I bought one off of ebay from a company called desert aquaponics. It looked simple to build but I wanted to be sure it was working properly and I think it was under $20 for the set up. Works great and now I know I could easily build one. I saw another ibc tote for sale down the road and may go pick it up today....

They always say once you get one aquaponics tank you have to get more.

I've had a small indoor flood and drain aquaponics system running for a year or so now, and it's time to set up something a bit bigger in one of the greenhouses.


Using a full size IBC as the fish tank, and another split in half vertically to make two deep growbeds. 200G sump will hold some fish initially and eventually double as a deep water culture float tank. Need to get the plumbing in next, and fix up the growbed supports.

You'll enjoy it. We've really had fun this year and looking forward to continuing. We realized it's more about the plants and less about growing fish to eat.

I cant believe how well the plants have done. I put 4 four foot cages in the bed and all of the plants are growing out of the top now. This has been by far the most productive experiment we have done. I think over the winter I'm going to try to add a couple more beds. Psa, that greenhouse is beautiful!

Hard to believe I started the dome eight years ago. The cedar hasn't held up as well as I hoped to the constant damp; I doubt I can get more than another eight years out of it. I'm already planning another dome for commercial use, and contemplating the wood/condensation problem. The plastic, on the other hand, has been amazingly durable. It is just now starting to wear out.

I've got a couple dozen tilapia fingerlings in the 45G quarantine tank in the dome. I think they've grown half an inch in the two weeks I've had them. They need to be 3" or so before they go in the big tank so that they won't be in danger of getting into the outflow to the grow beds, with its 3/4" grating. Said outflow is now mostly plumbed, with 2" pipe buried in the floor over to the beds. The upright pipe is the breather/siphon stop, and you can make out one of the outflows in the background. I've set a pretty full high water mark for the tank, so we'll see how that goes. Unusual, too, it seems, to use the built in valve as an outflow; we'll see how that goes, as well.



Picture is dark because I took it at night when I finished connecting everything. Next are the bell siphons out the sump, and a temporary pump return to the main tank. Then I'll finally be ready to do some testing.

Finally got the bell siphons working and the media beds filled. 400 Gallons of water have been in the system for a month now, but I'm going to have to be patient while the new beds cycle. The Koi are still happy in the sump, but there's a few more that need to move in as water parameters improve, and the tilapia have outgrown their temporary home and need to move into the main tank soon.


Secondary filtration and heating systems will have to wait until the rest of the greenhouse is put in shape for winter.

Beautiful! You're going to love that!

We added Koi to our aquaponics system recently. It's fun to see them eat.

My system worked fairly well, and I was able to keep everything happy until last spring when multiple systems failed at once and I lost all of the (6-9") tilapia to lack of aeration. The koi (5-18") all survived and have been quite happy in the front pond this year. I've had huge banana, celery, fig, lemon grass, and sorrel plants in the beds. I managed to root mulberry and fig cutting directly in the flood and drain beds. My pepper plants only grew when the air was quite warm, but I've harvested a lot of peppers this summer. Chives and garlic chives loved it, as did the tarragon. Shallots popped up and then disappeared. Green onion grew monstrous like a leek instead of dividing. Rosemary grew slowly but did all right. Wasabi did well until the aphids hit them hard in late winter, and then a sudden heat wave (warmest spring/summer on record here) combined with inconsistent water when I was redoing the fish systems finished all but a few of them off. Strawberries were inconsistent, sometimes producing fruit, but often with the fruit rotting just as it came ripe. First tomato plants did poorly (air was too cold, I think), second set have grown very slowly, but the nutrient load is quite low at the moment.


Tilapia feeding time (last December): https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

Now, I'm working on the successor system, bigger and better and more redundant, with all the things I learned from the last time.

Exciting concept. What happened to the catfish? Would you not recommend them? There are lots of catfish around here in rural Alabama.