# aquaponics



## powderhogg01 (Jun 4, 2013)

As though I have not over burdened myself with projects, one of my fall projects to get completed is an aquaponics system. I have a place for the unit in my basement. it will be built with 2 275 gallon tanks one for fish and one for prawns. My grow beds will be verticle 4x8 flood tables, and 2 90 gallon drums cut in half.
The plan is to have the PL stage prawns grow in the drums for 45 days, at which point they go into the big 275. same concept for fry tilapia. once the fry reach 4-6 inches they will be placed into the larger tank.
Tilapia tank(275g) > shrimp tank(275) > plant grow beds (4x8)>settle pond(the half drums) > sump

so the water goes from the tilapia tank into the shrimp tank. the shrimp do a very good job of eliminating excess waste and left overs. The water is slowed down in this tank before being pumped vertically up into the 4x8 grow beds. From here the water is sped up as the beds are placed at an angle to keep the water flow moving minerals through all the beds. when the water leaves the last grow bed it will then enter the settle pond, which in my purpose will be the drums cut in half. they will hold fingerling tilapia and PL stage shrimp.
These tanks sit at slightly lower levels, allowing the watter to naturally travel via gravity from the uppers to the lowest, gradually slowing down in the process. the first 2 will be for tilapia, #3 is for the shrimp and the last one remains empty, holding only filter media and the pump to move the water back into the big tanks to repeat the process again.


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## 7chicks (Jun 29, 2012)

Wow! Sounds like quite a project!


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