Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Dang...them Kamado Joe's are expensive! Very versatile with the deflectors. One day I will build my ideal smoker with and old all metal fridge and side burner for smoke.

Lol, yes they are expensive! We cook everything on it though, I think of more as an appliance instead of just a bbq. The food that comes of of a kamado, of any kind, is so moist and tender! Even though it's charcoal the food is not smokey at all, unless you want it to be.

If you think that kamado joe's are expensive, look up Komodo kamado. Now they are expensive!

Do you have a piping diagram of your system?

Ok, so the red arrows is the water that is pumped up out of the sump and into the FT. The blue arrows is the water leaving the FT via an SLO, then goes into the GB. The pipe for the other GB I drew in and is in place now. The orange arrow is the return from the GB, there is one on the other side just can't see it. The water is emptied from the GB via a bell siphon. I hope this helps.

So it's been a while since I have posted anything new about my GH. It's been winter for the last 3 months, a cold one at that, with temperatures reaching-30° quite a bit. It is now spring and still on the chilly side Last night it hit -10, but I'm hopefull that it will warm up soon.

I ordered a new pump from ebay, it is a bilge pump and it was only $19. So I'm going to try it out and see how it works, can't beat the price! Oh and it's 24v and 1100GPH. It's not very big, just a little bigger then a deck of cards, interesting!



I also bought some crushed brick to put in my second GB, and I'm going to replace the pea gravel in my first one. The pea gravel has limestone in it and was keeping my PH high.



I built a "wash station" for the brick, and it seems to work pretty good.



Well after a cold day of washing the brick, I have almost gotten half of the GB filled up.



Oh yeah, it was nice and warm in the GH, a balmy 24° and it was -2° outside. It's amaking how well it works!

The bricks uusually contain lime. Also, bilge pumps are not built for continuous use, so be prepared to replace it regularly.

Are you kidding me! That sucks!!!

Ok so here's the thing, I did a little experiment with the pea gravel, some earth and the brick. Here's what I found....

First the pea gravel, which I already know had lime stone in it.



Next up is the earth, which we have grown plants in, in the past. I'm quite surprised that it is bubbling and still bubbling a good 10min later.



And finally the bricks, and yes it did bubble, but stopped fairly quickly.



So after this test, plus the fact that I just bought 2 yards of it, I'm going to use it. At least for this year anyways.

As for the the bilge pump, yes I'm aware that it is not designed for continuous use. Web4deb has been using one for the past 2 years, I believe. If it fails. I'm only out $20. My original pump still works perfectly, but I am trying to convert everything to DC so that, one day, I will convert to solar power.

Thanks for pointing that out though, as a did not know that brick had lime in it.

I've used Rule bilge and bait pumps in my boats before. They rarely last more then 3-4 years as a bilge or bait well pump. It will be interesting to see how long one will last running 24/7. Looks good Kainat!

Thanks coachchris!

Well this will be quite the test.


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Ok scrap the bilge pump. Web4deb's only lasted 3-4 months. Oh well, I will keep it as a back up pump.


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I work in a boating goods store, and am quite familiar with the failure rates of the name brand bilge pumps. I would be rather concerned with the knock off pumps. I suspect a good 110v pump on an inverter would be more effecient anyways.

Yeah, you're probably right. I will go that route when the time comes. As it stands right now, my 110v pump is working great.

So I installed some gutter on the GH. I need to fill up my sump since it's just about empty. I had to extend the roof, so that the the water will actually go into the gutter. When I ge the twinwall for the roof, I will extend it with that instead.



I temporarily ran the water line in through the back of the GH. I plan on getting a storage container of some sort to collect rain water.

Well it's been a while since I have done an update. I have been busy this spring filling my GBs and I also increased the size of my SLO to 3". I still have work to do on the GH, but finding the time is getting harder. Here are some pics.



I used the intake from my old SLO as a diffuser/airator for the FT.



Here are some of my plants...

Nice.... How are the fish doing?