Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm just plumbing in my gb's atm with 20mm black poly pipe and was wonderin how ppl have done it in the past?
Would it be better to do similar to the byap way and run the tube on the outer edge of the gb and put lots of hole's in it, or just run it staight in from a few outlets?
My pump will not be sitting on the bottom of the tank, as last night i came home to find that i'd pumped the whole system dry . Its a good thing there's no fish as of yet.
Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers
Jono

Jono,
There are lots of opinions here and they are just like Beer, . . .there are no bad ones . . . just some are better than others!!.
IMHO do not use a distribution grid with small holes. They will block up with biofilm. Just angle the end of your HDPE pipe into the media and the water will find it's own level and spread in the Flood cycle.
Or, leave the end exposed if you want to look at the flow. A couple of practitioners here in QLD have gotten rid of their distribution pipes as they were a pain in the butt and forever requiring cleaning out etc and are now quite merrily operating on a single outlet to their GB's, as am I.
I did a similar thing with my pump, but I had a float level switch set at 350mm of water when the pump cuts out. You can get a retro fit float switch from http://www.aquaponics.net.au/product/prod26.htm
Pretty cheap insurance if you ask me.

Cheers IanK

+1 on the non used of distributing grid.

As for the pump water level safety cut out ,, there are a lot of cheaper options if you have a friendly sparky. I can show you how to build it but it should be installed by an electrician.

Thanks for your quick replies guys.
Chappo it just so happens that my dad is a mechanical engineer, so knows abit bout electricity
(he's been shocked a few times as well )
$84 seems a little excessive to me. I got my pump cheaper than that (my bro in law used to be a manager at total eden, yay wholesale , got hydroton cheap too, think it was bout $37 for 50l. I bought all of there stock, only 4 bags tho.)
Chappo if you could maybe give me a list of parts, est. cost and maybe a pic that would be great.

Is one outlet enough for a 200l bathtub, or should i go 2?
Or doesn't it really matter?

Cheers boys
Jono

Here's the sensor .. http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll ... 0314525251

Here's a suitable relay ..... http://cgi.ebay.com.au/General-Purpose- ... 7C294%3A50

Tell Dad wire into back of the power point that you plug the pump into,, basically you are turning OFF thed power point when water go's low.

I'd probably run a 12Volt power pack and that way you use a 12V coiled relay ,, then you are only running 12Volts in the water.