Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey Arbe, did your swirl filter work out? If so can you get some pics and description up please, lookin to do something similar with mine to try control these solids, my FT looks terrible some days.

Cheers mate

I played around a bit with a poo-chewer(c) that I came up with. It involved a swirl filter full of shell grit. It seemed to work quite well. Solids only went over to the GB once they were tiny.

I have no interest in taking the nutrient out of the system, but wanted to make sure the solids were broken up as much as possible as I only have one water inlet, and the area was getting a little packed.

I'm about to make one again as I'm getting the same problem now that I'm feeding again (silvers, now in a hothouse)

If you do it, its worth making sure it's designed in such a way as to prevent shell grit siphoning back to your pump if you turn it off. I solved it by venting with a t-junction like on a SLO.

Yep, understood. Thanks bull. What do you think of this one?

http://www.ecofilms.com.au/2010/08/20/d ... quaponics/

Hmmm, without having any idea about the person or the device, I think the language indicates the device hasn't actually been made. Or at least hasn't been made in the configuration shown.

That's very much reading between the lines, and I may well be very wrong. But before making it, I'd try to find the actual device listed on the user's blog or forum posts, just to make sure it all worked as described.

This isn't any reflection on the person involved or anything so please don't get me wrong. This is just my normal net-research spider sense tingling

and this...

I'm not really sure what the basket and filter does. I thought a swirl filter used swirliness to drop solids out of suspension and concentrate them into the centre for removal.

If you havnt already experimented a bit, just bleed off a small amount of your water into a large glass jar or bowl, and have a look at how it behaves. Move the depth and direction of the inlet water around a bit to check out what the different positions will do.

I'm planning on having a go at some kind of automatic solids remover that would dump solids into a worm farm, but havnt had a chance to look at it yet. I dont really like the idea of solids removal simply on the grounds that the thing I love about aquaponics is it's loop. If I could figure out a way to close the food part of the loop I'd do that as well. But I could almost justify removing solids if they went to a worm farm and the worms became fish food. Anyway, there is a need for it in some people's minds so I'll try to make it. I wont get a chance to look into it for at least another week as I'm too busy to think.

Charlie,

I dont have a swirl filter, but I do have a 200L blue barrel filled with bio-blocks.

The water is delivered to the bottom of the blue barrel from the SLO. Water is returned to the sump via an 'over flow' pipe. I have also added an air stone to it.

I guess it is effectively another grow bed with out plants

Image from post on page 5 by Simo.




The Lid from anther barrel sits on top to keep the sunlight out. Without it algae forms quickly.

The pipe you can just see at the top of the pic is the incoming water. Once the pipe enters the barrel an elbow and some additional pipe directs the water to the bottom of the barrel.

The pipe with the T Piece is the overflow and returns the water to the sump.



These are the bio-blocks which are in the barrel. They provide a lot of surface area for the beneficial bacteria to grow.

More of a settling tank then? Settling tanks work well...

Thanks for that Arbe and Bull

So what exactly is its intended purpose, is it to remove solids?

The reason Im asking is I want to incorporate something to help out with cleaning my water up. Or am I better off with a swirl tank?

Depends on what your problem is, sounds like you're talking about fine suspended particles, and a swirl filter or settling tank isn't so good for fine suspended particles, they are for catching the big chunks..

You could get a drum as above and stuff it with bird netting or shadecloth, then flow the water through it, this will help pick up those fine suspended particles.

Sorry for Hijack Arbe, sometimes it just happens

Yea bit of both EB, I have converted to CF for a few days and see if the water clears up. All tests are at zero but the FT look terrible, I have a blue drum in the shed and I remembered Arbe had used one for something and assumed it was a swirl filter. Ill run a few experiments and see how I go, thanks for the tip.

No worries with the 'hijack'.

What is the problem with your water? Is it the colour? Mine went a slight tinge of green a few weeks ago. I presume due to me trying to increase the amount of feed too quickly. Stopped feeding and the green tinge has gone.

It now appears to have a brown tinge. I can still see the bottom of the tank - just. I have put this down to rain stirring up sediment in the growbeds.

I have converted to constant flood but only to try and store some extra water.

The hijack has moved to my thread Arbe. Yea very brown and dark, lots of floating bits.

Thanks to Wolly (Red Beard) and his offer to pick something up from the BYAP shop I now have a test kit and a digital thermometer!

I have been flying blind since I started my system and just feeding as much as the fish seem to want. Turns out that it is too much.



The pic isn't that good quality, but ammonia looks to be 0.25 - OK but the killer is nitrite - not sure if it is 2 or 5. Nitrate looks to be off the chart - more plants needed.

I already had about 5kgs of salt in the system after the last lot of rain. I have now added another 5kgs (about 2ppm if it is all still there). Will test again tomorrow and see if there is a difference.

Not sure about the pH. I guess it is around 7.2.


I guess I wont be feeding for a while. Pity as my Trout are still small - around 110 grams. Hopefully there is still time left to get them up to 300+ grams before harvest time.

Any way - once again - a big thank you to Wolly for picking up a test kit from BYAP for me today. Very much appreciated.

Sometimes those trout can tell fibs....

Please we're so hungry, we haven't been fed for ages....

They are still eating (well they were until we stopped feeding). Anything still floating after a few minutes is removed.

My trout are only about 110 grams. Feeding a maximum of 300 grams per day for 100 trout. Any more and they won't take it.

I think your feed rate should be more like 200gms... maximum..