Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello to all last week we had a power outage which made me once in a while go in and fill up my GB until the auto siphon kicks in my growbeed is filled with red scoria however my question is if in case we had a power outage and my GB wont be filled up by water manually how much time do I have before the plants starts dying on me knowing that the red scoria will be moist for a few hours?

Thanks again!

My systems pic:

In summer 12 hrs max in winter i have had beds survive 36 hrs no prob

thanks F&F

The usual worry is more about the fish without any aeration or water filtering, depending on fish type, stocking density, size of fish, temperatures, and feed the fish might last as long as or longer than the plants or they might be gasping at the surface and getting ammonia burn and start dying in a matter of hours. (this would be a strong reason to not overstock your system with fish.)

I had a bath tub that was disconnected from the tank for more than two weeks and the plants were still growing okay.
So stuff will survive,

Aggreed there but the questian as i read it is how long will the plants survive as for the fish i have heard earlier on this forum fo sombody just getting buckets of water and pooring them back in from a height to aeriate there ft

Oh yea, if you are around to bucket the water you can keep both plants and fish happy!!!!
If not around, how long on both depend on a few things.

does any one now where to get one of those switches that turns on your pump when the power goes out. I have no electrical skills so am looking to buy one. I know of one place but am thinking that there has to be a cheaper version on the market somewhere.
Steeme mentioned that jaycar do them but could not find them and did not know where to start.
All help is appreciated.
CHeers Nick

what are u powerin the pump from when there is no power?

Bree

plan was to get a decent truck battery and use it power a bilge pump just enough to create aeration for any period of time that the fish need it.

Hi Nick

I got the parts to make my switch from Jaycar and got an electrician mate to build it. I had no idea how to build the thing but any sparky should be able to do it for you. I think the parts cost me about 30 bucks.

I can't remember exactly what the switch was, I'm sure someone here can tell you. If not, tell Jaycar you want a switch that closes a 12 volt circuit when your 240 cuts out then they should be able to point you in the right direction.

hey rang jaycar and they said they did not have anything that would match to what I was asked for, so again I come to the wealth of knowledge here to ask exactly what I am looking for.

Thanks Nick

Something like this might be what you want.

http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... rm=KEYWORD

It will switch another 240V device on or off when depending the operation of a device. Don't know if it only works for 240VAC though. I actualy have one of these floating around somewhere. If I can find it I will give it a test.

Try one of these when the coil is powered by 240v ac one circuit is held open (no need to connect to this side)when power fails the other circuit is activated use 12 v from battery as the input source and the power fail leg to your pump,aerator etc
http://www.jaycar.com.au/productView.as ... rm=KEYWORD

cheers and thanks,