Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

It might.... I run 19mm from the SenSen to 25mm grids in the BYAP systems...

The question is though... with only 1000L/h and a max head of 1.9mtr... what is your actual flow rate...

i.e ... what's your max head you're pumping to on the top barrel....

If you're over 1mtr... then your actual flow rate on that small a pump might only be 500L/H ... or less....

Progress over the last couple of weekends...

Filled the GB's with Gravel...

--continues below--

Dismantled and removed the silicon from one FT...
Resealed one FT...

ohh and built a new fence in between...

The head height is 1.07m... I'm starting to think I need a bigger pump...

There are a lot of variations on pump performance ,, but a line of 50% max head = 40% flow rate is a good start.
So I recon you are looking at less than 400 l/h from your pump choice.
My opinion is that a pump should be selected that has a maximum head of between 3 and four times what the actual operational head will be. So for your sittuation i would be looking for a pump that has say a 3.5 or 4 metre head rating.

http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.a ... _1151.html

That is a good example at a low price.

I have seen an incredible improvement when I adapted up to larger plumbing from a pump that had only a 1/2" fitting but that was a stronger pump that you have there I think.

Larger plumbing can have a big effect but I don't know for certain if bigger plumbing will be enough to make it all good in your case there.

Yep TC ,, larger plumbing lessens true HEAD pressure ..... but as you say that can only help if your pump is close or near appropriate size. Frictional loses are surprisingly big and elbows AHHHHHHHH huge flow loses.

Hi Dave, I went through the delema of which pump, finally settled on the 5000. Have a look at this link. http://www.project-pumps.it/green/easy-jet.htm Plenty of scope to add on, also be able to read their comparison chart of different sized pumps. Hope this helps. Rod

Also have found ordinary sealants not up to the job. I use Sikaflex-PRO and for higher strength (like joining you 2 barrels together I would use Sikaflex-11FC) and no I dont have shares in the company. The 11HC is only a couple $$$$ dearer but I am going to start using that for everything.

Spoke to one of the boys at Mitre 10 about using Sikaflex and he said that the Tremco product is the 'same' and half the price... I paid $9.95ea... seems to be holding and it sticks to anything.

On another note... I've solved my pump dilemma today - took my 1000lph pumps back today and bought two of these....

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=4197&catID=13

Just need to get some bigger plumbing to the flow control... I think I've given myself plenty of room to expand.

On rough timings... with the current plumbing 2 1/2 minutes to fill the growbeds.

So after a year of... 'One day, maybe tomorrow... oh look a bird' ...I've finally got a system that I can start cycling.

Well, when you decide to upgrade your pumps... you certainly don't muck around....

AAh good.

Excellent pump

I was considering this pump...

http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/catalogue_products.php?prodID=3522&catID=13

but for an extra 35w and 64$ to get 2.3x the volume at the same head height... I decided to upgrade...

Tonight, I have also upgraded the line from the pump to the flow control to 32mm and added humonia to the tank.

The test results this morning were...

pH: 6.4
NH3: 0
NO2: 0
NO3: 0

How often should I be testing while I'm cycling the system?

Also investigating a possibility of getting some fish on the 19th or so...

When is a good time to start planting...?

Was it fresh humonia? That will take time to convert to ammonia. Now go pee in a bottle and seal it up, for your next dose you can hopefully use humonia that will already be converted to help things along.

While trying to cycle quickly, test daily. (you didn't give yourself much time before you are getting the fish) Add some worms and a little hand full of worm castings to the grow beds if you have a worm farm. They can help provide a dose of the various bacteria needed. If you have an aquarium or a friend with one, pour the bucket of filter squeezings over the grow beds as it can provide more bacteria.

Anyway, Once you see the ammonia spike and start to drop from your current dose of humonia (it may take a few days for the urea to become ammonia.) You can then add a dose of the aged humonia. If you can aproximately dose up to an ammonia level of 1 or 2 then let things be until the nitrite spike starts dropping before dosing again but then again, you might be getting fish by then and you want to let the nitrite fall before adding fish. (Add salt before adding fish to a new system like this. 1-3 ppt is usually a good level)

You might also want some shell grit in there as your pH might be on the low side. Actually your current pH is probably just fine but you want to make sure it can't drop off the cart and Aquaponics tends to lower pH. Shell grit is a nice slow buffer to keep pH from dropping too low.