Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sorry for the hijack so soon but ....
Chappo,
Can you tell us more about the solenoids valves you are using (and how they deal with the solids) and.......what kind of timer/controller you are operating them with. Or perhaps simply a link to where you have already discussed this stuff would be more appropriate so this hijack can go off somewhere else........

Back to the Original posters topic.
I believe your idea with raising the pumps and using a float switch may be good at least for the fish tank anyway provided that your level fluctuation allowed by the float switch gives you enough volume to make the system run. A more reliable water sensor or some sort might be even better than a float switch though, could probably even be tied into a backup system to switch over to air or something if the water level did drop too much and also be tied into the battery backup.

On the sump side, that pump should probably be operating only on float switch and how much you can lift that pump up will greatly depend on volumes. I think the normal two pump operation runs the fish tank pump either continuous or by timer and then the sump tank pump only kicks on when the level in the sump tank rises and that pump drains down the sump tank (essentially replacing the water in the fish tank.)

TC , I started a thread called Chappo's toys. Agree it's good to keep it in one place.

On original topic ,, yes from what I read here those float switches have prooved somewhat un-reliable,, can't understand why because it is so simple, but what REALLY worries me is when those switch's play up the owner will want to save dollars and replace it themselves!!!!!! 240 V ( or 120V ) plus water add a little bit of guestalogic and we have DANGER Will Robinson danger danger. From my perspective control wiring should be at 12 or 24Volts , make a mistake and no real problems.
The above do's not belittle the idea , the idea is sound it is the hardware that seems unreliable.

Progress Update
During the week I received all of my PVC pipe and fittings for the plumbing and the proposed green house frame. The supply lines to the grow beds are 25mm and the drain lines are 40mm. All of the piping is to be buried in the grow bed area for both eliminating any trip hazards and for looks.
The pipe I am using for the green house frame is 40mm and I am cutting the back out of the Tee’s so they slide over the pipe. This will eliminate cutting and gluing for the main hoops and allows easy adjustment of the tee’s when in position.

Just a bit of pipe and a few fittings to play with

More progress.

My feed lines and the drains are in. The two 25mm up stands are the feed lines to the grow beds with the 4 ball valves to regulate flow. The 4 short risers are the drain lines. The L shaped section in the foreground is extensions of both lines for future grow beds at a later stage.
The nice shinny Blue thing over the back is my 1000L sump tank.
With the piping in I can now brick pave the walk way areas

Neat work MDP.
Good to see you made good use of the sunshine

Cost of all that pipe and tees etc.. you could probably have brought a greenhouse..

Was thinking the same myself ,, Polycarbonate double layer green-house 4m X 2.4 m about $900.
But nowhere near as much fun as designing and building your own:)

I found a wholesale supplier here in Perth that is better than a third of the price from the big B store. He even beat the prices of my local salvage yard.
All the plumbing for my system (including valves) and all the pipe and fittings for a 10M x 3M green house frame for around $550 delivered to my door no less. The equivillent from the B store was just shy of $1700

As you said Chappo buying one off the shelf is nowhere near as much fun as building your own.
I am happy to post the web address if it is allowed on the forum. The only condition that was noted for the purchasing was that the buyers had a ABN.

Fair price....

You do nice work there MDP

Beautiful looking system!

It is possible to do CHIFT PIST without having the fishtank really high. Instead of going FT -> GB -> ST, you can put the growbeds on top: GB -> FT -> ST. My kitchen system is like this:



The downside, of course, is that the solids end up in the sump instead of the growbeds, but then again this makes the solids easier to scoop out and put in the compost heap...

Burying the sump allows the FT to be at ground level.

wow you could start your own B store MDP aren't bunnings meant to beat it by 10%, could have saved another carton but great progress, was going to do a bit myself this weekend but shovel was frozen to the side of the house

Hi all
I thought it time for some more update photos on the system so far. The Tanks are in, plumbing complete and the paving is finished. I have nearly finished the GH fame and the grow bed support frames are under way.

May I ask ladder height ,, just trying to get an idea of hot-house height.
Suggestion , to keep heat in your area ,, bounderies should be surrounded by 5cm thick , buried 40cm deep Polystyrene board ,, cheaP STUFF , HUGE BENEFIT. Basically you are creating a zone or area that is seperated from the cold earth.
Sorry , one more question ,, what is that outside tank about?

Hi Chappo
The GH frame is aprox 2.6M at the highest point and 3.2M wide at the base. The outside tank is a 1000L sump tank. The drain lines from the 4 future growbeds are burried under the paving and run back to the ST.