Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

so no one puts a small venturi setup up on the end of it to set the water level??? whats the setup up at the end where the water flows out back into your sump of fish tank ???

Not sure how a venturi would do that. We both have used elbows to adjust the water height in the system. Rotate it so the opening is up and your minimum height goes up. Rotate it and the minimum depth goes down. The angle of your pipe can create a shallow ended and a deep end.

right o. SO with the return end of the piping how are you transfering water back into the FT or Sump??? is the Elbow on the exit end of your piping?

Here is a pic of my setup. The water enters in the middle of the end cap on the left hand side of the picture. I diverted the water from one of the spray bars that I had running. It flows down to the end on the right where it is piped right back into the fish tank via gravity. Inside the end of the pipe, is a smaller pipe with an elbow on it. That sets the water depth at the end and the angle of the pipe sets the water depth along the length of the pipe. Over time I will have to figure out if I want more of a stream effect with fast moving water or a slow river effect with deeper water. If I want it to go fast and shallow I will have to angle the setup more.

You could treat it the same way you would treat any constant flood system.

Did you see blind freddies thread?
Here is the picture that solved it for me

Nice set up guys I have done a wall at my place just watch out if you put herbs in as they can be very invasive and the roots clog up your pipes.

+ 1 Frank.

I like growing quick growing stuff in the pipes to avoid clogging, although I did grow a few larger plants in the pipe last year. pulled the pots out, trimmed the roots and popped them back in. I didn't seem to affect the plants much at all.

What are you thinking of planting up first Silverbullet555

yeah I have basil and mint in mine I supply the guys at work a shopping bag full of each every 3-4 weeks at the same time they get a root prune also but most of my system have strawberries in them with a few flowering plants for the wife

I planted 5 strawberries, some watercress, and some different lettuces. I also transplanted a watermelon as I wanted to see what would happen. It might have to come out though as the roots might be an issue.

I like the idea of a couple of crawfish to trim roots. If that doesn't work a weekly check and a pair of scissors will do the trick.

Growth has been pretty good. Roots on the strawberry starters and watercress took off with the watercress growing the best. The seedlings are finally coming up which is good to see.

Noticed some worms in the tubes today. That is a new addition. I am getting a fair amount of sediment coming up from the tank and settling in the tubes which is fine. I find it in the roots of the plants as well. Worms up there should be a good thing though I am not sure where they came from. I have worms in my growbed as I had some worms I needed to find a home for and therefore they went into the bed. Perhaps some eggs got rinsed into the water and deposited up above or maybe there were some worms left in some of the roots of the transplanted plants even after I rinsed the soil off.

Pretty cool they are up there. Still need to put some crawdads up there to eat the roots and keep it clean. Thinking two would work well and if not, then I will put a screen in the middle so the two can be separated.

I also noticed that it looks like the roots next to the inlet grow the best. I am thinking that the way the water comes in there is more oxygen right at that point therefore the roots are growing better. Not sure if that is the cause. I can't believe that there would be much of a difference in nutrients between that spot and two spots down.

Worms will travel freely through your system, wherever and whenever they feel like it.