Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Fight! fight! fight!

Tim; the wasp/hornet won,I think it was dragging the spider away to lay eggs in it?
Michael;would love to build an enclosure and greenhouse but I`m renting!
I suppose I could use an existing shed and make the greenhouse movable to take with me?

Actually its to prevent buildup of dissolved solids (salts) If it didn't have a bleed water would be evaporated and topped up continuously, when a given amount of water evaporates it leaves behind all the bi-carbonates carbonates flouride, etc etc. by having the bleed its like doing partial wter changes.

Self-dumpers are another thing, where they dump the sump every time you turn the unit off (only about 7 litres).

Self-dumpers stay remarably clean needing only be washed out every 2 or 3 years, old non-dumpers (still have bleeds) should be cleaned out every year, more for the sake of the pump (all the dust in the air settles out into mud ) than health. I've never heard of a report of legionella from an evap...........temps not high enough to provide ideal breeding environment.
Steve

Steve,4th may 2000, Melbourne aquarium.
I don`t know how to put link up yet so I`ll go about this the hard way.
Google;Legionella,then look at Australian institute of refridgeration air con and heating,then click on "last days of cooling tower"(adobe)
According to this4 people died and 95 were hospitalised.
I`m pretty sure that the swampys on our roof are smaller versions of these ones.

Gnash, they are water cooling towers, and yes, i know of the melbourne aquarium case well

Water cooling towers have the consending coil of a refrigerated system running through them. The water removes the heat from the refrigerant. The said water is then cooled by spraying it through a very strong draught of air.

Point being that the condensing temps and hence the water temps are usually around the 40 to 45 degree mark, meaning that the cooling water would be 35 to 40. The optimum breeding temp for legionella is 37C to 45C. The evap coolers water is no where near this temp.

It is a far different situation from evaporative coolers. Legislation has been passed that required cooling tower water to be dosed with anti-microbials either weekly or fortnightly (can't be sure as i don't work on them) Belive me, if there was risk from the swampys then they would be subject to the same legislation.

I'm not saying that it is impossible for legionella to grow in evap coolers, but the folowing conditions must be met;

There is sufficient nutrient in the water.
The bacterium is present.
The bacterium is viable.
The water temperature is in the optimum range for growth.
The water volume is undisturbed.

Now think about it, the periods where the water temps would be viable is with a system off during the summer months. Not likely. The only precautionary measurement that is suggested is that systems that are not planned on being used be drained of sump water, "just to be safe" All new systems are "self dumpers" which covers this base.

Side note: melbourne is getting more and more humid, and evaps dont work too well when its humid. Had heaps of calls last summer with "my pump needs to be changed" I knew just by the humidity of the day that the pumps would be fine

Steve

Hey Steve, if I want to raise tilapia in my basement should I be worried about Legionnaire's then?
Would a small ventilation fan blowing the humid air to the outside (like a dryer vent) fix that worry?

Just a question or 2
What size are your pipes, they look different to me
What gravel are you using in the top pipe?
How have you put the strawbs into the gravel, it looks like some sort of a drop in pot?
What medium have you put into the lettuce cups? Is there gravel in the pipe underneath the cups or just free flowing water?
Are all of your pipes joined in series and gravity fed from one to the next, or are they connected in parallel?
How much water is going through the pipes?

King Erik,
the 2 top pipes are 150mm(approx)
only the back top pipe has pea gravel
the strawbs are just in straight gravel(as is everything in back pipe)
The medium in the lettuce cups is Cultilene extract(everything in front/top pipe) and only water.
The lower pipe has nothing yet.I did use it for awhile with the cups and water crystals(not hooked up to system) just to see if it was a good way to germinate seeds,but I kept forgetting to check the amount of water the crystals had and gave up
The pipes are parallel,the pump feeds both and they gravity feed back to tank.I also have a tap in the main feed line to adjust pressure as well as a tap on both pipes.
The amount of water running through the pipes your guess would be as good as mine.Its not to fast,just trickling really.I don`t even know the size of the pump,most of the stuff I`m using I have found or already had from previous ponds (hope this helps)

Steve , good write up.
Either way I`ll still let the swampy bleed off and keep using the water otherwise its just a waste.
P.S. its going to be 37deg here tomorrow( I couldn`t resist)

Update,still having minor issues with the temp levels

to combat this I have put up a makeshift greenhouse typa thingy,the water from the swampy now runs down this to cool it off and it also provides some shade

front view

G06, where is the fishtank again? Is it behind the tubes? on the patio?

I will get a chance to see how well it works on wednesday 22/11/06 as its supposed to be 39.5deg.
also I have been toying around with a water atomizer(are they called that).
I`v got the run off from the gravel pipe running into it and the access going back to the tub(I`ll see how it goes with cuttings and some baby plants from the garden

Fish tank! - Fish tank! - nobody told me u needed a fish tank


Sorry - couldn't resist