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While looking for a safe flocculant, I came across chitosan. It is a flocculant made from the carpace of shellfish (perfectly safe and natural) it works because it carries a positive charge, and most particles in suspension are negatively charged (and hence repel each other).
After a little more research a few more interesting uses (1) it stimulates plant growth and (2) Used as a prophylactic it is a very effective fungicide.
As I said it appears to be 100% safe and could be a very interesting addition for AP.

No pH adjustments are necessary for removing sediment on this project since the water pH of 6-8 is within the range needed for the Liqui-floc to work. Liqui-floc becomes very ineffective outside of this pH range. Neither the Chitosan nor the filtration process changes the pH level. However, if influent pH levels were adjusted to allow treatment, effluent pH levels are a concern due to fish sensitivity. The Baker Tank representatives said that if needed, they could easily and inexpensively increase the influent pH using a mixing vault with sodium bicarbonate. The effluent could then be decreased with an in-line additive prior to returning to surface waters.

Wonder if it can be made or occurs if you have a lot of yabbies in the system. Has anyone compared the clearness of the water in yabbie tanks compared to fish tanks.

Author:	Dufflight [ Feb 18th, '09, 05:44 ]
Post subject:	settling tanks
Does anyone currently use a settling tank. Or is there a benifit from using one in a system.

Author:	Sleepe [ Feb 18th, '09, 05:51 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
You mean as in for solids settling and removal ? If so think Synapto has one.

Author:	TCLynx [ Feb 18th, '09, 05:58 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
I have a "swirl filter" which I suppose is a sort of settling tank. I kinda wish I had not bothered though since the flow rate I'm sending though it is too fast for the swirl to have enough effect. In a well designed backyard scale system, I doubt there would be much benefit from using such things since they really need to be cleaned very often to avoid creating a place for bad bacteria to grow. My system kinda grew and grew and I'm struggling a bit with the fact that it is a fairly large system that is not CHIFT PIST and therefore the extra flow from the pump that I like to divert into the fish tanks for more aeration/flow is still full of fish poo. The problem I find with the swirl filter or any settling tank is that if you leave the gunk sit in the bottom for long, it is a really nasty job to clean it out. Like gag me with anaerobic the stink of it. To avoid that one would have to be cleaning the gunk out like every other day if not every day. My next system will definitely be CHIFT PIST so I can avoid this problem.

Author:	Sleepe [ Feb 18th, '09, 06:07 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
If you are going to go NFT,Continuous Flow or Floating Raft, it is sensible to have a solids removal system.

Author:	Dufflight [ Feb 18th, '09, 06:21 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
I have a tap on the 200ltr swirl filter and every couple of days I fill a bucket and let it settle and pour the bulk of the water back into the system. If the base of the drum was more funneled I could get away with just quickly running the tap for a few seconds every couple of days. Was thinking of using a settling tank to remove the bulk solids and then water through NFT. The drum filter seems to get a lot of solids and a lot of this could be dust from the air getting into the tank.

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settling tanks http://byap.backyardmagazines.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=4961	Page 1 of 3

Author:	Sleepe [ Feb 18th, '09, 06:32 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
I think that for a system your size, without a cover, or say for example a pond, there would be considerable debris entering the FT aside from just the fishwaste (happens with my pond). In that case, and not wanting to start any arguments about adding more GB's (they are a filter in themselves), there is justification for having some form of additional filtration. Problem is how do you propose to clean the settling tank as it will need cleaning regularly?

Author:	Dufflight [ Feb 18th, '09, 08:40 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
When I connect the large swirl filter it has a sloped base and a drain. I could set up a small tank or a few 200ltr drums and fill these and empty after a day and see what settles. When they are filled you can always bleed off the first flush of water to the dirt garden to keep the bottom clean. It would be nice to automate the process. Is there any way to make particles settle faster.

Author:	RupertofOZ [ Feb 18th, '09, 08:46 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
Perhaps slow your inflow a little??

Author:	Sleepe [ Feb 18th, '09, 08:48 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
Add a floculant (spelling) Think they are some safe ones.

Author:	Sleepe [ Feb 18th, '09, 10:53 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
While looking for a safe flocculant, I came across chitosan. It is a flocculant made from the carpace of shellfish (perfectly safe and natural) it works because it carries a positive charge, and most particles in suspension are negatively charged (and hence repel each other). After a little more research a few more interesting uses (1) it stimulates plant growth and (2) Used as a prophylactic it is a very effective fungicide. As I said it appears to be 100% safe and could be a very interesting addition for AP.

Author:	Vegieman [ Feb 18th, '09, 11:06 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
Sleepe wrote: While looking for a safe flocculant, I came across chitosan. It is a flocculant made from the carpace of shellfish (perfectly safe and natural) it works because it carries a positive charge, and most particles in suspension are negatively charged (and hence repel each other). After a little more research a few more interesting uses (1) it stimulates plant growth and (2) Used as a prophylactic it is a very effective fungicide. As I said it appears to be 100% safe and could be a very interesting addition for AP. Looks have some merrit Check this out from USA http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/engineering/geo ... /tanks.cfm

Author:	Vegieman [ Feb 18th, '09, 11:12 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
perhaps one draw back maybe to do with thpH of the FT Quote: No pH adjustments are necessary for removing sediment on this project since the water pH of 6-8 is within the range needed for the Liqui-floc to work. Liqui-floc becomes very ineffective outside of this pH range. Neither the Chitosan nor the filtration process changes the pH level. However, if influent pH levels were adjusted to allow treatment, effluent pH levels are a concern due to fish sensitivity. The Baker Tank representatives said that if needed, they could easily and inexpensively increase the influent pH using a mixing vault with sodium bicarbonate. The effluent could then be decreased with an in-line additive prior to returning to surface waters. I guess they have addressed it in a suitable manner for the given situation and we would have to do likewise to adapt it into the ap scenario.

Author:	Sleepe [ Feb 18th, '09, 11:57 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
Vegieman Hopefully ph would be within these ranges as below 6 becomes dangerous and over 8 locks out most nutrients. This was also the bit I was interested in http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/ORG/07-106sum.html

Author:	Dufflight [ Feb 18th, '09, 12:42 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
Wonder if it can be made or occurs if you have a lot of yabbies in the system. Has anyone compared the clearness of the water in yabbie tanks compared to fish tanks.

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Author:	Vegieman [ Feb 18th, '09, 12:52 ]
Post subject:	Re: settling tanks
Dufflight wrote: Wonder if it can be made or occurs if you have a lot of yabbies in the system. Has anyone compared the clearness of the water in yabbie tanks compared to fish tanks. Interestng question, I will see what our local breeder says. Yep Sleepe I am very aware of pH rates etc. from breeding Cichlids etc.