Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

This is a follow up from the other thread

I have been pondering for some time on doing a program to log AP data and then manipulate the figures for my purposes – not sure if others are as enthusiastic as myself but this is the start.

Main headings (ones that I can think of):

Fish tanks
Fish
Grow beds
Plants
Food - Fish/ plant/ water
Ancillary Crap

discussions welcome

I prolly would have called that last one Stuff, but that's just me

It would be ideal to set up identical test AP systems around the world, keeping conditions exactly the same. That way we can get some real world data and we can see exactly how climate effects performance.

Or use a controlled set of systems to test:

1. Using different food
2. Different Flow rates
3. PH, hardness, O2, different grow medium etc etc...

It would make an awesome thesis in the "Aquaponic Degrees" (BAp) hehe. Or a science degree (BSc) for that matter. A way to predict and optimize BAP.

If I had the money (and the room) I would set up two big systems side by side in the same greenhouse and test different factors.

Apart from that we can only calculate known and proven physical factors. We can just spit out a number and say, YES this will work or NO the fish will die. We can only compute a generalization based upon experiences from a huge and varied BAP community, it won't be anything scientific.

What we need is a way to setup and record as much detail as possible, on say a weekly basis. We can then have a way to cumulate all the data over the next year and analyze it in a way to prove the theories behind AP. eg. Fruiting Vegetables won't grow in AP. We know this is incorrect, but why? A massive online community project.... The Science behind Backyard Aquaponics.

don't forget using clones for the test so you remove the natural rint plant variable

B2barker was looking at using a very small chip to both control and log aspects of an AP system....

Okay, if we start with the 1st heading, this is what I think should be logged/collected - some are variables:

Fish Tanks
Description/use (growout, breeding, fingerling, sump, Rubbermaid, main, isolation)
Size (litres/US gals/imp gals)
Total fish
Fish weight
Water quality (PH, temperature, nitrate, gh, kh)
Coupled to other tanks
Coupled to grow beds (numbers)
Top up amounts
Water flow/turnover/pump size

First rule of system design:
Define your purposes. Then you will know better what data to collect, what has multiple instances, and what relationships must exist between the entities.

For example, you suggest an entity fishTank with an attribute of totalFish. But totalFish changes relative to time, so that implies a one-to-many relationship between fishTank and fishLoad which in turn is probably going to have multiple attributes. Same concern for waterQuality.

Just a few tidbits for thought before you go too far. What was that rule? PPPPPP?

Ooookaaaay, putting computer nerd hat away now.

huh?

I am looking at using PICAXE microprocessors for control and logging. The code I have so far is for the smallest unit, so for about $30 (the price of cheap on/off pump timer) you could do the on/off time for a pump, with an interlock to stop the pump (like high sump level) as well as log a analog (temp or something) for about 150 samples. An $80 one could do multiple pumps and 4-6 analogs logged)

I think EllKayBee is looking more at manually recording parameters to monitor changes and comparing systems?

Janet has the OO programming skills

I just do requirements, specifications, logical db design, and client-torment. (I like the last one the best.) I get OTHER people to do the programming.

b2b, do you have anymore info on those chips? I would love to have a ponder over them. Even if we could produce a cheap as chips data logger, to collect and culminate data, over a large scale.

SLIGHTLY OFF TOPIC:
By the way I have almost convinced the Chem/Bio teacher to start up a small/medium system at school. EB, he loved your setups, that was the selling point. A logger for students would be ideal so they can graph and write reports on the system.

hey tim,

found this site....got sprung on the net here at work so I dont know how helpful it is lmao

http://www.rev-ed.co.uk/picaxe/

bundy, you're BACK! WTHHYB?

am back when the boss isnt lookin lol.....I still dont have the net on at home.....still unpacking(shit everywhere), got a phone line but no dsl yet.....hopefully 2morro hey lol

I started a new thread for it