Reposting -please respond with air pump sizing/options

coachchris

What size air pump do I need for my new system? 200 gal sump, 225 FT, appx 50 cu ft GB, 32 sq ft FRS, and eventually 8-10 vertical towers. I will expand on the GB's in the Fall. Fish will be tilapia and I'll start with fingerlings. Figure 45-50 to start. I have seen systems using venturis for additional air- is this adequate. I'm thinking a dual 12v/120 volt pump in case the grid power goes out. Thoughts please.

Gwydion

Hello Chris

Here is some information from the basics section of this forum, there is a thread with "Rules of thumb"

Quote:

Aeration
Though flood and drain grow beds provide all the aeration that the plants and bacteria needs, it is good to have supplemental aeration for the fish tanks even if it is not strictly needed to keep the dissolved oxygen up for the fish, the extra circulation provided by the aeration can help keep fish tanks cleaner. Also having a supplemental air pump can make it easy to hook it up for battery backup in case of power failure.
-1 cfm (cubic foot per minute) at 2 psi (pounds per square inch) for 400 gallons of fish tank.-
?aprox 18 liters per minute at 13 kPa for 1000 liters of fish tank

Which basically means put 1l of air into each liter of FT water per hour. In my system i calculate the sump water as well, approx. 3000l water, air pump with 55l/m -> 3300l/h

Cheers

coachchris

Thanks Gwydion, I haven't really spent a ,ot of time on site. Have a few books, but none have been very definite as to exact PSI or CFM. The pump I purchased should be fine then. 2.3 cfm & 3.9 PSI. My FT/ sump is under 500 gallon. I will use more air for my FRS when I get that area complete. Just starting fish cycle and hoping to see a spike in ammonia at some point in future. Not sure if 8 small gold fish are enough to get thing going.

Food&Fish

Small goldfish wont cut it especially if you feed goldfish food [that food is designed to keep fish alive only ]
it will work with goldfish but you need to feed them commercial rations to promote poop ect

coachchris

Thanks F & F, I'll get a few talapia in and start feeding the fish food.
Need to adjust my PH down too, hard water from well is around 7.4...not the best for my bacteria.

keith

you don't need to adjust your ph with it at 7.4!
it's actually ok for the bacteria.. a little higher is even better for the bacteria, but it's really fine where it's at.. otherwise you're going to be playing the "chase your ph" game

RupertofOZ

Indeed... leave your pH alone... it will fall once nitrification kicks in anyway...

Backyard Aquaponics A place to discuss aquaponics

Reposting -please respond with air pump sizing/options

Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics