Pond Aquaponics

[JCongdon]

Hello Everyone!  I'm brand new here.  I just finished Sylvia's book and have jumped feet first into a huge project in my backyard.  I am attempting to make a system out of two ponds that are connected by a creek.  The top pond is smaller and I envision it being a place to keep the smaller fish if necessary, but mainly to be there for ambiance.  The larger pond at the bottom is the main pond that will hold the large fish, I'm estimating that it will end up being somewhere in the neighborhood of 10000 gallons.  

Now, I'm not far enough along or knowledgeable enough at this point to really even ask any intelligent questions.  I guess what I'm after is some basic information to help me get started and do this correctly.  Have any of you done this before?  Are there any links anyone can refer me to to help me research this?  What concerns or questions come to mind for you?

I really appreciate any help!  Like I said, total newbie here.  Some of my questions/concerns are:

*where is the best place to place the grow beds?  Does it matter?

*does my pond's volume dictate how many grow beds are necessary, or will the fish density determine that?

*what kind of pumps/filters will be necessary?

*what should I use for grow beds? 

Thank you so much!  I'm so glad to be here, there is such a wealth of information!

Jen

[R.K. Castillo]

The answer to your questions really depends on what you want to do with your AP system.

To start off I recommend using a media bed as, in my opinion, that's the easiest to start off with and the media works as your solids filter and as your biological surface area.

It would probably be a good idea to test your water for the regulars, ammonia, ph, nitrite, nitrate.

A rule of thumb for grow beds is 1 to 1 or 1 gallon of water to growbed but a 10,000 gallon grow bed would probably be pretty big. So you probably don't need to go that big.

Place your growbed in a spot on the south side of pond (south facing)

Build your beds out of wood with some pond liner and have it ebb & flow back into the pond.

[JCongdon]

Hi R.K.!  How very cool to hear from you, I have learned so much from your podcast!  Thank you for the suggestions!  What type of media do you recommend?  Also, the 1 to 1 ratio with the grow bed to tank is what I'm having trouble with.  Do you think I could do, maybe 1000 sq ft (or even less?) of grow bed with a pond of this size if I just have fewer fish?  I am wondering about this because I don't think I could ever fill 10000 sq. feet of grow bed... This is really just a system designed for my family.  Thanks!!

R.K. Castillo said:

The answer to your questions really depends on what you want to do with your AP system.

To start off I recommend using a media bed as, in my opinion, that's the easiest to start off with and the media works as your solids filter and as your biological surface area.

It would probably be a good idea to test your water for the regulars, ammonia, ph, nitrite, nitrate.

A rule of thumb for grow beds is 1 to 1 or 1 gallon of water to growbed but a 10,000 gallon grow bed would probably be pretty big. So you probably don't need to go that big.

Place your growbed in a spot on the south side of pond (south facing)

Build your beds out of wood with some pond liner and have it ebb & flow back into the pond.

[R.K. Castillo]

I'm glad the podcast has helped!  

I'm not totally sure of how it will work with a pond.  It seems like it is already an eco system of it's own so it might already have the biologicals you need to grow plants from but then again...maybe it doesn't have the type of micronutrients you really need to get an AP System to really thrive.  

I would think more fish would be better than less.  As their poo and pee becomes the magnet for the other stuff.  That's why I think it would be interesting to see what the tests say about your water.  You can go get one of those API testers from the pet store and test all the ones I already mentioned.  

As for media, it depends where you are in the world.  Here in Hawaii most people use the Black Cinder media and right behind that is Hydroton.  If you can find Hyrdroton that would be a good start.  

[Alex Veidel]

If you've read Sylvia's book, you know enough to ask intelligent questions :)

Let's see....

As far as growbed placement is concerned, it's a little hard to tell you exactly where, but I can give you some concepts to keep in mind. It's good to run growbeds the long way from east to west to allow for good sunlight distribution. Shade is also going to be a factor, so place beds where they have access to decent sunlight. And make sure your growbeds are level.

[JCongdon]

Alex Veidel said:

If you've read Sylvia's book, you know enough to ask intelligent questions :)

This is very true... I should probably read it again now that Ive got a little better grasp of the whole thing. :)  Thank you for the suggestions!  Much appreciated!