Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

im kind of against the overhead tank idea people have come up with (also air pressure tanks, not gonna work either, you gonna keep them pressurised 24/7??).... simply because when do you fill this tank?
do you spend the exra money constantly to keep water flowing to it? or do you fill it once now and hope the power goes out before the water goes stagnant??

I agree. I think your rope pump is the only practical solution that could be made for $50 and that could be easily duplicated versus some scavenged, cobbled-together, one-off contraption.

Is there a way to calculate this? (We're using 2 IBC's with a stocking of 20kg each probably. Temperature of the water around 25C)

Our busget is around 1400$ per system, but prices are tricky here. They change by the day. At current prices we can built the whole system for 1300$. Which means it is possible to spend 100$ more to solve the oxigen problem. But I'm guesing it's going to be difficicult as seeing all the responses on my question. Was hoping a bit out of the box thinking might spark some creativity but it seems difficult.

Is there such a thing as an battieries (or how much energy does an aerator take actually?

Hydrofarm AAPA70L 60-Watt 70-LPM Active Aqua Commercial Air Pump with 8 Outlets

You said without using electricity or wind......

anyone can just set up batteries, if you can get them why not just use them??

..
Energy.. how much energy does it take to shift a bucket of water and how much energy to shift a bucket of air..
A buried barrel of say 200L of water pressurized air, who'll only last a short time, but that is surely enough to going for a pee, or having a snack, and it is doable and possibly FREE.. that is the only reason for that option..
Bottom line, I doubt that there is a simple solution that is practical..

I have a couple of these little batteries in automobile jump-start packs and my lawn tractor; they should run the pump above (0.5a) for at least 24 hours; as long as you can get it re-charged before the next power outage.





Together they would be close to your $100 budget, although you still need some sort of relay or other control. Also, that gets you aeration but no circulation.

If your power outages aren't too close together, a solar panel charger would work, too.

Why don't you just go the low tech option, set up some wicking beds, and dig out a clay pond to throw some fish in?

Yes I actually might agree with you. But since I joined the project only after a year we cannot change that anymore. We're receiving a government grand from the Netherlands to apply this as a research project. The moment I joined I had doubt's, now just trying to make the best out of it.

Well in that case.

Battery backup is your best, cheapest and most reliable option. You can order the stuff direct from china (I'm assuming they are quite cheap sending stuff everywhere). You can set it up with a simple wall wort/relay option to kick into battery mode, and keep the battery trickle charging. You can probably get them cheaper if you're buying for 10 plus sites.

When you're building the next site, let us know and we'll help you out with the design, the ziz-zag model used in the one you pictured isn't the best idea.

How many more sites are you building?

And what's the plan for a few years time when the pump dies? Is the whole build gone because the locals can't afford a new pump?

Problem with a battery is that you'll need an inverter and a charger as well.... Right now I'm thinking of a way to reduce the costs of this to fit the budget. Buying only the battery is not the big problem, but the other parts are.

argh! so why bring up the battery??

you can find 12v in most items, not sure how much access you will have to them, but a battery and 12v aerator would work.

otherwise, go back to the ideas presented and see if any are feasible.

i personally think the rope pump is best because if you set it up right you can pump from sump to FT and keep the whole system running, if you dont want to do the manual labour, a 12v motor can do it for you from a battery.

what he really needs to do is to go down a back road one night and collect a couple loose scooters/mopeds - then apply a bit of innovation to prop them and fly wheel a paddle aerator/agitator.

cost of scooter = $0, aerator/agitator = minimal - all under $50.

when power supply is good then use the scooter for a veg home delivery service or a profitable uber service.......
power goes off, mobile phone the dude and he is back at the AP ready to go.

not sure if that solution is out of the box or leading to the box (cell).... maybe you need the $50 to pay-off the gendarmes.

[ but aside from the poor humour aspect using an already avialable resource would work somewhere like SE Asia where everyone has motorbikes and the skills in keeping them running well past their use by date are phenomenal. ]

[edit2 - I think Top Gear made an amphibious scooter that sprayed a lot of water across a rice paddy in vietnam].