :-/
With the water all we do is let it sit for any remaining chlorine to gas off.. After that I had to lower the pH as it as sitting just over 8.. I used acid (had one false start but got it right the second time) to bring it down to 7 as I'm cycling the system with the fingerlings in there..
I have no problem with adding air pumps.. Am just trying to make the system up with as few parts & therefore fail points as I can.. Might end up adding one in to the system yet over summer when the water temperature increases, shall just have to wait & see..
Have done some other follow up clips if your interested on how it's progressed..
ruclips.net/p/PLBcWprMIwYYiN43MlB7r6betKAM4_bMXs
Cheers & hope the clips have given you a few ideas..
Rob..
That's going to put a lot of wear on the pump
All the pumps helps up fine except for the second hand one. They are also mag drive so can handle a fair amount of retarded flow rates.
Use that "mistake" to insert an electronic water quality and temperature gauge. It is a perfect spot for it :)
Hi There Frank :)
The pump on there at the moment is a 50W jobbie.. Will be adding some air in via a 85W compressor that is also running the bio in the aquaponics so I suppose you could say it will be about 90W all up if they are running at their full potential..
In $$ that is equal to 2.25WWH per day which is about $0.60 or so a day to run... Less for us as we have a solar feed in system on the house :)
I think I may use the mistake to run an extra line into the bio filter.. Will have to see what the flow is like once all the alterations are finished.. Would be a handy spot for a probe though..
Thanks & cheers Mate..
Have a great one..
Paul From Berringa Bob as I said to you over the phone I am old and new to this,you said to Karren Plumer down below you used Hydrocloric Acid to bring thePH down ,What do you do to bring the PH up as always thanks for your help.
Hey Paul.. Sorry I missed the post mate..
To bring it back up I have been using calcium hydroxide (brickies lime) in small amounts.. Use the same in the aquaponics as well..
I have had a few issues with this system over the past few weeks so might start looking at using bicarb soda (baking soda) in he future.. Just want to look into it a bit more first.. Wouldn't use it in the aquaponics though due to the sodium content..
Hope that helps mate & sorry again for the time it took to reply..
Cheers mate..
Where I live we've had over 20 consecutive days of weather that is above triple digits. How do I combat high Temps besides draining 50g plus.
We get a week or two a year up around triple digits & find shade covering a must GF. If it happens yearly you might want to think about adding insulation to the tanks or partially burring them. I have seen folks run chiller systems as an emergency backup for heat waves but the systems are generally fairly small (under 500gal). Probably not an economically viable option for larger or commercial systems.
Oh wow, from before the aquaponics..... I was waiting for you to tell me where the grow bed goes lol 😂
😄 I knocked this up after running the first IBC ponic's system for a while. Ran well & did it's job but I like the idea of growing vegg as well.
Cheers.
nice
Thanks..
Cheers & have a great one..
Rob.
Hey Rob love your video can you tell me what size pump you used in litres and how much k1 you will be using thanks cheers Jason
I used 3 different pumps on this system. I think the last one I used was a sunsun from Guppies.
The amount of bio needed depends on how much feed then waste needs to be processed as well as the climate you're growing in.
I used 90L in this system
Cheers mate.
How many fishes can this tank hold?
I had enough biofiltration to stock 50 fish in each tank at 500G in weight. 👍👍
could you farm shrimp using this method
I'm not sure sorry. I haven't looked into salt water farming here.
Hay! Rob, how many fish can this set up accommodate, as a max
and can you have yabbies in with them
Hey Robert..
I plan on having 35 Jade perch in each tank but I think it was suggested that you could go up to 50 depending on the species..
Not sure about yabbies in the tanks.. Think I would rather keep them separate..
Cheers Mate,
Rob.
That is actually k1 media k3 is much bigger
I actually meant PE03 by Smallboss but as most use Kaldness I stuffed up. 😉
Hi Rob
Got to love a rainy Sunday :-)
Are you going to get more Jade perch or some thing els like silver perch or cat fish my be barra .thanks for the vid
Hey Darren.. Still not 100% sure what will end up in there yet.. Was going to settle for Jades but also have a heater that could be used & try some barra as well.. Have spoken to a chap in the know about it & he said barra is doable but also want to double check with the hatchery folks as well..
Cheers mate & have a good one..
Rob..
Ok! so you connect the white tube to the blue bucket thingy... got it... wait....
:-D
Think you got that right David :-/
Might need to go check in the morning ;-)
Cheers mate & have a great one..
what is the Use of sum tank
It allows the pump to be located in a central position to move the water between the 2 tanks.
Cheers.
Do the venturi's keep O2 levels sufficient in your fish culture or do you use them only to supplement?
In this system they were the only O2 that was added. In the aquaponic system behind this set yup I run both venturis & air from a pump 👍 I had a pump burn out which left the fish with no air so decided it was best to run both now ;)
Cheers.
why not plumb it into the aquaponics and share water?
Hey Adam..
Don't have the room for extra grow beds at the moment so am having a shot at a t=straight aquaculture system.. Can always hook up some beds in the future if we want.. Need to get the OK from the "Boss" to take over more of the yard first though ;)
Also want to be able to say I have run a pure aquaculture system... Is all extra experience when I look for work after my days of being a home dad are over..
Cheers mate..
Hi ***** ..
Shall be popping in a bag full of clay balls from the aquaponics straight into the bio to hep seed the system... Has been a fun build that's for sure :)
Cheers mate..
Hi your system look amazing we are just starting out and your video,s are great for information but I would like to ask what do you have the set up covered with eg shade cloth or plastic/tarp does it matter if the system get wet
Hi Diane..
Over the fish tanks we have 2 runs of 90% of shade cloth & am not too worried about rain.. There will be a 50-80L/13-21gal buffer to allow for rain all but I don't think that will ever be needed.. Ideally it would be better set up under a rainproof structure or in a basement though..
Hope that helps some.. You thinking of building some sort of aquaculture system?
Rob
Rob Bob Hi Rob thanks for your reply yes we are planning to have a go we have decided to start off with a small system using goldfish my husband and I have really enjoyed your you tube clips giving us lots of ideas on how to set our system up we look forward to more clip :)
That's great Diane love & hope you have fun with the build :) Let me know if you're after any information..
Cheers,
Rob :)
hello Rob. Just been browsing through your videos and have lerned a lot. I am very keen on starting with aquaponics, but I do have a few queries. Presently I am in Portugal and the weather here is typical Winter/summer. So I have in winter a cold weather with minimums of 6ºC and max 16ºC and in summer Min 15 and max 36º. I am originbally from Africa and Tilapia over there is comsumed a lot, but in Europe they prefer salt water fishes. So I have a problem since I cannot mix sweet and salty water. So I think that Trout could be viable. They seem to prefer cold water. Do you think they will withstand the warmer water in summer? Will they adapt to various cultures of greens? Can I start off with fertilizers on the NFT system?
+Julio Silva
Hi Julio.
Really don't know too much about trout sorry as it's a bit warm to grow them here. They use Rainbow trout down south where it's cooler during winter but think water temp over 24°C is too much for them.
I have seen a bloke go to the trouble of refrigerating the water to grow them through summer here but he was also a refrigerator mechanic so know what he was doing.
I have seen some folks just use urine with compost & worm casting teas to grow with but am not sure about the health risks involved.
Sorry I'm not much help mate but hope the build goes well for you.
A great teaser of your *Aquaculture* system Rob! I love it. I'm going to build one *just like it* so I hope you have it all right! LOL
I hope I have it all sorted out as well Blake :/ ;) Still ironing out some kinks at the moment but hope to have it sorted soon.. Want to do it right the first time around so we don't lose any more fish :/
Cheers sir & all the best to you & yours :)
I think i saw a leak near the pump
:D Think I saw half a dozen ;)
Cheers & have a great week..
Rob :)
I was looking for minecraft afk fishing farm but this is cool too
🤣 Got to love the rabbit hols RUclips sends you down.
Here because I had delusions of growing my own fish. After watching this video I'm like... ain't no freaking way
🤣 That system actually ran very smoothly once I ironed out a few kinks.
Have you looked into aquaponics at all? You get plants as well out of that style of system.
what are your references to making this aquaculture system. any books you recommend
+Daven Moralez
Hi Daven.
There are no publications for small backyard systems that I've come across unfortunately.
I picked up a lot of tips from a "Build a fish farm in a day" workshop put on by Paul Van from Earthan Group. It's basically an aquaponic system with bio media in a biofilter replacing the grow bed media that you would normally grow plants in.
Sorry I'm not much help mate.
+Rob Bob's Backyard Farming is it a vid on RUclips? thanks for the help
+Daven Moralez
No sorry mate but he did film it. Think he's been busy with a few f the large aquaponic & aquaculture builds to find time to edit it :-/ This is his FB page if you want to see what he's up to
facebook.com/earthanedge/?fref=ts
Just loved the design and the idea of working with simple material. If you don't have to much room for the grow beds, why don't you go vertical? This tower design has one of the best yeild I've seen for a pvc tower: ruclips.net/video/X2wWTadsBDA/видео.htmlm54s [...] and in the future you can also think of turn your system automatic by using arduino based sensors... ;)
Hi there.. This system will probably have some grow beds hooked up in the long run as space permits but for the time being I am enjoying the challenge of building a straight aquaculture system.. The way this has been build it will take an hour or so to reconfigure the filters to allow for the beds to be added..
Have seen that clip a few times now.. He's put a lot of effort & time into his system design, most impressive.. We might add more bells & whistles on in the future to automate things as the systems grow but for now I'm still trying to expand my knowledge on the fundamentals of aquaculture..
Thanks again & have a great one,
Rob.
i you still farming even now?
Not with this setup but have an aquaponics system on the go. 👍👍
You sound Aussie where are you from.im from central vic
Hi Blake.
We're in SE QLD out at Ipswich. 👍
Cheers.
I've finished my system there's is a short clip on my channel if you'd like to look
Cheers mate... Will suss it out later today..
Have a great one Brandon..
Rob.
Can i ask you for drawings
I never made any up for this as I think it could be improved upon.
Sorry Fan Chan.
did you fix the noise.. it sounds like you have air getting in or you bought some cheap "corona virus" crap :)
It was fixed as you'll see in later clips if you're working through the playlist.
Those cheap venturis are only good for liquid injection so I stick with the ones designed for aquaculture now. 😉
@@RobsAquaponics Cool. Im accumulating a start in Aquaculture (200 IBC's) and Ive also looked at a lot of systems. I was talking with the head of Fisheries.. Dr..?? I was a little pissed off that we cant just suddenly become players in the fish sales game unless we have a license even if we are doing a RAS system from a shed, any way, Back when I first did the Fisheries course many eons ago, I found out I needed a farm, finally have farm and I now need a license.. F@CK ME.. so Im looking at doing some course to update me with all the new world problems that probably dont exist but I have to still be ready for in a RAS system.
complicated
+Johny Hansen
Can't be that hard, I managed to build & run it ;-) :-D
Cheers.
Hi rob..great video..I have a couple of questions..could you explain a little more about the first stage of your filter system..is this just a venturing to slow down the waste??..second can you detail out how your removing the waste from the tanks?..last question..how many fish does your tanks hold?
The first stage is the radial flow like solids settler. Most of the solids settle out in there then the clean water runs through to the biofilter. The media in the bio filter is agitated by water & air introduced by the venturi in the base.
The waste is removed from the fish tank by the Solids Lifting Outlets (SLO for short) then delivered into the solids settler.
This link will take you to a more detailed explanation of the SLO & after that it moves onto the solids settler ruclips.net/video/2FTlha0c2aA/видео.htmlm12s
How many fish depends on the amount of bio filtration. In this system I had enough to process the waste from 95-100 fish.
I would not recommend more than 40 fish in a 1000L IBC tank like these.
Hope that helps some. Cheers.
@@RobsAquaponics thanks rob...understand perfectly.....great channel..keep up the great work...stay safe!
Hi Rob.
I recall seeing on a previous video your DIY radial filter with the drain in the center of a bucket?
Instead of siphoning 20 litres of solids from the bottom, why not make a disc from some plastic or NF metal sheet that fits tightly inside the bucket plus an inch or 2 wider diameter ?
Make the middle hole the size of the drain hole and then make a radial cut from inner circ to outer circ.
Now you can overlap the 2 sides and form a cone that can be screwed, siliconed or rivetted together.
Then all your sediment will rest in the enter waiting for drain off to flush it clean ?
Simon
Have seen folks make up cone based drums but it's not something I've tried. I find using my basic DIY drain fitting & using a pump to remove the solids to work really well. 👍
I am thinking about buying a purpose made cone based drum for our large build in a few months time.
Cheers.
Do you have to treat the water like in a home aquarium? We used to treat our water before putting the fish in. Can’t remember what the chemical is called
Generally a system is "cycled" first so the chlorine & chloramines will have dissipated before the fish go in. I will treat emergency top up water if it's more than 10% of the volume of the system but if it's under that I have used straight tap water before. You can use ascorbic acid as well to treat the water if it's an emergency to remove the chlorine & chloramine.
OMG! Awesome set up you got there, bro! I only have a couple of blue drum with me to grow tilapias. Keep vlogging! Love it!
Cheers mate. This system was dismantled a number of years back bow (2016 from memory) but am still running aquaponics.
You are so brilliant. I'm only hoping that by listening to your "nattering" I might learn more about plumbing, fittings, siphons and pumps. I look forward to more. Thanks!
Hi there... Hope you get some ideas from the clips.. YT, a few forums & sites are where I have picked up most of the info I'm using :)
Cheers & hope you have planing your build :)
Rob..
Hey what kinda fish you gonna farm. Tilapia?
Not here in Australia Dave. HUGE fines per fish if you're caught with them.
I use the Aussie native Silver & Jade perch in this aquaculture system as well as our aquaponics. 😁👍
Hope the build goes well for you Dave.
looks good!
Thanks Rob.. Spoke to the hatchery yesterday & looks like we will have some fish in the system in the next week or so..
Cheers mate..
so how do you fix a very slight leak in a uni seal, one of mine leaks occasionally thinking about silicone it up, might have taken a slight bit to much off while cleaning up the hole
Hey Steven.. One way I can think of would be to wrap the pipe in some tape & try to push that through the seal.. If you can get the taped section through the seal it might spread it wide enough to seal the gap..
Loads of plumbers tape around the outside of the seal when installing it is the only other thing I can think of mate..
Would like to know how you go..
Rob.
Rob Bob it actually just stopped leaking itself , i guess the calcium in the water plugged it up over time it was a very minor leak!
I'd like to know what flow rate water pump you're using? And how much water flow is used for your biofilter venturi?
From memory I had an 8000LPH/2110GPH pump on this system. Not 100% sure on the flow rate into the Bio but did have to throttle the flow back a bit so as to not overwhelm the filter.
Cheers.
@@RobsAquaponics oh gosh. That's a lot. Hopefully I can get away with 1000LPH flow rate through venturi for 20L mbbr media? Time will tell I suppose. I've got movement in my tank but not as much as I'd like. Maybe because the media hasn't been populate yet.
@@15209091 I did find that ours preferred to float more until it was colonised more.
OK ... It looks impossible. I can't do. However, this I know ... in 1201 it has been recorded that monks had fish farms. So, there must be a more simple way if they did it way back then. That way would be for me but I don't know how they did it. Anyone know?
Loads of folks run small fish farms like this or just add the to ponds or small dams on their properties Stephen. 👍
I dare say that they had the monks kept them in ponds or if they did build stone tanks, allowed the water to flow through them from a stream then go out to waste like the modern raceway aquaculture farms do.
Cheers mate.
ruclips.net/video/SBljWDJFe7c/видео.html
There are several fish species that have a high tolerance for low oxygen (e.g. can surface breath air) and temperature fluctuations. That essentially describes your local pond. The last criteria is a fish species that is not exceedingly carnivorous or you end-up with one big fish or lots of damaged ones (e.g. bass). Catfish, carp and other bottom feeders come to mind...you can search the same criteria for others.