Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

+1 on the beds being big thermal heat exhangers.

I totally agree.
But in view of power failure and/or alternate power for pumping/aeration I would rather have the most water at the top where it will serve as a functional buffer, not at the bottom where it will only sit and wait until you jump on your bicycle.

if you would have a system that has two flow circuits in parallel, a slow and a faster one, you would probably be able to cope with power failures and shorter or longer windless periods.

a NC (normally closed) valve on the high flow would do the trick: when power fails, the valve closes and only the slow flow circuit(which functions continuously) continues to work.

frank

I see that more than one of the forum users has found the marvels of Google sketchup
while posting views of systems as .jpg's is very instructive and for all to see,

I for one would surely like to have some(most) of the original .skp files (full drawings) for further reference and maybe to add suggestions either for myself or for the group.

I don't know if that is possible as there doesn't seem to be a files section on the forum and the upload limits on normal posts might be restrictive

there would be a need to establish some rules to avoid confusion, like adding each time a new layer with your name and the date to the original file in which your latest suggestions are brought together. This way the original owner (and others) can turn the layer(s) on/off to see their effect.

maybe start a new thread on this subject?

frank

I have watched my pool go green almost overnight. A friend reckoned a pool is just a mess of chemicals and it got out of balance after some rains. How suddenly could an algae bloom happen in an AP system? I believe that in such a system (please correct if wrong) that it is largely cause by high nutrients and strong light. Would the GBs not pre-empt this from occurring too suddenly?.... or am I over-simplifying the subject? I want a little algae growth for the tilapia babies. They thrive on it.

I have watched my pool go green almost overnight. A friend reckoned a pool is just a mess of chemicals and it got out of balance after some rains. How suddenly could an algae bloom happen in an AP system? I believe that in such a system (please correct if wrong) that it is largely cause by high nutrients and strong light. Would the GBs not pre-empt this from occurring too suddenly?.... or am I over-simplifying the subject? I want a little algae growth for the tilapia babies. They thrive on it. But would not wnat it to become a sudden problem if went away a couple of days.

Neat.



Are you saying that the GBs creates heat? Please bear with my questions sometimes. I don't care if they seem silly. I hate not understanding.



Yes. Larger body of water would do that. Found that with my fish too. My dam leaks and when teh water was low the fish would not come to feed at all on warm winter days; but when the water was kept high they would show interest.



So a mini system will show me some stuff but misrepresent other stuff. Maybe I won't put fish in the mini-system just innoculate it with a bit of manure and cycle this "tea" to the GBs

Could I ask you to explain this in newbie terms, Steve. Would appreciate it.

He he! The bike idea keeps getting more appealing! Just imagine the frustrations all my neighbours could work off... I'll even offer it for free!

Interesting thought though. Yes. Emergency water above the system in a power failure is certainly more desirable.



I guess I will have to find out if I can get an NC valve and exactly how it works. Sounds interesting. Thanks

You are most welcome to my sketchup files HGC.

I was meaning that the growbeds absorb sunlight heat

1000 litres is a good size for a system, but I have been too busy building the larger system to keep a good eye on it - resulting in fish problems. Its just if things go bad, they go bad quicker in a small system.

Algae blooms wont happen as quick in AP, becuase the buildup of nutrients is a lot slower, due to the growbeds absorbing them. You'll still get algae on the walls of your tanks.

there are a lot of advantages in sharing Sketchup .skp files
i.e one of them being to setup an AP library for all to use

would save heaps of time

I believe I have somewhere a half barrel component amongst many others

but first feasibility has to be considered by the moderators, as file size is bound to be a problem

then we should all suggest rules or should I say instructions, as said to avoid confusion

frank

here you go frank

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=2691

There's now a section for uploads...

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=4101

RE: the beds being heat exchangers...............

a few people have observed how regardless of how well you try to regulate/insulate/buffer the temperature of your water, passing it through the growbeds when they are at a high or low temperature can easily defeat all your efforts.

i found much more benefit in a buried tank (to reducew temperature drop) ONCE i stopped pumping through the growbed at night

RE: the beds being heat exchangers...............

a few people have observed how regardless of how well you try to regulate/insulate/buffer the temperature of your water, passing it through the growbeds when they are at a high or low temperature can easily defeat all your efforts.

i found much more benefit in a buried tank (to reducew temperature drop) ONCE i stopped pumping through the growbed at night

my current system runs between 6am and 8pm