Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yep, some old corrugated iron or similar around the sump cage to keep the dirt off the bladder is needed

Ok cool, my plan is to run water through the system before i even add media to the grow beds and i wont be back filling anything until the system is up and running and i am happy with everything.
The sumps are only about 1.5ft or 500mm in the ground but i will add some corro for some reinforcement just to be on the safe side.

Cheers Guys

G'day, well not such a good day lol, weather wise this weekend not so sunny on the sunny Gold Coast, been raining all weekend making life on the new AP site miserable, so much so i didn't get out there at all today. I did pick up the stage 2 totes and cut them down so i now have all my sumps of which i managed to splash around in the mud long enough to fit 2 of them ready to to fire up Stage 1, and stage one tables levelled ready to go. I also levelled and filled both fish tanks which i wasnt planning to do at this stage but couldn't help but take advantage of all this rain. The drawback is that they both developed a slight lean in the shitty soft clay, they not going anywhere, just sank slightly.
I still have to the 4th grow bed to finalise stage 1 which i hope to do during the week.
I pick up all plumbing bits tomorrow and plan to make my syphons during the week and plumb up stage 1 on Friday and then lay my gravel grow media Sat.
Fingers crossed i will be running stage 1 Sat arvo with Seasol.
If all goes well stage 2 might be up and running within a couple weeks later.

Hey can someone tell me what water level i should run in my GB's. Ie how far below the media surface i should set the Auto syphon to activate?? I believe it to be literally just below the surface to minimise evaporation.
Also i am considering 1 or 2 beds to be continuous flood, ideally i would just remove the bell from the syphon of 1 or 2 of the flood and drain beds or is there a different water level more suitable to continuous flood??
I'm making the auto syphons this week.

I ran some trials on my beds recently. Was running about 10mm, but have since added more gravel and getting excellent results at 50mm.

Thanks Dr Bee

So with the help of a mate we got busy today, almost finished the plumbing, will make up some bell syphons tonight and hopefully be running water by tomorrow arvo.
Q. I need to hook up the SLO and fit the uni-seal in the FT tomorrow, any tips on what height to set it at??
Cheers

I set mine high on a full.Ibc fish tank. Basically the top of the 90mm pipe is level with the top of the ibc (the side where it is cut lower). With this setup I have to have a net when feeding trout as they would jump out.

I've kept the top of the tee at the top of the slo below the top of the ft by about 20mm as an overflow in the unlikely event the holes get blocked.

What about penetrating the FT?? Where should i be fitting the Uni-seal?? What are the pros and Cons or side effects of fitting the uni-seal high or lower??

Are you going to have an elbow and straight bit with holes on the bottom? Or are you going to have a basket on the bottom? Are you going to put it in a corner or in the recess near tap outlet at the bottom?

Don't drill too close to the edge where it is slightly curved.
Bare in mind that elbowing down and running along the bottom - near the edge on the bottom it is slightly higher and your horizontal pipe will be off the bottom further towards the middle.

This is my SLO, it just needs to be cut down in height to suit where i penetrate my FT. My intention was to fit it in the centre of the tank at around the 750 litre mark (approx a ft from the top).

Ahh that's right I should have looked back - groovy.

Height wise it's up to you - I would go with sorts advice.

As for position horizontal & depth: are you going to put your bottom 'H' in the middle ? Have a look with a level to get them at the optimal position so the whole length is touching the bottom

Ok, when the slo is lifting, the height of the water in the horizontal slo pipe is governed by the volume of water being supplied and the inlets at the bottom of the slo. The higher the water in the horizontal pipe, the greater the lifting, or suction.. As long as you are below the radius corner at the top of the ibc, you should be fine. Remember the height difference between the slo and gb is also a consideration. A 300mm height difference from slo height to gb height works well for me.
Hope this helps.

Thanks for your help guys, well i got lazy last night (bourbons tasted mighty fine) and slept in this morning (no not a hangover just tired) so behind the 8 ball now, time to get my A into gear as kids have Karate Tournament tomorrow morning on the sunshine coast to nothing i can do tomorrow so need to finnish today.