Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thanks Bear, it's always fun when you find an easy solution with leftover bits!

I agree that's quite clever... I might look at doing that with my trout tank

Stellar Idea on the IBC on top. Have been contemplating what I was going to do as my fish get bigger. Mine is currently total covered to keep algae down but this will work for me! MORE IBC's!

Thanks, every now and again my laziness and brain join forces to come up with a solution to a problem

So I just got one of those watt meters to see how much power my AP system is using since I realised that I have just been trusting the power requirements written on the packaging....well it turns out that they were pretty much right
My 2 pumps and 1 air pump are using a total of 85 watts and one of the pumps runs 15 on 15 off so that makes the constant use about 70 watts as that pump uses about 30 watts... i think if i downsized one of my pumps i could get the power usage down to about 55-60 watts... might buy another pump and try it as the other one can always join the line of backup pumps
Anyhow good to see that the manufacturers were not lying especially since they have been online buys!

You may find that downsizing the pump actually raises the wattage use. Go for the details on the packages and you may actually UPsize - Spend a bit more for a larger pump, spend a bit less on wattage and have a longer life of pump.

Impressive!

I believe with those kil-o-watt meters you can leave stuff plugged into them for a while and it can average the power usage for you so you can see an accurate usage over time.

Hi Mr Bill,

Yes I agree with what you are saying that running an undersized pump strains the pump more but the one I am using at the moment actually supplies a bit too much flow to my FT for my SLO to handle so I end up redirecting more flow that necessary to my NFT tubes which end up being more like waterslide tubes since there is so much water going through them

Yep it has quite a few options to show that.. I have also set the per kilowatt cost so I will be able to get an idea of the cost over time.. ofcourse with some simple maths I could work that out myself but I am lazy sometimes

I got two of these meters and plugged one into my parents flat screen tv and was surprised to find out it uses about 250-300 watts constantly!

Well I just did a change of my sump water so changed about 2000 of 3000 litres out of my system.. my Ph had spiked to between 5-6 and ammonia was showing at almost 2ppm. I am often not near my system so I havnt been able to keep an eye on the levels... I am assuming it happened since summer is rolling around and the fish are eating like mad and I have had to get rid of a few plants to replace them with smaller ones.
But I wanted to change it anyhow as my water is blood red from that EDDHA iron I added NEVER USE THAT... even after the water change I cant see more than 30cm deep in my FT
Oh well fish seem happy and plants kicking butt!

Sorry if this is not AP related but i have no idea where I would post pics of it and since it is used for drying the things we grow in AP and I made it myself I figured it may of be of some interest to APers

Anyhow it is a Solar Dehydrator.. nothing new there..people have been making these forever. I modified a design I found on the net to make it look better and be easier to use and last longer, more bug proof etc..
It works by the sun shining through the clear polycarboate onto the aluminium which has been spray painted black to absorb even more heat.. this then radiates onto the the fruit and veges on the screen inside drying them. Also there are holes at the bottom and top to create a draft through the box reducing mold and helping lower humidity

It could be made of recycled materials but I wanted to build it while I had some spare time and finding all the bits would take time.. I used polycarbonate instead of glass on the front and all the other bits were bought at Bunnings and it ended up costing about $300-350..
the expensive bits were:
polycarbonate 66
aluminium sheet about 60
paint about 70

A lot of cost could be reduced by using old window frames with windows in them.
but I like the polycarbonate because it is indestructible (almost)

Anyway here are the pics of the finished product.. it has wheels so it can be easily rolled around and the ventilation holes at the top and bottom are covered with mosquito netting..

more pics

last one

I'd say it's your thread, do with it as you please. A solar dehydrator is definitely part of a food system so even if it isn't necessarily directly part of aquaponics it is certainly related!