Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hehe, i was thinking the same thing about the piss in the ocean

now my thoughts about submersible or bypass pump
-sub. is easier to install, cheaper, but puts out heat and probably more vibes to the fish
-don't have to drill through the fish tank to mount it

bypass-- have to drill the tank, or make a syphon loop to keep the pump's intake flooded
-no or very little heat
-easier to get to(maintance)
-costs a little more, but that's not a real issue

and u'r right about the fish tank volume, it's 1000L


i'm still leaning more towards a bypass one because of the past experiences with sub/bypass pumps that tell me bypass is the way to go

what do you think?

molj, I think it is a personal thing with pumps, I have used a small submersible pump on continuous use for over 15 months and it hasn't skipped a beat...others have used larger pumps on timers with equal success and F&F has an external pump (might be others as well).

If the pump is set up to work with manufacturers specs then there has been little failures reported - there is a thread on pumps and how they have gone under BYAP operations
Look here

And kp to

ellkay, i think i already checked that link and asked some ppl about pump faliure and i'm ok with that one. i think i'll go with the inline pump, uses less power and is adjustable. at my parrent's house that pump runned 24/7 for at least 10 years before my father had to replace it.
thank you

btw what's kp? a guy that runs an external pump?:D or am i off course?
i can feel it's gonna be a fun ride

KP = Kudapucat, he comes under the "might be others" (that run external pumps)

ME!!! It's ME!!! Hello Sir, Me!!! :Hand waving in the air frantically:

hehehe, who wants a lollypop?

thanks again, and take care guys!

A wollypwop? wealy? For me?

hello!

i was thinking on how to speed up the bottom flow in the growbeds and i came up with this idea
do you think this would work? the water should move faster towards the places that it moves easier, and drainage pipes are made for that

my only concern is putting that plastic in the growbed, i know it becomes fragile if it's exposed to the sun pretty quickly, don't know about water, i guess it's ok if they use it for drainage systems in agriculture?

thank you for your comments!

molj,
This is precisely what an undergravel filter in a standard aquarium setup does, excepting that it's a perforated platform that the gravel sits above.
I wanted to do the same for my GB but haven't got around to it as yet.
I don't think the placement of the main drainage is important, I think in the corner it would function just as well.
A grid of perforated pipes however is a great idea imho. It may not make it quicker, but it should improve flow so that blockages are less likely.

The other alternative is to put in a layer of larger gravel on the bottom (20-25mm or 1") then have the normal 10mm (1/2") on top.

I did a test with my first system and put in a "false floor", here is a link to it

the pipe is 150mm diameter and is the outer pipe holding back the gravel in the GB, the plastic baskets were cut and up ended to allow an easy flow for the water...cut some lengths of 20mm piping, shoved them under the baskets to give support to the gravel that would be on top - worked like a charm
Elks False Floor

Only used 2 baskets and they covered a small portion of the GB bottom

hey guys!
kuda, yep i've seen those undergravel filters but they suck as far as i've been told, pipes are far more attractive to me, or a box maybe

that's a nice idea, to put bigger rocks on the bottom, but i think i wouldn't like to mess with separating the bigger stones from the smaller ones, once i decieded to clean my growbeds

your false floor idea is looking good, did u notice more floaters in the water, less sediments in the fish tank's bottom or sump's?

have a nice day!

The baskets were put in the GBs Molj and so wouldn't have any effect on what is on the bottom of the FT

you'r right, but in my head i was talking about how much floaters get circulated, so if the basket(in the gb) did its job it should result in seeing more waste in the bottom of the fish tank?

some fresh photos

+ i found an algea oganic fertilizer, made out of these fellas
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascophyllum_nodosum

added 3 ml to my ~100L