Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Recommended flow rates from Ryan of chattersons farm were from once per hour to once every four hours,inlet design although important is not so much with a DWC as with the air injection into the bed ensures full mixing and turn over of the water.Having a weir rather than a outlet pipe doesnt really matter as the faster velocity through an outlet pipe will help remove any solids in suspension if there is any after that length.If i was going to build mine again i would go for slightly more depth,mine have 10 inches of water and i would push that up to maybe 18 inches,this would help with the roots lying on the bottom in the detritus that does accumulate on the bottom from the nitrification process that happens within the bed.

umm thanks for your input Dasboot.. that makes alot of sense.. I was pondering of having a wier on the inlet of the GB instead to evenly distribute the flow of water entering the GB. also I may help in settling out some heavy solids here as well... what you think..?

I will relate to mine,i did a die test{EDDHA} in the water to see what happened to the flow throughout the beds one with air one with out,the one with the air the dye was mixed at the first stone the one with out roughly a third of the way down before i could no longer see the dye.I added a elbow to one inlet pipe the water came in hit the bottom of the bed and fanned out across the bottom mixing almost immediately.The first air stone is placed under the first raft also helping in the mixing and distribution of any solids that make it through the filters,although the root systems nearest the inlet show no particles.

Dasboot,

Thanks for the tips. The only reason that I was going to use the weir was to insure no stagnant areas in the DWC. But I guess it is not needed. Cool, less work for me

Lmannyr,
Here is a better picture of the dual outflows

umm I like that.. thanks for you information.

So the 2" "T" on the left is your top water overflow which is also the high flow overflow. The pipe on the right looks like 3/4" setup as a SLO is your bottom flow and is the low flow overflow.

The pipe on the back is your FT intake?


Thanks for posting a picture.

I'm currently waiting on uniseals to make a RFF in corporating your dual flow idea. Is there a recommended pipe size for a given flow to discoarage solids settling in the slow flow bottom overflow?

My pump is running at 8gpm and using all 2" pipping. Any idea what size pipe I should use for a 1 gallon per min? Is there a calculator somewhere online for this? Thanks.

Ok so I finally got some time to plant out my expermental GB in which the main additions will be the MT water alone... I didn't add any magnesium ..potassium.. calcium or iron to start off with. so far specs of system is

amm 0ppm
nitrite 0.25ppm
nitrates 80ppm
ph 7
EC 510uS/cm

I filled it with lettuce and placed some cucumber vines in two different bed to compare the difference.. well here is the pictures











Stay tuned for more..

Nice cookie! Sorry for writing on your post again. Just wanted lmannyr to get the picture..

nah I don't mine.. sharing info is what this thread is about.. I learn from the info shared as well.. don't worry feel free to share as much as you like.

Swede,

If you just use a regular 90 turned into the flow pattern, on you top drain. The top drain will increase the spin in your FT. Helping to sweep solids to your SLO quicker. Basically once it starts to get flow. It creates pull causing your current to be faster (greater vortex). 2in maybe a bit overkill. That is what I am using as a top drain on my 1400gal FT.

Interesting Florida, I need to try that..thanks for the tip

Cookie,

Looking good. Can't wait till my water is that clear again. (just dropped in more lava rock, without washing)

Swede,

It is the least I could do. I have pics of it on my build thread. If you need anything specific I can take more.

ok a lil update after 3 days of growth in the expermental system.. nitrates in both systems shot up pass 200ppm for no reason I can put my finger on.. other than the Additions from the MT.. I'm a bit confused on it bout ok...

anyhow comparison from 3 days ago to now.