Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

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Trawling AliExpress Daily Specials I came across a special on face flannels. for a few cents each..

The words suggested "Super Absorbent" and I wondered..
Hmmm.. how would that go as a wick through the base of removable wicking tubs..

Interestingly, I dunked a corner in water and nothing suggested wicking..

So I set up two takeaways and lay the flannel between them with water in one



a day later I remembered and felt the flannel and it appeared "Dry" and then I noticed, that BOTH containers had equal volumes of water..

Now THAT is what you call WICKING...
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yea most fabrics dont absorb very well until they have been used a bit (or boiled as they used to do).

Purely anecdotal, but I've set up 12 wicking buckets in the last week, some with the microfibre style (dishrag) that you show, and some with the fake chamois (shammy/shamwow stuff), both from my local dollar store.
It seems that the chamios ones are more effective, those buckets seemed to wet through faster than the dishrag ones. They also seem to have the moisture table a little higher in the bucket, where the dishrag ones stay drier on the surface. Both work, though.
I'll try to pop up a post in my system thread to show the buckets at some point, but I'm pressed for time at the moment.

On the contrary.. that is a brand new cloth, and it siphoned half of the water into the second container..

It's one thing to get a wet tail, from sitting in water, and another to literally pump water vertically and then allow it to siphon/flow over to the other container and then equalise the water levels..



I suspect that the Microfibre will last forever.. Any thought on the practical life of the Chamois/Shamwow..
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huh?
that was regarding the fact you stuck the corner in and it didnt look like it would wick, of coarse when you come back a day later the situation would have changed..... its been sitting in water for a day :rolleyes:

Yes. Longer than the life of the plants I'll pot in them.
I'm planting peppers, tomatoes, etc., and I expect that in a ~10l bucket, they will infiltrate roots through the wick and down into the reservoir anyway. In fact I'm almost counting on it, I'll be circulating AP water through the buckets to provide a constant stream of nutrients. I actually pondered drilling several more holes into the bottom of the top bucket (think 10l net pot), but I did not do so out of concern that it would prevent the top bucket from wicking properly. Now that I reflect on it, I can not see the holes making a difference, so I will do so for the next buckets. These are free recycled buckets, and it takes me 10min or so to make a wickpot. I cut the microfibre in half to do two pots, or the chamois in thirds, so at less than 50¢ per pot either way, I'll replace them when I replant the pots.

Side story:

My company that manufactures walk-in coolers and freezers had to find some special electrical cable for one customer because due to the extreme temperature differences between areas, moisture was condensing *inside* a rubber electrical cable and then slowly filling up an electrical junction box via wicking action. Crazy.