DIY Fish farm for the back yard, bit of a teaser clip...
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- 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
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..
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 :)
Hi Rob, I found a nerf dart with the end cut off works great as a venturi silencer and stops the gulping. Also I'd like to say your Chanel has helped me out so much with my system, thanks for taking the time to share your wisdom with us. Keep growing, love your work.
+Adam Parker
Hi Adam & thank for the idea. I've popped a 500ml water bottle over the pipe on the one in the remaining tank of this fish farm & it has reduced the noise by 90% but it doesn't impede the air intake at all.
Glad your getting a few ideas from the clips mate & sorry for missing your post.
Cheers & all the best.
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 :)
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.
M.TKS Rob for yr input I will kickstart a system and will keep u posted. Will keep in the look out FR yr new videos.
I like your use of the 5 gallon bucket for the middle wall of the radial-flow settler. Thanks for the videos. =o)
Hey Patrick..
They are a very easy build really..
Cheers mate & hope the clips are giving you some ideas..
Rob..
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..
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
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. ;)
Thank you for sharing, I am about to set my RAS like these one.. 3 barrells for the filters and 1 barrell for the sumptank
Hope the build goes well Leo.
@@RobsAquaponics thank you so much
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..
Very cool recirculating aquaculture set up there Rob! I am most impressed!
Thanks Mr Dale..
Have sorted out some more pipe work & the biofilter now.. Just need to wrap the tanks to stop algae forming in them now & connect the new pump when it arrives then the build is done :)
Cheers mate & hope alls well over yonder :)
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.
Hi Rob, thanks for the video. I've seen your video for this RAS.. It's really helpful. I was searching for DIY RAS and yours is one most practical especially for cleaning and the water flow.
Glad it has helped you out in some way MrKipsez.
Have fun with the build if you go ahead with it mate.
Cheers.
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.
Looks VERY promising! Thanks for sharing.
Cheers mate & have a great one,
Rob.
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.
Awesome work Rob, inspirational stuff.
Thanks Robert.. Hope to have an update clip of sorts posted this weekend..
Cheers mate..
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 th-cam.com/video/2FTlha0c2aA/w-d-xo.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!
Looking awesome there Rob Bob , wet run looking pretty good :-)
Cheers George.. All glued & screwed now.. The pump was turned on last night & the water level was holding fine... Just have a few small bits to adjust, bio media to add & we should be all go for fish next week :)
Have a great one mate :)
Now I understand...I think. I was under the impression that you were increasing the number of fish to increase the number of grow beds but this is a totally separate project to grow fish for food. This is very interesting.
Hi there Mr Brendan :) Hows the spring preps going ? Really need to catch up on some of your clips :/
It would be easy enough to hook some grow beds up to this system.. I think it will probably happen in the future at some point (once I'm allowed more lawn space ;) )..
Thought I would like to have a crack at a straight fish farm just to say I have done it more than anything.. Think my father is enjoying it as well ;)
Cheers sir & all the best :)
Looks good, id like to see some underwater plants in the tanks someday though.
It's not really advised in systems like this . Great for a lightly stocked ornamental system I think. 👍
Cheers
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.
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..
Hey Rob,
Why put the radial - fluid bed pipe in at the top of the fluid bed? If you put it at the bottom, and made it exit at the top, the water flow would assist in the fluidisation & mean you're not solely relying on the venturi doing it's job.
How long is the pipe on the venturi for the bio filter? To be sure you're not going to get any issues with water going out of it, I'd just make sure it's higher than the fish tanks (your highest point).
So any reason you're going a straight fish farm and not tying it into the aquaponics? Means you'll be doing more water changes without the plants removing the nitrates from the water.
The other issue I can see with the setup is the two tanks to swirl filter. If the tanks are coming together in a T, I can see detritus gathering at the bottom centre of the T. Would it not work better in an upside down Y arrangement? Forcing all of the waste up through the junction?
Great idea. Thanks for sharing.
Thanks 👍
That is just too cool! You've got it going on, Rob!
Cheers... Is all a work in progress ;)
Have a great one,
Rob..
Your system looks good Rob.
It is getting close to being complete :)
Thanks mate :)
Will be plugging it in this afternoon hopefully..
Cheers John :)
Rob. Nice work, shouldn't you take water from the top of the bioreactor not the bottom? All the micro particles and crap will fall to the bottom. I cleaned out my bio-reactor about two weeks ago and it had been running about 3 months and it was disgusting even with a solids filter.
Hi Dale.. Plan on using the bio as a trickle filter once a month or so to help remove any of the fine solids.. I thought that it would be best to have the outlet a bit off the base so that the finer solids might get trapped below the outlet level for removal later if that makes sense..
Is all a huge learning curve for me so will just have to see how it goes.. Shall be doing a clip explaining the process once I've got a chance to test it all out..
Cheers & have a great one mate..
Rob.
Sweet looking to do something similar
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.
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.
Finally a good look at a system ty
Hi Dirk..
Will be interesting to see how it runs & will have a grow bed or 2 ready in case I need them..
Haven't found many folks running small systems around to ask questions of..
Cheers & have a great one..
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..
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. 👍
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.
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.
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!
Are you planning of flushing the system with freshwater every couple of weeks/months ? I mean you do build up nitrates over time and in low concentrations they are not an issue for the fish, but I guess at some stage it might get to high, no ? I am wondering how you are planning to release the water ( usefully maybe ?). Do you have a holding tank you can release 1/3 of the water into and then fill up with fresh water using your sump tank refill setup ?
Hey there :)
From what I have seen & been told the only water that will be removed from the system will be coming out with the solids waste when the radial flow filter gets flushed.. This should be about twice a month & about 10% of the total volume each time I think.. Will have to wait & see though.. No water will go to waste as we have loads of soil beds that will be able to use the flushed solids & water..
As there are no guidelines for a system like this we are sort of playing it by ear.. Just hope we don't fail spectacularly, although, that could make for some interesting viewing :D :/
Cheers & have a great one..
That venturi would drive me nuts as well, I can't blame you for using your homemade job. Will you grow fish for food? Or something decorative like Koi?
Hi there sir :)
I have some other venturis like the one used on the bio filter that I'm going to try out first.. If I'm not happy with them I will go for the home made jobbies for sure..
Will be running table fish in them.. One will have Jade perch & not sure about the other at the moment.. Might try Sleepy Cod but need to look into them a bit more first.. Would like to have a go at barramundi in the future but they might go into another system we are looking at setting up ;)
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 great! Inspiring.
Cheers :)
Have a great one,
Rob :)
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 :)
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..
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.
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
Nice Mate! I do you have one question/idea on the radial flow filter about the bucket on top. While it is nice to see the water coming in, wouldn't be better if you could see the water going out to see if solids are going out? I'm in the middle of rebuilding mine out of a cone bottom water jug to make the solids removal easier and I'm trying to figure out how best to get your bucket concept in, in order to monitor the output instead of the input. Ideas? Thanks again Mate! as always it looks great!
Afternoon mate..
Haven't thought of that to tell you the truth but it makes perfect sense now you say it.. Don't know if it's any help but I have seen some set ups where they have the bucket bolted in place with threaded rods then pop the lid on the bucket.. That way the outside of the bucket is viewable but the filter is a bit more open for debris to fall in..
Would like to know how you go with it..
Cheers Mate :)
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..
Putting my "tropicals breeding" hat back on, the makeup looks pretty damn solid Rob, given the size of the bio-filter. You will need to do the odd swap out of water every so often - which obviously you'd take from the radial flow filter and use on the garden beds (you might just want to think about a storage container for the waste water so you can use it at your leisure). But, you're used to testing water etc so I reckon you'll find a rhythm with that pretty darn quickly. At a guess with your bio-filter size, I'm thinking you'll need to take out 10% of the water on only a monthly basis (be keen to hear.how close my guess ends up being). I figure you already know to seed the new system with the water from your aquaponics system. On a different note, fish without grow beds?! What will they think of next. Next, you'll tell me you have gardens without fish! LOL.
Hi there Mr Andy :)
I think we will probably do about 10% every 2 weeks just to get the solids out of the radial flow filter.. With the garden beds we have there should be no need to store any for later use which is a + for the time being.. Would like to save some solids to use in a mineralisation/brewer tank but will leave that project until later..
I will be seeding it with some clay media from the grow beds.. Shall bag them up & hang them in the bio filter a few days before the fish go in.. Would I be right in thinking that there wouldn't be any point to adding them sooner without any food source Andy ?
Have contemplated gardens without fish.............. Sounds boring ;)
Cheers sir & thanks for the help :)
Rob Bob I'd chuck it in before the fish to give the bacteria time to breed up. There should be lots of microscopic food already in the water. The other thing if you want to do it quickly is just take a couple of buckets out of the aquaponics tank. I seeded my aquaponics with a bucket from the tropical tank.
Rob Bob Oh, and just by the by, the air from a venturi isn't really very well absorbed into the water. The job of a venturi and an air stone is to break the surface tension of the water, which lets oxygen in. You can even see the big bubbles from an air stone just float to the top and burst.
McDowall Manor
Morning Andy :)
I know this is a hot topic in a few different groups & have seen the battles waged over it in the medical pot hydroponic sites in the States as well as some fish forums while looking into it :D :/
I read a study a while back from a university (?) in the States that suggested that O2 will dissolve into water as long as it is in contact with it, although it won't be a lot.. Another (or it could of been the same) said that the action within a venturi will actually do a better job at getting the O2 into the H2O than surface disturbance using the same flow rates..
I really want to get my hands on a dissolved O2 meter to do the test for myself but the cost of a decent unit is prohibitive at the moment..
I thought I may have posted the article on the venturi clip but I didn't :/
ED above as I left a bit out..
Rob Bob I reckon it's all fun. I don't know why people fight about this stuff - they're meant to enjoy it. Oh, and gardening is meant to relax the soul, not fire someone up about subtle O2 difference.
Thanks for the video.
Please provide details about the pump.
Thanks
I have been through 3 pumps on this system so far i the 12 months it's been up & running.. The first one I wasn't happy with, the next burnt out & am back to using a BOYU GXB-10000 pump.. I don't think it's pumping the 10000lph it says it should but is still running OK..
Hope that helps a bit..
+RobBobs Backyard Farming
hi RobBob, i come from a plumbing back ground. the reason you are going through so many pumps is the same reason one venturi is really loud. your system is not symmetrical here, so most of the pressure goes to one side and is burning out the pump. water takes the route of least resistance.
+Cassandra Genereux
The motor burnt out due to a fault in its construction we found Cassandra. The pumps are all magnetic drive so that didn't cause the failure it turns out. My problem is that none we have tried pump the LPH at specified head heights that the manufacturers state on the box with a single pipe/hose connected. Has been a bugbear of a lot of backyarders I know.
The system ended up looking a fair bit different to this once it was finished too 👍 This was just a first go at playing with the plumbing to see where adjustments needed to be made. ;-)
Cheers & all the best,
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.
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..
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.
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..
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.
Very cool system Rob!
I hope it will be Patrick.. Time will tell how well it will wwork..
Have a great one :)
How many fish do you think the system and handle?
Morning sir :)
From memory (& could be wrong) up to 50 in each tank... I plan to only run 30-35 though.. I figure it will be easier to run with a slightly lower load.. I think your pond/dam is still the way to go ;)
Cheers & hope all's well with you & yours :)
Rob.
There is pros and cons on both setups for sure, Mine is easier but your fish are right there, You know how many you have and how big they are, That's a big bonus.
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. ► th-cam.com/video/16gLZziEx_I/w-d-xo.html
Sorry it took so long to respond & hope the clip helps some.
Cheers.
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.
th-cam.com/video/mKWXkf9j5Qc/w-d-xo.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,
th-cam.com/video/qXtvljDYkfI/w-d-xo.htmlm44s
Hope that helps
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 :)
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.
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.
Hi Rob how do u manage the green algae in your IBC tote
I ran a UV filter on the aquaculture system & that knocked it off in no time flat. Not good to use in an aquaponics system though as it can affect the ability of some elements in the water, like iron, to be plant available.
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. 👍
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..
Looks good!
Thanks Susan..
Hope all are well & happy :)
Rob..
Much better now, Thanks!
Susan Rogers :)
Hey Rob impressive system, I got a question, if there is a power outage, will the water in the bio filter flow into the sump? Will the water in the sump be over flooded?
Hi there :)
The whole system is filled to the brim before the pump was switched on so if the power goes out it will just return back to it's normal level.. Once the pump is switched on the sump tank drops about 1/3 I would say while the set up is running..
Hope that helps :)
Rob..
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.
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.
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..
th-cam.com/play/PLBcWprMIwYYiN43MlB7r6betKAM4_bMXs.html
Cheers & hope the clips have given you a few ideas..
Rob..
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
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..
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.
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.
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.
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.
Hey there Rob...
Can you please tell me how to initiate the SLO...please!
This clip may help you out some.
th-cam.com/video/bmzgANTGJ0k/w-d-xo.html
No ... Sorry I may not have explained myself correctly... I have the system set up, but how do I start the slo to start running and picking up the solids? ...
I open all the sections up and turned on the pump. But it not picking up the solids... Thank you for your help....
With our circular tank, the water flow moves the solids to the centre to help collect them.
In our old square IBC tanks I found the fish movement on the base of the tank was generally enough for the solids to be suspended into the water column & then removed by the SLO. 👍
I have seen some folks set up water inlets in the corners of the IBC to try & create a bit of a swirl effect in the water to move the solids to the centre for removal if that helps.
@@RobsAquaponics thanks Rob that helped.
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.
Nice work.
Whit
Thanks Whit... Has been fun making it :)
Have a great one, Rob.
Do you have any plans for a smaller scale operation?
I don't sorry Tony. Was never 100% happy with this build so decided not to share any plans in case others stuffed it up. 😉
Cheers mate.
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.
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.
Nice good job !!!
Cheers..
Have a great one,
Rob.
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
Brilliant work Rob Bob!! (Y)
Thanks Daniel... Have had some great teachers methinks..
All the best,
Rob.
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 :)
Good work sir so your just using it to raise fish for the table. Your going to be eating alot fish mate. Looking forward to see what a sleepy cod looks like if you get them. Will just the bio filter handle all tha water?
It looks great. Dave ;-)
Morning Dave :)
This system will be fish only for the first year & will probably get converted to an aquaponic system after the first lot of fish come out.. Decided not to get the sleepy cod for the time being.. Was thinking Barramundi but have been told it's too cold here over winter by some experienced chaps.. Was thinking of Tandanus/eel tailed catfish.. Mmmmmmm.........
Have been told that the bio will handle the NO3- load.. The water used to clean out the filters will also lighten the overall load a bit as well..
Thanks Dave & have a great weekend :)
Cheers..
Fish are like a box of chocolats you never know what your gonna get ;-)
Southpaw Davey
:D
Think I shall hold out for some mint ones then ;)
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.
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..
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.
Hey Rob, i was just wondering what king of barrels you use for the 3 filters
I have seen those in a ULINE catelog
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..
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..
Hi Rob,
Looking good. I've just one question: How are you going to control the amount of Nitrates produced? In aquaponics it is the plants that use the Nitrates.
Best,
Scot Aldred
Scot's Permaculture
Hey Scot.. Some of the nitrates will be removed with the solid waste when the filter gets cleaned out but on the whole they will be left in the system.. Fish can handle fairly high levels & from what I've been told by those in commercial aquaculture they should be fine..
Hope that helps some,
Rob..
Rob Bob Hi Rob,
Thanks for the info.
I built an aquaponics system over 18 months ago using the top 300mm of an IBC as the grow-bed (river gravel as media) and the remainder as the fish tank. After the bacterial colonies had developed I introduced silver and jade perch. The plants I put in the grow bed I duplicated in my garden and in nearly all cases the garden out performed the aquaponics. The grow-bed ended cloged up with roots and the fish were hard to keep alive-- I gave up.
your aquaculture setup looks good and I could use the water and solids to irrigate my vege garden.
Scot.
Hi Scot Aldred ..
Have had a few people that point out that soil beds quite often out preform their aquaponics & I have found the same.. Can I ask how many fish you had on the go mate ?
The waste does make great fertiliser we found, you can almost hear some plants grow ;)
Cheers..
I started with 40 fingerlings, but lost quite a few along the way.
Yes I like the idea of the aquaculture and placing the waste on the garden beds. I don't like having to empty the aquaponics growbeds every 12 months or less to clear away the roots. A floating grow bed may be a solution, but my experience seems to indicate the complex soil interactions are just so much better for plants.
Thanks for your reply and keep up the great videos.
Best
Hi Scot Aldred ...
If you are just using the top as the grow bed my guess is that you don't have enough bio filtration in the system to handle the load the fish are adding into it.. I started out with 35 fish & 900L of grow medium in 3 beds.. A rough formula to work with is 25-30L of grow medium (clay balls or 20mm rock) to every fish you want to raise to 500g..
There are some that say you can stock 100 fish in a 1000L tank but then don't go onto saying anything about the size of bed needed to act as a bio filter to handle the waste unfortunately :/ Have spoken to a few folks that took this advice & all of them lost over 50% of their fish with one chap losing the lot :(
A good article on solids removal was just posted on the Earthan Groups website if you're interested.. Might give you a few ideas..
www.earthangroup.com.au/solids-management-in-aquaponics/
Hope that helps you out a bit..