Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

As have others.... but it keeps on coming up... sometimes people just have to do it, before they believe what they're told...

Yes I know that they clog up..
That is why when you make it so they can be Cleaned out ..
It takes about 30sec to clean out.. and then you wait for the water to clear out before you allow it to flow back to the pond..

All filter need to have a clean out Function.. There are not many filters that don't need some form of cleaning..

I personally Like the Sand a Gravel filter as it Polished the water..

Also if you don't want a Sand and Gravel there are other types of filters you can use.. But you Need to give them a clean out as well..

Juergen..


Psst the idea is to give options to keep the fish health if there is not enough plants to keep the system going..

Jeurgen i appreciate that the idea is to keep the fish healthy etc etc.
and if you have used one before, and it has worked, then thats great.
Please dont feel upset, i didnt mean to offend you, everyone is free to share their experiences on this forum.

I'm not FB..

I should say that I started the whole fish thing from a Pond Background..
That is why If you don't have enough stuff to keep your tank healthy that is why I say throw in a filter..

before I had a S/G I had pea-soup for Water.. It took about 3weeks once it was online to get crystal clear..

Sorry for Hijacking your thread...lol

Keep the stuff coming..

Juergen

Can someone post some pics of their gravel/sand filter with backwash or however you clean it ?
Thanks !

My main concern with filtration was something with minimal maintenance. I plan on doing 2 filters in 55 gallon plastic drums.

The first will be a swirl filter like this one: http://www.ecofilms.com.au/2010/08/20/d ... quaponics/ - which only requires a valve at the bottom to empty out the solids, and also has the convenient drop in laundry basked filled with filter media that adds biofiltration and can be pulled out and rinsed with a hose.

The second filter will also be in a 55 gallon plastic barrel, and it will be a suspended media bio filter, where excess water from the pump will circulate through it, churning up the media, and then it will (thanks to Freoboy's advice) flow through an NFT tube and back into the sump.

I also plan to do piping in such a way that the two systems (GBs and FTs) can be isolated if I need to shut down one from the other for any reason.

"Honey, have you seen my laundry basket lately?"
Uh...yeah, uh...

LOL

Sounds great, that bio filter looks pretty neat, make sure you post some pics

next time I clean My Filter I try to get some Footage..

If you go to youtube and type "sand gravel filter cleaning" there is one Video of how to clean..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mu5fqpNC ... 46BE7A530..

Also he says let it Drain some more, me I just turn on the air and let it rip, all the waste goes out via the drain pipe..
it also seem that he turns his pump off while doing this.. it is best to have the pump running as this get rid of a lot more of the waste as it cycle thru..

I don't like how he just dumps the Water I would run that to a container so it can be used in the garden..
When I clean my system I use all the waste water for the Fruit tree's..


Juergen

OK, so given the advice and my further reading (and the fact that we are on our second snowstorm today expecting 12 inches!) I have decided to hold off on putting the plants into the greenhouse until early spring. I will use my 400W light to grow the plants in the same structure as the fish, and the heat from the light will also help keep things warm.

Spent about an hour in the plumbing aisle at the hardware store today buying all the fixtures and pipes to pipe everything together... pictures to come soon!

question on the dryer vent that blows into the enclosed space, is it gas fired or electric?

Electric... just a plastic piece like this picture where the front part has a screen over it that catches the lint and redirects the heated air into my FT area. There is also a flap that can close that off and redirects the air out the top through an another vent that you can continue outside for the summer when you dont need the heat. Pretty neat for about $15.

Regarding the thread about filters, I have just placed one of these in the NFT channel side of my AP system and it is doing a fantastic job. Well worth a look if you need extra filtration at a very affordable price. Mine does not have the UV sterilizer.

http://creativepumps.com.au/zpumps/pond_one/claritec.htm

So, here are some picture updates...

I decided to take the advice of many BYAPers and keep the entire system inside for the winter, and come spring I will add growbeds in the greenhouse along with bringing a second 300 gallon fishtank online.

Here is all the hardware spread around in what I am now calling AP Central (the structure built under the porch). You can see a whole lot of fittings and everything laid out as it will be set up.


Here it is with all the pipes connected. In the lower right corner is the fish tank. The pipe above it is the incoming water from the sump (the big black low tank in the center). The lower pipe coming from the FT goes to the blue barrel that is the swirl filter. On the back you can see the pipe coming from the swirl filter going to the duckweed tank (grey tank in upper left). I put in 2 ball valves, one on the horizontal pipe to close off the plant system if needed, and another that looks like it is directly left of the swirl filter which would allow the water to drain back tot he sump. The two plastic IBC tops on the left are what will be the grow beds. My 400W light will be above the 2 growbeds and the duckweed tank.


And here is another view of the full setup:

Sounds like a plan, what size are the drain pipes?