Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Good suggestions and I think I'll be getting bonus points because I have a soil garden next to where the pipe will run .

I always wondered about salting the fish water - I wouldn't think you'd want to use this for the regular garden because of buildup (Unsalted wouldn't be a problem of course).

I've been working on other things lately so not much progress. The 4" uniseal I ordered finally came and I installed it through the side of the tank. Unfortunately I did this on only a few hours of sleep and I should have known better - the uniseal is positioned over a spot where the side steps inward making for what may not be a very tight seal. I'm going to fill it up and see if it's ok but I'll probably be putting silicone around it is my guess. Had to use woodworking clamps to push the pipe through the seal, couldn't do it by hand.

I've been working on how I want the pipe layout to work so nothing is permanent in the pics below but this is pretty close to how the large 4" pipe will go (the 2" pipe in the pic is from before I decided to switch to 4"). 2" pipe will come off of the 4" pipe and will rise to the growbed height before I split it into either 1" or 1-1/4" with a 2" T and reducer bushings. There will be a cleanout at both ends of the 4" horizontal for both cleaning out the pipe and to allow for later expansion without having to cut the pipe.

The last pic is of a partially completed tank of around 80 gallons that will be under several of the growbeds. I haven't decided what I will use it for yet but I want to be able to separate a part of the system as quarantine if needed. Access won't be easy but I think having one of the totes on drawer glides will work.

The plumbing pic and the tank pic appear wider than they really are because of how I resized them.

looking great scotty. yeh pity you didnt put the uni seal a bit higher, but nevermind. maybe silicon it anyway just incase?

Thanks freoboy. I was pretty hacked with myself for doing the uniseal this way. In the back of my mind I was thinking about bringing the pipe in below the level I wanted the water so I had some room to play around with, the rest is history.

if your giong to a SLO ( i assume you are) you can still raise your water level with the height of the SLO . . .i have plenty of experience with making things in a rush or in a daze and having leaking pipes it sucks doesnt it

Yep, I am going with SLO and have an idea on raising the water level but am still open to suggestions. I like the way arbe did his but he came in at the level he was trying to get - very clean looking install. I hope to do as he did but turn along the side of the tank, do a little up and down to set the depth and then head for the bottom and across - if this makes sense. Yep, some days it doesn't pay to get out of bed .

SLO drain. I used two 22 degree street fittings (designed with one end to fit to pipe and the other into another fitting) to do a small upward loop so I can set the water level.

That work's..

Nice Work..

I'm Looking for information, on SLO as it might be a good way for me to clean my FT or I will just go with a Bottom Drain as in from a Normal Fish Pond..

Juergen

Hi Juergen,

Thanks.

You might find something under "venturi drain" since SLO used to be called that.

A better example of how SLO should be done would be arbe and his system. The pipes from the SLO don't go down like mine before they head to the grow beds and it's a relatively straight run of pipe. I'm having to make some concessions on this system so I am leaving a couple of cleanouts in case sediment accumulates in the pipe and blocks things up.

I've been busy with other things and it's been raining quite a bit as well so not much progress but here are some new pics for an update.

Wow, thats a lot of syphons, hope it works out for you. Love the brick work.

Man that is a lot of AP going on there Scotty.....

No syphons, all continuous flow but can change to siphons on a few without messing things up to much. Regarding the brickwork - seems anywhere I dig I get these bricks so I just put them to use. The ones by the front entry of the greenhouse were just from digging up the tank on the left.



Not sure if I understand EB. Just building in some elbow room for the fish : . I think your growbeds are much larger than the 50 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks you see in my pics. Really only 400 gallons of growbed space total so that's my limitation as far as fish count.

About 2 more days of work and I'll be done with setup.

I just mean that your system is getting big.....

Thanks Joel, I would love to add a DWC bed to make it even bigger but I'm going to have to wait on it till next year or later. I still have to much to figure out on this one.