Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Could bring the ends of the pipe straight up toward the surface and clamp along the side at each end

Question Why not run the pipe along the top edge..??

and just run the lines for the air stone into the GB's and that gets rid of that problem..

I like your whole system..

Juergen

Dam I love watching this thread every time it pops up.

As ever...good work peeps..

Thanks for all the comments, folks! Posting here is one of the ways I keep my motivation up!

Dave Donley;
Nope, no fry. That was the last of my tilapia. Had a great run with them, and if I get a setup where I can do them again, I will definitely get more.


Nope, the pipes are too bendy. These troughs are almost 100 feet (30m) long, and the pipes can bend from the bottom to above the surface of the water in about 10 feet. I've had to put gravel bags about every 10 feet to prevent that, and even so, the pipes bend from the bottom up about 8 inches between bags.
I'll take some pics today.


I answered this in my post. I don't want to have to insulate the pipes. If I leave them exposed to the air, I would be blowing ambient-temp air into my water, rapidly cooling it (or warming it). If the pipes are under water, any temp changes will be much easier to control. Also, if the air tubes have to run past the rafts to get into the water, they'll get abraded. When the rafts are painted, they get very rough, and can cut skin.
Also, the troughs vary in width. (Not deliberately. But in a damp greenhouse, even treated wood warps.)

Looking great!!! Hope oyu had a great time on you vacation and are enjoying they ap work again. How are you planning on sprouting that many seedlings??

They used to use lead weights for that job.

go with the gravel bags. They do the job and another job to boot... extra filtration. Just use shade cloth for the bags so the water can flow through them easily.

+1, the extra surface area will help with extra bacteria..

How are things going at Howling Moose Gardens?

Probably rolling around in green back Arbe...

Things are afoot. I will post when I have something definite to share.
Construction continues...

Good, I was wondering about you Karen!

The way you're dragging the chain Karen.... it'll be Xmas before this is built...

Is howling moose hiring?

So many changes!

"Howling Moose Gardens" is going by the wayside, to be replaced by

Swanberg and Khan Aquaponics!

I've recently acquired a business partner, and the timeline I had planned for HMG just got a huge boost.
As in, the growth I wanted to do in 5-10 years, we're going to get started on now.

The business partner will be bringing on investors, and we hope to buy the greenhouses and site that I'm currently leasing. Which is just as well, because I suddenly have some pretty serious competition[1]here in Minnesota:

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2011/12/02/brewery-fish-farm/

Once we fill the hoophouses we're in now, we hope to build some of the ultra-efficient greenhouses like those described in The Northlands Winter Greenhouse Manual.

My business partner is an accomplished carpenter (which I am decidedly not! ) and has already made things much more efficient.

My commitment to BYAP and the online AP community won't change. I'll still be sharing all the information I can, including financial (assuming I ever get those updated!), so this is only a good thing!

Mods, can I get this topic renamed "S and K Aquaponics," or shall I start a new topic?
(oh, and I need to edit my .sig!)

[1] in the best way. More aquaponics can only be a good thing!