Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I like this idea... 250W pump on 25% cycle time = 62.5W average load
35W air pump is half that.
being that 35W air pump is 50% cycle time (day/night) that means that I have reduced my electricity usage by almost 25%!!!!!!

Can I stop my siphon bed at night too? Then I can drop a further 200W and cut electricity by a further 100W!!!

meaning that savings are 130W which is Truckloads!

Will this keep my water hotter?
Should I alter to pump half during the day and half at night in summer to try to cool the water?

remember the test i did a small pipe running 100 meters will deliver all the air you need for inside
In our first house i had air running everywhere front pond back pond a small airlift pump to a wet wall with moss fish tank inside

excellent Milne... By small do you mean 1" or smaller than that?
I'm afraid of small pipes these days

Hard to get an airlock in an air hose though... i guess.

Remember this experiment

Oh... REALLY small hose... I don't think I have any THAT small! OK Thanks Milne, as usual you're a treasure trove of info No I didn't remember that experiment more's the pity.
That's what 5mm hose is it? I'd have been sure there'd be big losses over that distance!

Kuda seeing i run 20 meters from the air pump and then run of to the ft area i run 1/2 in pipe like this [i have just added another 4 outlets since this was taken

Try here viewtopic.php?f=18&t=3425&p=172440#p172440

Cool thanks, my next q was going to be: Will black poly pipe work OK, but you answered that already! :-)

I use the same unit as the eBay one OBO posted in my trout tank with six airstones each with a length of tubing about ten metres...

Each line has an adjustable tap... and I'm not running any of the airstones at max... and the water wells/boils from each stone...

They pump plenty of air Kuda...

very cool guys,
IF I can stop all my pumps at night (confirmation please)
then a saving of 130W is over 3kWh per day, something like $0.60 per day or $18 per month... this is most exciting.

So after running for 2 and a half months, this air pump will have paid for itself!

So please some1 let me know if once I buy this air pump I can stop pumping water all night?

Yes.

Just dont stop the pumps all at once, gradually reduce the cycles until you are happy that there is enough air.

Currently I do not pump water between 6pm and 9am.

I bought a 70" rubber air hose from ebay with air in fittings at both ends, will post pics in my thread if it works