Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi guys, well after having a good look around, I see that I am well and truly behind the 8 ball on this aquaponics business

So I have just finished doing a rough sketch of a system I hope have completed by this time next week.

Don't forget to be gentle when you see the design

The system will be based on the 1500 lt pond that I already have in ground



Will it work?

Cheers VM

All barring the filter drum will be good.
If you really want a filter drum, just fill it with gravel, wool will clog in minutes, bioballs cost a fortune and neither are necessary.
If you fill it with gravel, you have the added bonus of a very deep GB that you could plant a tree in.
otherwise, all llooks good

OK good thinking there KudaPucat, what size/type of gravel would you recommend?

Or you could use the drum as a swirl filter.

Say What! [nooby dont forget ]

You run the water through the drum and it swirl giving solids a chance to settle on the bottom.

a swirl filter, is a round tank, where you inject the water near to the tangent, thus creating a swirl. due to the (relatively) slow passage of water about the drum, solids caught in the faster current are dropped. Water is taken out of the swirl filter near the top, so the bottom remains mostly undisturbed.

Round conical Fish tanks have a similar purpose. These are 'Self cleaning' or sold that way anyhow. The water is injected the same way, causing a small vortex, water is removed at the bottom of the cone, where all the fish solids have accumulated. They are then ejected onto the GB.



Swirl filters however are for removing solids. They serve no other purpose afaik. Solids are generally accepted as good in your GB, as they have minerals, and give the worms something to eat.
A swirl filter will have minimal bacterial filtration.

As for what gravel to use? The same as your GB.
Blue metal is favoured, as it's pretty much inert (heavy though)
Scoria is favoured by myself, as it's prettier imho, it has a larger surface area for bacteria and it has many trace elements that serve your plants well in the long term (once you system is old enough for bacteria to eat the rock anyhow) Scoria however has the downside of being sharp. 10 minutes of digging with your hands will expose the quick of all fingers involved.

As for grade of either material I'd go with 10 - 20mm. it's your choice. Plants like it smaller, smaller has more surface area and plant will like it more, however smaller will hold more water, smaller can get into your pipes, and it will have a higher resistance to water, making it more difficult to get air in there.

It's a tradeoff, there are many posts about it, and some number of threads.
Search for the following
Scoria
Blue metal
clay balls or hydroton
river stones

Swirl filters are also good for increasing the volume of water in a system. Removing solids if there is a stocking problem. And if you set it up to not take the water from the inside surface it is great at collecting oils in the system.

Thanks for the swirl info guys, it is great to be able to advice when you need it, the fishgame is very secretive about how and what they do and trying to get advice can be like trying to pull a tooth anyway,
I have just started the stand but have run out of daylight so here it is so far.

30mm x 30mm tube steel [powder coated originally held 6 x 3' fry tanks so is strong as]

Not sure I will use tubes or a GB yet



The mesh will be welded to the frame and lined with double thickness pond liner

The front section of the lid will be hinged to allow protection from preditory creatures and I will probably add shade cloth from the top of the FT to the lid to help with algal growth.



The pond liner from a previous experiment


Cheers VM

Although the weather wasn't exactly perfect for the task, I did manage to get the FT stand and some plumbing into place. This system will be a dedicated Herb Bed with varieties as; Mushroom Plant, Basil, Chives, Mint [Peppermint & Choc Mint] Rosemary, Thyme.

Well here are things as they were when the dark came!

This is where the system will live


Return filter for heavy particles [same principal as trickle filter]


Flow to GB governed by inline tap and control for as bypass swirl filtration


Filter uses bio balls and filter wool and has already started to cath the sediment present in the FT


Inline Tap as mentioned


Like my siphon hose!


I have 2 tubes that I thinking of using ad several lengths of 4x2 to add bracing to the FT stand


Mushroom Plant - one of the herbs that will be using this system [Herbs]


Certainly has some goodies in it [got this plant at Bunnings ofcourse!


The Koi pond and filter that serves as a seed / cutting germination tub


Welcome to Cafe Aquaponica!


The Shade cloth will be added at the end but the high should be ample othe purpose of growing herbs


The bucket is the power leads raincoat!


More tomorrow folks
Cheers
VM

Just checked the system.
Details:
Water temp 22.5c
ph; 6.8

Submersible Pump I got today appears to be adequate for the set up.
Resun SP-6800
Total Head = 2.5m
Max Delivery Volume = 2800L/H

No other figures available as yet.
I will take a sample to my LFS and get her to do a complete test in a couple of days to be sure that things are on track.

Note: SAFE added at 25:1 ratio as per new aquarium setups. This aids to balance the chemical makeup of the tap water such as Chloride etc. it is also what is used to transport Tropical Fish for sale as it adds a protective mucus coat over the fish body hence reducing stress from transportation and handling. [Well worth investing in as a stand by treatment].

More tomorrow
VM

Latest update:
General:
8:43am 10/02/09
Air Temp: 16c
Humidity: 70%

System:
Water Temp: 20c
pH: 6.5

Pump still working well and water is clearing.

Here is the next stage of the system in draft form


Suggestions or feedback welcome

Cheers
VM

My tap I use to get the crap out of the swirl filter has a pipe on the inside so it takes from the bottom. Sometimes I open the top and with a stick disturb the bottom while draining. The tap is half way up so I can put a bucket beside it. I let the bucket settle and tip out the clear water and save the rest for adding to worm bin or GB or pot plants.

Thanks for that Dufflight, I will definitely look at your idea and adding it to the filter when ready