Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Isn't that the rotten egg smell?

Nova

Michael, so are you saying changing the water level is not needed? Is there a simple way to do an ebb flow design? If there is no need to change the water level then I will just make it continous flow. Thanks all for all the info!

If you do continuous flow, the water level in the grow bed will always remain constant and will have to be adjusted just below the root system of your plants, whatever depth in the bed that is for your setup. You can’t start the plants this way and have to put in already started plants. It is hard to balance the constant pump output with the growbed drain outflow even when you attach a control valve to the drain on this type of setup. But it can be done and it is an easy way to go for starters.

Eventually you will want to do ebb and flow and figure out ways to get the solids out of the fish tank and into the grow beds. An easy way to do ebb and flow on your sytem is put a piggyback float switch on your existing pump or a cheap timer. Then restrict the drainage out of the growbed with a small external gate or ball valve. Timers work better on small capacity systems than float switches in my experience. I own four piggyback float switches, use none of them.

Hydrogen sulphide is the gas that smells like rotten eggs. It is a poison.

Sulphur dioxide, smells a little more like bleach, it is used as a bleach in the food industry.

If any of you have ever used campden tablets for sterilizing beer bottles, jam jars, in winemaking ... the smell is SO2 given off by the sulphite.

On smelling it, it leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.

beat me to it johnnie!

sulpher dioxide is definatly the nasty taste in your mouth. also if you have the chance of breathing in the smoke from burning sulpher you'll remember the coughing fit from it

Hi,

Now I can smell the sulphur dioxide, which, though normal to have some, seems a lot stronger in the continuous flow. (noticeable).

AA.....the probability is that what you can smell is the Hydrogen Sulphide component of bio-gas.....which suggests that you have anaerobic conditions in your system.

HN.....I use a small pump and a cheap timer to run a square metre ebb and flow grow bed. I regulate the level in the grow bed with a small stop *butterflies* on the outlet side of the system. It probably took me 15 minutes to set it up the first time and it hasn't been touched now in about three weeks. I set the level so that the water rises to about 25mm below the surface.....to avoid algae growth.

Every few days, I put my thumb over the outlet and allow the bed to flood up to the surface......probably for no better reason than I just like to see my silver beet grow bed turned into a padi.

Gary

Ah, that would be it thanks Gary. I stand corrected.

Knew I had an anerobic pocket in the bed soon as I smelt that, smelt it before while learning in the DWC and figured as systems produce sulphur dioxide that the smell, (sulphurous) was the same.