Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Definitely go 90 if you can - I went 50 as my plumbing neighbor gave me the complete SLO after I asked him a few plumbing questions having never touched a pipe in my life. I was so excited coz it was exactly what I needed but now its in it only just drains with overflowing over the t section at top - not ideal but it works.

Nice looking tank!

Will the aircon pose a problem for the plants if their directly across from it if its in use?

Hi Arbe,

I'm running CHIFT PIST with a similar sized FT and when I put in a 40mm SLO everyone told me to go 90mm, the 40mm was already in and working so I didn't change it. Now that I am thinking of expanding I will need to increase the size of the over flow so I have been shopping around for the 90mm bulkhead fittings that everybody suggests you need. The only place I can find them is from rain water tank manufacturers/installers and even they have to order them in as they are really only used for large industrial applications, as a result they cost about $90.00 each

Despite all the suggestions I have never seen anyone on here using 90mm bulk head fittings so maybe it is all theorectical. F&F uses 90mm overflows but I think he uses uniseals which might be a cheaper option, not sure if they work well on curved walled tanks though

To over come this problem I will probably go for 2 x 50mm SLOs, while they won't be able to drain the same volume at the same rate as a 90mm one it will increase my drainage rate and two smaller SLOs mean I can place them in different areas of the FT for more efficient solids removal.

As for the pumps, the Grunfos is a good realiable brand and has a float switch (if you require one) but the pondmax is cheaper, cheaper to run and moves more water, not having has one I don't know how reliable they are but I am sure EB would not sell them if they weren't up to scratch.

What type of system are you going to run, auto siphons, timed F&D or constant flooded? as this will help determine what type of pump you need

I think it will Zman so there is a gap the size of the aircon unit between the tank and the first grow bed. It is a reverse cycle system so when it is cooling the house it pushes out a lot of hot air (with some force) towards the fence and when heating cold air.



The Grunfos is the one I have been leaning to because of the float switch: I feel it is a bit more 'fail proof' (ie if the piping or a grow bed springs a leak it wont pump dry and fail).



That is another thought I had - run 3 x 40mm pipe - one for each grow bed. The only problem I have with this is I plan to expand when I move to a larger block so this tank may have 10 beds attached...



I was going to run the three beds as constant flood until cycled and then a mixture of constant flood and siphon depending on water temp, water clarity, type of plant (some like constant flood while others dont). In short the pump will be running 24x7.

Whatever size pipe you are using, I'd try and go for uniseals Arbe, they are brilliant, so simple to use, though sometimes you do need a bit of muscle to fit them.

OK EB - where do I get them from?

We got them from this mob I think..

http://www.uniseal.com.au/

The link is down

Link may be down, but there is still contact information.

Was about to post that I did a google search for uniseals and the link provided by EB never appeared - you have to search for uniseal for it to appear.

Now to send them an email to request a price list.

Heres what i used just cut rings from the ibc top and selasticed eachside

But in the future i will use these Bunnings about $5.00,, 90 mm fittings

Not sure they will suit F&F as the tank is curved, but may be good to connect two IBCs I will be using as a sump.

What dia is the tank

3 metres.

For those interested I have received a reply from Uniseal which contained prices, specifications, installation etc.

If you are interested PM me and I will forward.