Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yep - that's the type I used to use as well until I saw the light and went to autosiphon and continuous pumping

Oh cool.... I haven't seen any like that. I must keep an eye out for them.

i actually posted a picture f the HPM ones ages ago, probably in the hardware section under timers?

I use this timer for my pump.... it works well in a one pump node. I am thinking of switching to a sequence timer if I add more grow beds. For now this works great. It is analog.... and the dials allow me to manually set the on/off sequence very nicely. I get me tank within millimeters of overflowing to maximize water flow during the cycle.

It was $100 USD

Ouch, that's expensive, Mike. Although you certainly get infinite possibilities with that one.

I paid about $15US for a timer with 96 tabs that you flip up or down. I can set up any pattern I like in 15 minute increments. Of course, I bought 3, and now don't use any timers, so I guess that's $45 out the window.

Yes it was a bit pricey, but really has been the heart and soul of the system. I tried the tab timers and found I needed something that I could turn a knob and get the cycle shut down seconds before it breached the tank. This is the hardest part of AP IMO is getting flows and capacities just right.

I use these Sansai PAD-32 Digital.... $15

Description: 7-day Digital Timer
20 on/off settings per day, 140 on/off settings per week
Min. setting time:1 Min., Max. setting time: 7 days
Summer/Winter time optional
Random funtion
AM/PM or 24 hours display
Rechargeable Ni-MH battery, reserving data for 2 years once power off

Nice ROZ ....

water to bed no 1 for 15 mins, followed by water to bed no 2 for 15 mins, followed by water to bed no 3 and bed no 4 etc. etc.

What would be the easiest and cheapest way of doing this? Some sort of timer - pump - solenoid system I guess?

Programable reticulation control systems are expensive. I wndered if there were a cheap option for sequential flooding.

define cheap

The easiest way would be to buy a small pump per growbed, and control the pumps with a timer.

You could also do a single big pump, constantly on, and control the flow with solenoid valves on a timer.

You might be able to do it mechanically, or otherwise without solenoids, but I don't think that'd be easy. What's the pricing on solenoids and pumps?

Johnnie, I was doing it with 3 pumps and 3 timers, but after I figured out how little it took to fill a growbed, I switched to using 1 pump for the three beds, and just letting them fill and drain at their own rate. Even when they synch, the water level doesn't really get that low for the fish.

Thanks folks,

I am just toying with ideas in my head.

One small solar panel to intermittently service several small 12 v pumps sequentially for say a 15 minute interval each.

(I think I would need some sort of control box between the solar panel and the sequencing timer in any case for the motors to run correctly).

If you have some electronics experience (ie, can handle a soldering iron) this might be useful

http://www.tep.org.uk/Members/PDF/Elect ... ronics.pdf

You may need to add relays (or a triac maybe) to handle the higher current of solenoid valves or seperate pumps.
If you need more than 4 outputs just build as many units as you need and cascade them.

How about a Plan B option? ..very cheap but more mechanical

Get a battery operated screwdriver or a rotisseri motor perhaps and a push fit hozelock type hose connector, the type that can rotate whilst connected.
Use the screwdriver/rotisseri motor, geared down if necessary, to rotate the delivery pipe over each bed in turn, vary flowrate and rotation speed to get desired result.
Ideally the beds could be arranged in a circle or perhaps a circle of gutter with segmented sections would serve to route the flow to the desired bed via gravity, you`d have to reduce the speed due to the smaller turning circle though.