Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Beans show iron deficiency pretty fast, too.

Start a thread, TreeDude!

(Remind me not to camp with you. )

Okay - I did a little sketch of the plan. Be nice - this is my first attempt at using sketch up. Imagine that the big blue things are tanks 1,000 liters each. The blue barrels with gravel are blue barrels with gravel.

(Edit, sorry I just had to crop the picture )

Now, some description - the system is level. The first tank (fish) will be higher than the rest of the system, the sump lower. All the grow beds on the same level. The grow beds are interconnected with large plumbing (I am thinking 1 1/2 to 2" or larger) to allow all to fill at the same time. All the beds will empty using a 1 to 1 1/2 inch autosipon setup into the sump if this makes sense. I am thinking of having an overflow pipe so that I can overfill and then when the pump stops, the autosiphon will empty the beds. Not sure - input welcome.

The pump will be in the sump and will fill the fish tank (there will almost certainly be fish in the sump to at least to eat mosquito larve). It will be on a timer so that the beds are filled and drained at least once an hour. (suggestions on frequency of cycle and size of pump are welcome) The tank will overflow into the grow beds.

The material will be something that looks pea gravel but looks bubbled (I do believe it is volcanic in nature) - it is being delivered today. And entire Mac Truck worth 12 cubic meters. It is 260 dollars delivered - prewashed and everything. Imagine pea gravel with twice the surface area.

Okay - tell me where I am losing my mind... (besides getting 12 cubic meters of material )

How about if you start it? I would love for you to do so and pick which will be the best place.

It's an interesting setup, a different order than the I think most people use a sump. Do the 3 rows of GBs autosiphon into each other in series and then into the sump, or are they in parallel with all of them emptying directly into the sump?

As far as rates, I think most people go with the 1 tank change per hour rule of thumb. This will vary with whatever media you choose, but on average your GB volume will fill approx 1/4 to 1/3 with water in the interstitial spaces. So if your tank volume is 2000L, and your GB total volume is 2000L, then you'd want 3 or 4 complete cycles in an hour. The more the better for both oxygenation and ammonia break down rate.

In my system, my FT:GB volume is 1:1, and I cycle 15-20 times per hour, so I'm getting 4-5 complete volume changes each hour. This is mostly because my pump is much bigger than it needs to be, but the fish seem to like it fine

CRT,
my system is similar in that I pump from a sump tank into the fish tank then gravity feed to the GBs, then back down to the sump.

I use 2" pipe from main tank to GB's and believe that is the minimum, it allows for a large volume of water and hasn't had any buildup or blockages (so far : roll: )

My preference would be to have the 2 tanks closer together, this would put less strain on a pump.

Hope that helps

So - the suggestion would be move the sump close to the tank.

If I have 1,000 liter fish pond - am I to understand that I only need 500 liter sump?

All three banks are connected together with one autosiphon. I think a cascade system could leave me with tanks half full - not sure on that. It would require balancing the system for sure. The issue that might be true with a cascade system is that as it runs through, it uses water, so the first triggers the autosiphon, but the next won't have enough water, etc. But, I guess if the water keeps flowing - it will be okay - once the autosiphon kicks in, as long as there is enough water to maintain the siphon it won't shut off.

I do like the idea of a single autosiphon though - but perhaps I have lost my mind (I suspect I will have by the time this gets built)

Just got back from the big city and manage to find a very nice pump. 50 liters per minute, 1 HP. Not submergable (I don't want the heat) 220 Volt. With all the fixings, it was under 200 dollars. (I am sure I could buy it cheaper in the states)

Nearly came back with a 6,000 liter tank! You see there was this stock tank in the middle of the floor waiting for someone. 240 dollars for 6,000 liters. The only thing that stopped me was thinking how big the grow beds have to be to keep it balanced.

There are left over 5,000 liter tanks I am told that are used for moving milk. I might be able to pick one up for nearly free.

Also, my manager of our furniture shop reminded me that we have an old tank that was for keeping molases on our first finca not being used - It has to be 20,000 liters.

Then he informed me that inside a finca he knows is an abandoned 50,000 liter (I kid you not) water tank that was used by AYA (they provide the water for the towns) in the past...

I think I am in trouble... With all the land a person could possibly need and free tanks - and a lack of fear of large projects - what is to stop me? (oh, and free fingerlings in case all of them die!)

hehe, we have him now

I am afraid to ask but how big is too big? Please understand the smallest load of pea gravel I could get was 12 cubic meters. 260 dollars. Now, doesn't it make sense to use it all? Wouldn't it mean you would need 6,000 liters of fish tank? I am about to grow enough fish for all of San Rafael?!

Only the future will tell.

Fred, I'm not the one to ask that question. My proof of concept system is a 10,000L tank

By inference then 6,000 liters is merely playing in water - right?

a friend and I recently looked seriously at a 200KL tank