Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We were talking about HOW to keep a decent level... float switches being the topic name. We began to discuss alternatives.
The last post of mine shows cheap <$30 products to measure the amount of water, without physical interference and switch a relay when it gets to a set height.
If you were to set up a monitoring point, the advantage here is that you could calculate how much you are losing to evaporation. Also you can set multiple switch points with a minimum of fuss, eg to turn on potable water, pump excess due to heavy rain out, so tanks don't overflow and fish don't surf the waterfall.

OK , apologies , good idea for us all to spend " $1k however" to monitor evaporation loss and keep levels . I could be wrong ,, but a simple switch for tank levels and a pencil mark on the inside of the tank may just be ok for most.
Anyone want a thousand dollar pencil...LOL
kUDA ..... honestly I'm not looking for trouble ,, peace.
Ok , I'll help ..... with some other ideas ..... a global positioning sensor bounced off 3 satelites could monitor the water level quite well. It would need to be US army spec ,, so maybe $100,000.
I'll stop now or I'll get in trouble

no offence given, all posts go OT at some point...

Agreed ,, it can be fun ,, I'm not having a go at you ,,I'm not the nicest person in the world , but I'm here to learn.
I question a lot of things ,, that's my personality , but most importantly I want to learn and contribute.
Cheers mate.
Dave ( now we're getting personal ,, real names,,,LOL )


I think I'm working tooooo m any night-shifts.

Well, I for one, am interested in an alternative way to automatically measure water levels in a sump and this thread (with the sonar bits) have been very informative.

I am looking for an alternative to using a mechanical float valve because the ball would need to be fully submerged most of the time which could lead to parts sticking and clogging.

Hey mate, I'm in Sydney this week... it could get even more personal than telling you my name's Hamish

Have a good un...


Les... hoping soon to have a small device (size of a 50c coin) that will be able to connect to ethernet (standard computer network) and read such devices as sonar level sensors.
Expecting the cost to be high for this forum, but worth the trouble at about $60 - $70ea...
these devices will also have the ability to switch relays with no extra circuitry.

If I wasn't on #@@*** ing night-shift I would offer for you to come around for a BBQ.

Work is interfering with my life , just need a nice lottery win and RETIREMENT:)

I think what is needed is a fantasy aquaponics system. What would you built if price, space, time, weather, ect were not a problem? What would be the perfict system? Here they have fantasy baseball & football leagues. This subject might need its own heading in the forum...

Start one if you like, but I think DD was designing some 'fantasy' systems... I'd love to see some built, but as far as I'm concerned, they're fantasy... never going to happen at my place, no matter how cool they are on paper. He did really well to merge modern living spaces with hidden AP... really pretty stuff... If I were building anew house... well it'd be an option.

Yep - keep me informed Kuda, can always worry about costing at a later date

Hey people.

Ok - Im no electronics wizzkid - but maybe you people that are can use this idea?

I have a device with a suction cup on the back that you stick to the wall of a bath tub. It has 2 metal tags on the bottom so. When you are running a bath you set the device at the height you want the bath at and when the water gets to that height it sets of a loud alarm.

Obviously it is testing for conductivity across the 2 probes.

So I was thinking - perhaps something like this would be a very reliable and cheap alternative to a mechanical float system?

Cheers,
Hamish

you might end up getting shit on ya probe that will reduce its reliabilty

Actually - there is one here so you can see what im talking about:

http://www.oromedhealthcare.com/product ... level.html

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/bath-alarm-water ... otohosting

http://www.heatandplumb.com/acatalog/Ba ... ature.html

Perhaps - but it might be worth exploring for those with the electrical knowhow.

For an alarm sensing probe yes but not to turn on/off a pump
any small splash will trigger it when level is close to the probe
or will be going on/off on very short intervals