Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Will shutting off the pump at night hurt the bacteria that are in my vertical towers? I know the GB's stay wet and seem to have enough O2 to do fine, but was noticing the towers seem to be almost completely "dry" in the AM when timer comes back on.

Unless you can incorporate some media that retains moisture content... then I'd think that any vertical tower system would drain dry...

How are the plant plugs affected?

And why do you wish to turn the towers off overnight anyway?

They seem to be getting pretty dry in the AM. I have different media in towers. The very course one is dry, the blue and white filter media are finer and are maintaining some moisture. I have a 1 pump system, and am trying to save electricity and offset my heater use in the FT. My water temps got pretty low before the heater...fish cut way down on eating, etc. Now, I've got the poly on, temps are better on cold nights, and I'm trying to maintain the 74-76 for the FT by running the heater in the PM when the pump is off. Growth in all the towers is not as good as the GB's or DWC. This was also true when they were running 24/7. Actually seemed like they were staying too wet. Love the idea of the verticals, but so far, the results haven't been strong like the GB's & DWC. Maybe just need more nutrients? My fish are still small, with largest being 5-6", and my feed rate is still light.