Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

You see here's where people will think me arrogant- to be honest, I haven't learned how to build or operate my system from here- I actually found out about this forum because it was mentioned in another aquaponics chatroom that I belong to and I didn't learn how to build or operate my system from them either- I understood a lot of the science before I ever considered AP and my intention is to raise fish commercially and it still is- I consider AP as an alternative biofilter option. I learned from scientific research which thankfully is all in English (all scientific research is in English- our language is expandable unlike say Latin that is a dead language) but I did have to create a cheat sheet to convert metric into standard (very annoying but necessary), I learned from commercial hydroponic, aquaponic and aquacutlure systems already in operation and I also had conversations with researchers in these fields. Almost all of the commercial AP systems seem to be drain to waste but I think that is fixable with the proper design.

The issue of how much power does my pump use has come up a few times. I saw this a couple of weeks ago, and it would be just the ticket for single phase pumps:
Power Monitor
It has instantaneous power, as well as kwh for a duty cycle pump.
That place auctions them regularly, although I not sure what they end up going for

There is program called Convert that simplifies units conversion
I am not sure what converting metric to standard means. Do you means metric to imperial?
The only countries besides the US not using metric are Liberia and Burma, so metric is already standard
Source : U.S. Metric Association

ROFL

Interesting on the ammonia motor, got any links?

will be interesting to follow, as all commercial ammonia is produced by cracking methane (or propane/butane) into H2 which is then combined with atmospheric nitrogen................

As a side, the methane is cracked into hydrogen and CO2, so its by no means "carbon efficient" and the process is run at high temps so you need an energy input there too....................

may as well just use the hydrogen in the motor!

and to save the counter;

As the availability and usage of fossil fuel become problematic (see peak oil and climate change), the hydrogen required for ammonia synthesis could in principle be obtained from electrolysis (currently 4% of hydrogen production is from electrolysis) or thermal chemical cracking of water, but these alternatives are presently impractical. The heat needed for thermal cracking can be obtained from nuclear reaction, while the electricity needed for electrolysis can be obtained from various renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, hydroelectricity, and various forms of ocean energy especially that of OTEC. A possible use for the excess electricity would be to use electrolysis on water to acquire the needed hydrogen. Alternatives to the production of ammonia from natural gas and air are uneconomic and the environmental benefits have not been established.

reference: wiki

No, I don't have any links on the ammonia water pump. I saw an article in our local ag paper, "The Valley Voice" but when I looked in the archives on-line, I wasn't able to find it so I'm hoping that I still have the orginal article so I can contact the manufacturer and get more info. I tried a google search but that was also unsuccessful. This is BRAND NEW technology and the first field test of their prototype was done here so that's why the article in the paper.

I don't know if I would agree with ammonia being a carbon friendly alternative though- the manufacturing of it requires a great deal of natural gas but it will stop the local theives from taking it out of the tanks. Anything in the fields have been fair game- from diesel to operate wind machines and water pumps, to copper in electrical wiring, to anything metal that they can scrap.

"The issue of how much power does my pump use has come up a few times. I saw this a couple of weeks ago, and it would be just the ticket for single phase pumps:
Power Monitor
It has instantaneous power, as well as kwh for a duty cycle pump.
That place auctions them regularly, although I not sure what they end up going for"

B2
Got one from Jaycar $39. Really handy tool esp for capacitor start/run equipment. Has problems registering small loads though. Nice feature is it tells you Hz (interesting on gensets).

I have read this thread all the way thru and didn't find a suggestion for a pump that seems suitable for my system. Can anyone provide a suggestion for a system with 110 gallons of fishtank and 5 half blue barrel growbeds. The cheapy one I had, 500 gph, died after less than 2 months use. Please provide a brandname, or web link if possible. Need to get one quick.

Thanks,

TX

I would recomend one of these, gives you a bit more capacity, and is super reliable.

Your pump sizing is about right.

They make a smaller one, but is out of stock.

700 gph, 2600lph.

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_ViewItem~idproduct~DN1125~tab~0.html

Obo, do you know if the unit actually has a threaded inlet and outlet as pictured? The chinese one that just broke on me showed a picture on the webpage I bought it from indicating it had threaded in/outlets but didn't. Instead, it had a cheap press in piece that was close to 3/4" for the water outlet and no way to connect to the inlet side.

Also, who recommends running the pump submerged and who recommends in-line out of the tank. I guess the water might cool the operation a bit if submerged?????

Thanks,

TX

I have a larger version of that Danner listed on the Marine Depot page. I am not very experienced with pumps, but this is a sweet system. The threads are excellent. I use mine in-line, and it stays pretty cool. It's also quiet. Mine is the 9.5/950gph.

I got it because it's a magnetic drive, so there's only one moving part and no oil to leak. They're supposedly pretty energy efficient as well.

I only have a two-barrel system right now, so I send most of the water back into the fish tank w/o sending it through the GBs, and dump cycle is still about 15min.

If you have more questions, I'd be happy to answer them, but it's about 4 hours past my bedtime...

I found a Pondmaster 700 GPH for U.S. $90.00. The lady at the place I bought it said it's made by Danner and has a 3 yr warranty, 1 yr on impeller shaft, which is replaceable. Thanks to everyone for helping me decide and so, in keeping with intent of the original post................

Pondmaster 700 GPH

Placed in service 6-6-07

Died ?

TX

im thinking of purchasing an sp100 sump pump from orange pumps an australian company. It is essentially the same as the ebara optima except it uses 180 amps not 250. That last one i bought cost 150$. I installed it in a grey water tank for a neighbor. It has been running 2 years without fail. Has anyone else had experience with this model and do you think it could be suitable for a ap system.
cheers
pete

I hope you mean watts

That pump would be suitable for a very large ap system

And its fully serviceable

Double check your pricing Bluefin... website lists them as $280.....

And rated at 180W ... http://www.orangepumps.com.au/mktg/tc2008/op08tc35.htm