Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Constantly checking for plugging and leaks. Yesterday I had a plug in a drain and it ran over into the gutter just fine so I can stop worrying about dumping everything over the side when it plugs up. Green stuff hanging out of some of them and rocks and a minnow in one but most of them that got that far were dead on the rocks. Found 5 or 6 so far. I wondered how they could get through the pump

Pic 30 shows the detail of the holes in drain protector, and 31 shows where it set in the GB. When filling the GB I put a long piece of 1/2 inch PVC in the hole and stick a piece of 1 inch over that to center the protector piece while I fill the barrel then remove the guides.

I tried to take a picture of the water test yesterday cause it looked like the system is cycled but it is still dark. Cant see the fish yet. It may be getting clearer but I'm not sure. Hard to tell yet.

This morning when I went out to feed the fish a medium sized frog jumped into the fish tank. Hope he does not get tired and quit swimming. Not much place for him to get out or rest.

Stick a bit of pipe in the tank to give the frog a way out.

Hi Don
For your tomato problems check this link
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/publ ... lemsolver/

I tried to do a change to help the water flow problems. I changed the supply line by adding a 1 inch line to the other end of the supply line so it will feed from both ends and maybe get a better flood. I also reduced the recycle line flow.

I just cant believe the growth of the strawberries. The did not have any flowers even when planted about two weeks ago. Now I have little berries on about half of the 14 plants. Cant wait till those get ripe.

Arbe I noticed many others having critters in the area and most say it seems that they can climb up the pipes and hoses to get so I am going to leave him alone. He might keep the bug population in control. Are you in Washington state or Australia?

I am in Western Australia (in my opinion the best place in the world ).

What sort of critters are you referring to?

I forgot to put some pics in of the original Hydroponic garden after I cleaned it up and put in the strawberries. This was a flood and drain system. It was made with 70 foot of 4" pipe system with 76 2 3/4" holes for 9oz cups of gravel to plant in. Had 55 gallon barrel on its side under the drain side with an Ace hardware pump in the barrel. I built an auto siphon to drain the system. The pump outlet was Garden Hose fitting so it was not too big. My auto siphon is 1" pipe so it is faster than the pump. It would take 6 minute to fill and 3 to empty. The timer was a 96 tab timer so 15 min at a time on or off.

For the upgrade to Ap I moved the pump to the new Fish Tank and changed the tail on the siphon so it dumped into the Fish Tank. Put in a new timer and set it to work. Works like a charm.

Pics 36 shows the whole pipe system with cups and strawberries in place.
37 shows the supply side. Inside the pipe I ran in to the middle of a tee fitting to keep the water from being too turbulent right where the water comes out.
38 shows the auto siphon and drain to the FT. There are more pics and a better description on my blog of how I built the pipe system. That was my experimental beginning.

One more pic of the inside of the auto siphon.

On the Siphon subject I do not understand the complications of bell siphon. Why do you need to add an air line for a siphon break.
The stand pipe is obvious the high level desired in the tank. With out the bell it is the overflow. Put a bell over it and put in notches up the side to the desired low level. When the level gets that low it sucks air and quits. On the outlet side I see a trap. I find that not to be necessary as this is not a sealed system. Traps are for vapor control like a septic system where you do not want the fumes from the tank. My siphon drops about a foot and goes to tank. That pipe drop is only an inch or two in twenty feet. Runs great.

Please comment.
Thanks

The breather hose on the siphon terminates just above your low water mark. It simply allows the siphon to draw air directly to the bell in order to improve siphon break. It gives you a little more leeway with flow rates. example: If your flow is a little too fast, your holes at the bottom of the bell will "slurp,slurp,slurp", but never actually break siphon. The incoming air mixes with the water and flows through the drain. The air going to the top of the bell creates the air gap needed to break the siphon. Affnan's design eliminates the need for the breather.

Frogs, snakes and various unnamed things hiding in the bushes. I have two kinds of water snakes around here, both I don't like and one black snake that I don't bother. Water moccasin and Copperhead are the poison ones.

AZdesertFarmer
You must be talking continuous flow systems. I did not consider that when I was running my mouth. Sorry. I guess my strawberries are constant flow to a point. My timer runs 15 min intervals on or off. so 15 on and the pipes fill to siphon start in about 5 min and stays flooded all the rest till shutoff. Some times it sucks air and refills and restarts again soon as it is filled. When it is full it takes 3 min to empty and shut off.