Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello,

I'm Chuck. I started a small aquaponic system several months ago and have had some near-catastrophes. I currently have a 25 gallon tank with a scattering of non-edible fish, 1 trough suspended above the tank with what can only be called a hybridization of NFT and DWC in that there's a constant stream of water flowing through, but the root systems of the plants when I put them in didn't reach the film so I had to increase the volume. Now I have roots all over the place inside there and I fear too much water. My plants are growing but I have brown scarring creeping up the stems. I also have a bed of grow media that I make sure gets flooded at least once a day. I wanted to have an ebb and flow system with that bed, but didn't ink up on a timer, and my bell siphon is not working right, the siphon action never takes, it just floods to the level of the pipe, and stays flooded at that level until some evaporates and some gets sucked up into the roots of those plants. I'm hoping to learn more about keeping a healthy system, getting my bell siphon working right, and upscaling. I want to definitely have an aquaponic system that provides my family of 5 with most of our food, and possibly look into starting a large scale community co-op system to encourage healthy eating habits and self reliance in my community.

I'm off to surf the forum and look for the answers I seek, if anyone can point me in the right direction to address the concerns I expressed above, that would be great.

Thanks,

Adjust your flow into the bed... until the siphon starts properly...

Rupert... I love how you say, "adjust"... my question would be, HOW?

Do pumps come with a flow adjustment? (Can you tell I don't have one?) Or, does one put a ball valve on the out-flow side to regulate... much like the spigot on the house?

Yes. Many pumps do have flow adjustment on them, but people often put ball valves or other types of valves on their grow bed inlets to individually control flow to each bed.

Thanks, DrLuke. Good to know.

... sorry... yes I mean a ball valve...

Thanks for the suggestion. I'm going to have to do some re-working to adjust my flow. I'm assuming I need to kick up the flow a bit so the water has a chance to overcome the column of air in the downpipe... My pump doesn't adjust, and it's full bore now so I don't think I can kick it up any more. Would reducing the inside diameter of the downpipe have the same effect do you think?

What part of the high desert?

I'm in Adelanto, just off the 395.