Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi guys. I just got through cleaning my pond & it go me thinking, how many of you use clarifiers in your AP's? I went to Caribe Fisheries (caribefish.com) & they had one on their ornamental fish tanks. For what I've read, I think the UVI system also uses them. I mean, if you leave all the gunk on the growbeds, won't it eventually clog everything up (including the roots)?

Thanks!

MW, if you have some composting worms in your growbeds they will take care of most of the gunk and there is little or no build-up

Thanks Jaymie. Now let me ask you. Are composting worms just regular pink earthworms? Also, would the clarifier be one of those "nice to have" things?

Thanks again!

I'm not sure, try the earthworms, can't hurt really?
A clarifier, I would class as an unnecessary expense in an AP system

MW

Composting worms live in mulch
Link http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s1074679.htm

Three main types

Thanks Sleepe

if you mean UV clarifiers, all thye do is kill algae and free floating organisms.

they do nothing for suspended solids.

or do you mean a mechanical clarifier like filters and swirl seperators?

I'd love to have a mechanical clarifier, to better distribute the mess. You could have the bottom go to gravel beds and the clear water go to NFT or other. You could do this just by making sure that the beds are first in the chain, but this can be difficult if the vertical space is limited.

Think MW means that stuff you can get to add to a pond and it causes the stuff in suspension to clump together and fall to the bottom. Its a flocculant.

i've got long stringy algae in my pond at home. i just scoop it out once a week with my net and that keeps it under control well enough. i'd love to get rid of it properly somehow

Yeah what I mean is a cone type thing. Or maybe not even a cone. The one at Caribe Fisheries is just a 4'Lx4'Wx3'H or so concret box into which the water goes in through a pipe in the bottom center, & water goes out though a 18" gap on one of the sides of the box. Solids collect at the bottom of this box. From there, the water then goes into the bio filter.

TIA!
Felix

MW

Cone sounds like a vortex filter other might be a baffled settling tank. Not sure anyone uses one as the crap goes into the growbeds for the plants to use and the water is filtered by them. Take it Caribe Fisheries is an aquaculture setup?

My thoughts exactly Sleepe...

Why do you want to remove solids MWD????

It is usefull only for NFT trays so there's no accumulation of organic junk.
A double system could be done:
a cone with a swirling water inflow
two outflows, a small on the bottom to get the solids out to a biofilter to prepare a mineral enriched water diluted back into the system, and a big hole on the top to get clean water to the roots.
I might do this for my dad's projected system to use the enriched water from the pond for growing veggies in NFT gutters on a wall near the light.
I've seen them work in importation of koi, works well, eliminates 80 % of the suspended particles out of the water.

That's exactly why I ask. I'd like to incorporate a nft system as well.

Thanks!