Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

What is the best way of getting air into the water. Does every one use air stones or does the GB's help. For a system with 200 ish fingerlings how much air do they need?

I use a water pump, that runs continuously, just splashing the water back into the tank to aerate. The growbeds are offline from 8 pm till 8am, and no ill effects have been seen so far for 60 medium sized trout, and 40 silver perch.

The text books suggest a u-tube reactor ,, but the cost is just impracticle.
Most use a combination of air-stones and the fact that flood-drain systems add air on the drain cycle.
OBO has had success using a pump ,, if it works for him then why not.

A fountain pump spraying up into the air is used sometimes.

It like most things with AP ,, best to read around then select the methos you prefer.

You'll find a fair bit of info in Koi pons sites ,, Koi being dirty fish , have a fairly high oxygen demand.

Follow these rules and you will be fine...

Have venturis on all pump return pipes.
Mount the drain lines as high up above the water as possible to create splashing. Try not to have water splash out of the tank.
Have a larger pump than necessary, divert the excess via a venturi/45 degree up fitting... ie up and over...
Have a air pump running 24/7, using air-stones to churn up the surface.
Orient returns to create a spirling effect in the water, so have them all facing clockwise in a round tank...

Try and have some water movement at any one time, 24/7.

And keep the water as cool as possible, not always possible for tropical fish.

Attained very easily with a water pump of same wattage as an air pump.

Dont forget that using an air pump and stone will cool the water down as well. Especially in winter.

OBO ,, not if it's pumping warm air ..... but in general i agree with what your saying.
The swirl clock-wise ..... I prefer ant-clockwise ,, JOKING!!!!

OBO has had success with his pump ,, it seems to go against the usual rules ,, but it works ..... hard to argue against something that is actually working.

I use a normal air pump in the small system as well, but I reckon the water pump in the big system is way better. (for the stocking densities that I am using) If i had heaps of fish crowded into a tank - an air pump would probably be used also....but for a normally stocked AP style of system the water pump does fine.

The only time I have seen issues with air in my system is when the pump is gunked up and the water not flowing enough. My system is set up with a backup air system for when the power goes out or if the water level drops too low for some reason (say a leak). I'm now thinking that a flow meter might be a good idea to add to such a backup as my fish were suffering when we got back from vacation and the pump was barley flowing.

Air stones and the bubbles they produce might not be the "best" way to get air into the water but they do lift water from the bottom and circulate it to the top of a tank which does more for keeping water aerated. A small water pump can do that also and if you set up a little spray or fountain, it will do even more. Anything that circulates water from the bottom to the top will help aerate. Anything that splashes or breaks the surface of the water also aerates.

If your main pump runs all the time, and you have flood and drain beds as well as a bypass from the pump back into the fish tank, then any air stone set up is really just a backup. If you run with a timer, it might be worth it to look into extra methods of aeration.

TC I saw aerate ..... and from a ''''' valued American resource ..... I near died:)

REAL English lives !!!!!!!!!!!
I'm gunna do a rap dance in the back yard.....
naked ..... NO not such a good idea ..... neighbour's will telphone POLICE,,,
Reporting a SMALL ditsturbance .....,BE fair it;s cold


Can we possibly bring back Aeroplane????
I know ,, pushing my luck...



Chappo signing out

oh, and realise that if you have no need to quieten down the system then an above water return trumps venturi easy.

Backup whatever's are a good idea. As many as possible
I had a 12v air pump that switched on when there was a power failure, but that doesn't work well when the airstone is gunked up, that and it was diaphragm style so after 6 months outside the rubber just doesn't have the same effect.

On top of this I had a small cheap imported water pump that was to splash water for 15 mins every hour. All good until it shorts out and causes the power failure. 50 dead fish later and I wish I had something else as a backup.

2 different power supplies for me

If you choose an air pump then build a wood air diffuser for super fine bubbles!
http://www.hawkfish.org/snailman/kwairstone.htm

Thinking of making a wind flapper. Wind turns a poll that has a fan prop on the bottom that either flaps in the water or lifts a small amount of water into a PVC line with holes for the water to go back into the system. I like the idea of water returning to the system through small holes in PVC that I can run around the fish tank.