Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A quick pic of my 8 year organic media system.

Thinking of doing a next upgrade. i want to change over to a one pump set up. it will take some work i just decided this is the best option for me right now. will up load some specifics later sure hope stuart is still active.

Currently there is

(10) separate 800 gall fish tanks. I want to add (2) 800 fish tanks and (1) finishing tank of approximately 3000 gal.
Total = 12600 gal
(40) grow beds that hold about 75 gal each. Total = 3000 gal
(10) 50 gal swirl filters. Total = 500gal
(2) 1000 gal rain water storage tanks.

10 feet is the highest head

For a Grand total of = 12600 gal + 3000 gal + 500gal= 16100 gal of "working" water and 2000gal backup.



16100 gal (US gallon) equals to=

60.9451297224 m3 (cubic-meter)
60945.1297224 l (liter)
2152.2569444444 ft3, cu ft (cubic-foot)
6.0945E-8 km3 (cubic-kilometer)
4121600 Tbsp (US tablespoon)


I would like to turn over 2 times and hour. That is about 120 m3 and hour pump.


All approximations above, trying to eye ball what size water pump i would need. The killer i suspect would be fiction loss to the water distribution manifold. all the tanks are lined up in a grid with about 4 feet in between each tank.

suddenly I am feeling a bit insecure about my size....

lol @Ronmaggi's comment.

A pic should help

Irrigation of grow beds will most likely be 3/4 black irrigation hose 10 feet long bent into a circle with holes drilled. 12in apart. (1/4in holes)


I assume this is the best layout for such a upgrade, most of the time i am wrong, i need a little help with pump size and pipe size.

I am not sure about how easy it would be to set it up with slightly different levels, but it looks like you plan to keep fish in the sump, so i personally would avoid pumping into the fish tanks directly from it. If it is at all possible, I would pump exclusively into the grow beds, then let them drain into the fish tanks. Conversely, if the sump does not have fish, I would then pump into the fishtanks, then drain into the media beds, with the swirl filters in between. It is energy wasted to have the fish tanks draining into the sump. You only need to size the pump to the fishtanks if they flow into the growbeds, or the growbeds flow into the fishtanks. Next, I would rethknk the media choice in the growbeds. Something more inert than coconut husks and coir. I understand the dilema of finding media there as most of the stone is limestone. As you plan on supplemental filtraton, perhaps DWC might be an approporiate choice to add more vegetables without media issues.

The original intent of the system was to find out what open field agriculture could look like here in 50 years. Lots was considered in the final design and It works great for its intended purpose, but i am leaning from a more research type system into a more financially driven one with the least modifications i can. I basically want the stability of a large water body as dealing with the many small ones is proving overwhelming. One pump would also be nice when considering the infrastructure and maintenance need for multiple pumps. Coconut husk pairs well with parsley and we reap 1 of 4 grow beds every week 4lbs each continually. longest unbroken run was 2 years. With this upgrade i am looking to pull 40lbs each week forever!!!!!

The whole farm is on a gentle slope at catacorner about 8 feet vertical difference. The grow beds are below the fish tanks so i can't drain from grow bed to fish tank. but i can turn of a grow bed to let it dry out for reaping. The water flow from fish tank to slump works best 2 turn overs per hour and with the continuous drain from the bottom of the swirl filter through grow bed 4 makes for EXCELLENT solids filtration. I adjust the grow beds and the excess pressure goes through the fish tanks. In theory it is not ideal but in practice it works for our situation, the biggest plus is that it allows for a design with out burying any tanks and can work on a slope. Briefly looked at the possibility of air lift pumps. but i want reliability.

I am thinking of 1.5in draining from each slump into a main 3in line > pool filter> pump> 2in main>1.5in feeder> .75in circle dripper ring> grow bed.

A video of my system featured of earthrise, AlJazeera english.




http://youtu.be/2QMv8f--JlA

You are the one that asked for suggestions... my suggestion was mostly to save you from having to pump 3000 gallons per hour, and the wattage that goes along with that. It is still quite possible to pump up to fishtanks, and drain into growbeds, then sump. As opposed to two seperate loops, which looses the advantage of gravity doing some of the work for you. But hey, if you want you spend the money on electricity, have at it.

that's a large system, I think a major concern would be efficiency

@Ronmaggi thanks for the suggestions mate. I am just giving you the reasons for my choices. Efficiency is the major factor in truth as I want to use solar power for the operation.

The two separate loops are because of the properties of the coconut husk, in the rainy season A LOT of water gets dump into the system and sometimes i have to shut of the grow beds sometimes for up to 2 months.

Now i am thinking of the Two separate loops..................... that means i have to calculate differently. High pressure for the grow beds high flow for the fish tanks..........

Thinking about this pump.
http://westechequipment.com/product/172 ... b21e75ca14

or this one
http://westechequipment.com/product/714 ... _171_3117&

and this
http://www.waterpumpsdirect.com/Tsurumi ... 13097.html

Damian,

Have you seen these pumps? http://www.poolcenter.com/medias/manual ... 0EcoM3.pdf
They can be run directly off your solar panels so that you could save money on electronic goodies that change DC into 3 phase AC. And run more than 1 pump for redundancy.

Great find floridafishin running a dc powered pump would save a whole lot of heartache!

Looking like it will give about 40 gal/min at 8 feet head. The gravy is it will cost 160w. There is 1000w of solar available here currently so it could run 4 of these comfortable.

4 pumps would run 160*4= 640w
4 pumps could move 40*4= 160gal/min

that is just about once an hour turn over

sounds good so far........

but how do i hook up 4 pumps??? just hook all 4 of them onto a 4in main drain?

seams like the most viable option so far....... i would have to check the reviews.

Great ideas man. Keep up the excellent work... 1 question though.. is your GB completely coconut husk.. or are there gravel underneath.?