Home made Aquaponics system in South Africa

[spokedwheel]

Hello Murray, thanks for a your welcome,
I am an ex flight steward (South African Airways) and have visited Australia on many occasions at the moment I am semi retired (more unemployed than retired) and enjoy pottering around and making things so Aquaponics is just up my street! I also keep bees, build cars, and make awnings and blinds. I live in Kingsburgh about 30 Km from Durban on the south coast of South Africa.

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[Castaway]

Nice setup.Those fish look very happy in that very clean water.

[Aussie AP]

Hi spoked, very neat. Do you use the grow bed above your fishtank as the primary filter before sending water to your channels?
I ask this bc some find over time the channnels tend to block if media is used. Root growth and some solids can soon make water
movement thru there a bit problematic.
How long has the setup been running? Do you do any extra filtration to keep your water so clear?
Welcome btw :)

[Lee]

Very neat setup spokedwheel.
What are the fish you use and what are you growing?
Your system is it continuous flow?

[spokedwheel]

Hi Castaway, Darren,Lee, I have 3 gutters above the grow bed against the polycarb 'windows' which are 3 Meters long, they filter the water first and then it flows into the grow bed, which flushes automatically about every 20 minutes, I also have a 150L bio filter (made from an old plastic drum filled with pot scrapers) which runs continuously, I find I have to flush the system about once a month to clear algae build up in the pipes, the setup has been running since december 08. The fish are Tilapia which I catch in the local river with a fishing rod using brown bread for bait (I have subsequently bought a cast net but haven't had the chance to use it yet), I did put in a few catfish as well but they began eating the smaller tilapia so I had to eat them! I have also recently installed a solar water heater which I made from scrap (it's winter so the water is a bit cold), I'll post some pics of that as well. Thanks for a great forum and for the welcome.

[Eddie0892]

Hi spokedwheel, can you tell me which river you caught your tilapia from or do you know where I can get some? I'm also in durban but im down on the bluff.