Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have finally got my first system up and running and although not completely finished (1 more growbed to build and install over fish tank) the system has been running now for 3-weeks and has just about finished cycling (Ammonia been "0" last 7-days and Nitrite down to 0.1), here are a few pics.





The system consist of a 900L fish tank, 1-BYAP 500L growbed, 1-200L growbed and a 400L growbed yet to be added.
The method used is a control box controlling individual pumps for each growbed which are drained by bell siphones, the pumps operate in sequence and are sized to growbed volume. This system allows minimal draining of fish tank and maximum efficiency (50watt highest load at any given time with 20watt air pump running continously), and also some protection against system failure because of pump failure (unlikely to have more than one pump fail at a time).

Some more pics

Nice work!

Nice and tidy setup, well done.

No expense spared on the electrical side. Are you an electrician by any chance?

The Hub of the control box is the Logo controller which operates of 12/24VDC which is supplied via the system back-up battery and automatic battery charger. This allows system control in the event of a "black out" and automatic change over to battery power (105AH battery maintenance free) via 300watt Inverter. The program in the Logo controller has three system flow rates (420LPH, 1050LPH and 1400LPH) which can be selected manually or automatic. In automatic, time of year and time of day settings determine which flow rate is used. I am hoping this will give some water temperature control through out the year? In the event of a "black out" the system selects the 420LPH flow rate which is one flood and drain per growbed per hour (I have calculated the battery could run the system for 2-days at this rate). The air pump operates when the 420LPH cycle is selected or time of year (runs continuous in warmer months).
After talking to the battery people there are three main things required for maximum standby battery life - 1. keep fully charged with automatic battery charger, 2. keep battery cool as possible, 3. perform periodic discharge (once per month down to approx. 50% of capacity) to prevent battery becoming over-charged. The Logo controller also performs the periodic discharge by running the system from the battery for a set time each month. Messages are displayed on the Logo screen to indicate what is happening at any time.

BTW the battery discharge rule only applies to deep cycle / sealed lead acid battery types. Normal automotive batteries last the longest if kept fully charged and floated.

I really like you approach to AP

Great professional bit of work mate. Well done.
And so the fun begins...

Yeah, very nice Aquastud...

From what I can tell you have a pump or air off the inverter 24/7? If so make sure the charger is the style that only float charges and does not try to cycle charge up to 15v. Otherwise cause you have a load on the battery it will spend 99% of its time at 15v and will overcharge the battery.
That's one of the reasons solar charge controllers have a separate load terminals.

Good idea on the siemens controller nice and flexible. Remember playing around with one a few years back for some really big star/delta pumps. Cost a few K then, what are they like now if you don't mind saying?

Anywaynice setup!

OBO wrote
The car battery may last longer?, but is not designed for back-up power supplies, are not rated in AH and will be damaged by a deep discharge, so it is hard to work out how long they will last on a given load. Some advantages of deep cycle sealed lead acid batteries are - No acid fumes to corrode nearby metal, no topping up of water (normal lead acid batteries will be damaged and lose capacity if cells are exposed), more power for phisical size, no spill worries (can be installed at any angle), rated in AH (amp hours) so it is easy to work out performance characteristics on a given load.
Some disadvantages are - Cost and more sensitive to high temperature enviroments.

Privatteer wrote

The inverter is only connected to the battery in the event of a "black out" and only powers pumps etc at this time. A change-over relay connects the pumps to mains supply or inverter supply. Logo basic module ( 8 in/4-out ) retails for about $300.00.

More pics

I have noticed when testing fish tank water that the GH (general hardness) has doubled over a 2-week period, started at 125.3ppm and went to 232.7ppm, while KH stayed the same. I have worked out the river stone is causing this, as I tested the water in my indoor test system which also has the same river stone in it.
Is there any reason for concern?

Nice work - gotta love koi.

Obviously means there's limestone in the river stone Mark.... this will affect your pH... and will act as a buffer to hold it down... for a considerable time...

Have you tested the pH... wouldn't surprise me if it's now around 8.2...

Will make cycling difficult, especially with the colder weather.... and will probably cause nutrient lock-out and deficiency problems in your plants...