Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Here we have one of my student's systems - he is using a second hand wheelie bin with a small 12V pump, which feeds an autosiphoning growbed. The growbed is filled with a mix of gravel and expanded clay balls, and is currently planted with Cucumber seedlings (which were grown from the seed of the cucumbers I grew reciently, so I know that they should do well for him. The tank is stocked with guppies and swordtails

some closeups of his cucumber seedlings

do you have a battery on trickle charge AM? How many amps is the pump drawing? Is it on a float or continuous?

It runs off of a converter, will get back to you on the amps (it should be written on the pump and it runs all the time.

An update
THe one system has now become 2!
The fist system (the wheelie bin) has displayed great growth indeed (see pics below), and now the student wants to add a grow tower, or a small section/bed of DWC... He is so keen!!!

Other students from my home group who saw the wheelie bin system wanted to make their own system, so I gave them the use of my one IBC, and we worked together to patch my old, small black growbeds (they fit just right on top of an IBC)
The new IBC system is going to be stocked with 30 to 40 Barra - but the students have been listening as their selution to their growbeds being so small with that many beds is that they will plant vines (they will take up very little space in the grow beds yet draw a lot of nutrients from the water as their fruit develop... so they will grow tomms (vine, most likely cherry), cucumber and I will give them 1 or 2 seeds of the JAPANESE CHOCOLATE VINE I am purchasing off of ebay too - together they should draw a lot of nutes out of the water.

[schild=11 fontcolor=000000 shadowcolor=C0C0C0 shieldshadow=1]Peace Students love AP![/schild]

saome pics of the IBC system

I'll be interested to see how they go with that many fish in the water, and a very interresting theory of using vines to absorbe more nutrients. I can see it now, one tiny ibc and vines off in all directions growing up over the shed..

Just proves that these kids are thinking

most cucumbers per square metre I have ever seen LOL Good work Peace dudes!

It will be interesting to see how many survive ... I guess he could always give some to the kids who are running the IBC system next to his

Since filling the IBC I have run my big pump (the stainless one I bought off of Murray) to speed up the evaporation of the Chloriene in the water... right now it has been running for close on a day and a half and I have noticed that the water in the IBC is getting warm fast - the water in the IBC was about the temp of the water in the wheelie bin system when I filled the IBC up - but this arvo I stuck my hand in the wheelie bin, then the IBC, then the Wheeliebin again, and there was a definate difference in water temp... The wheelie bin is smaller and darker in colour than the IBC, so it would heat up quicker than the IBC if it were just sunlight...

AM, i have noticed a definate heating of S&A's water due to the PUMP ITSELF.

I know that their pump is about 60% efficient (will not be legal soon pushes are being made to mandate all electric motors be something like 98% efficient, but thats another story for another thread;))

which means that 40% of the power is being converted to heat. 40% of 600W give 240W of heat. granted in theirs a fair bit will be lost through the motor housing, but with yours being submersible all of that will go into the water.

Then you have the heating caused by the friction of the pump impeller aganst the water too................

phew - glad someone else has noticed this reaction...
For winter this is good news tho... less heating needed - I will be using this pump to run my bath tub growbeds during winter

just another time when "waste heat" is not nessecarily wasted

YEP!... so can we find submersable pumps which are more effecient?
I will start a new thread on the topic of effectient pumps ...Find it here...