Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

TSalt I love your Apple driveway and your green thumb will definitely shine through with your AP system, I'll be watching with interest.

Is that right, joblow?

Sorry a missing "R"

Charlie it's a good job someones on the ball

Couldnt help myself mate hehe

Thanks for that it may have save a couple of family disputes

oh dear! The things that one little letter can do!

Thanks joblow! I am pretty proud of the apples, but had to cover them completely with shadecloth this morning.....lost some of the new growth yesterday (45 degree day)

With temps of 45 today and 46 tomorrow, I am glad that I am a bit behind in new set up. I don't think a newly cycled system or baby fish would love these temperatures...

I hope everyone else is coping in this heat...

Tsalt I just love those apples, I had too knock down a apple tree here a few years back I just couldn't beat the Coddling moth, I spent a fortune over a couple of years trying to eradicate them only to be beaten.

It was here when we bought the house and was an asset for many years and we were sorry too lose it.

I will post send you gratuitous apple shots every so often, just so you can reminisce

I will be stealing your SLO design....I had planned a 50mm SLO, but the 50/90 combination SLO looks great! It should work great with my 900L tanks. Thanks for the idea

TSalt I've found a slight hassle with the vertical 90mm pipes running up from the bottom of the tank, they are too close to the wall of the fish tank and when you're trying to net fish they keep ducking in behind and are very hard to catch.

Very soon I will extend them to the centre of the tank and that will make it a little easier to catch the fish when needed.

The 90mm to 50mm reduction works well.

Excellent, then I will copy your upgrade. I had planned to have the SLO in the centre of the tank anyway

My pumps arrived today Yay!!!!!! Now, If I could just finish cleaning these IBCs Oh well, back to the vinegar, bi-carb and scrubbing brush for me.....

So, the hot weather here is slowing my AP build ....but I have 2 growbeds cut, a sump and FT cleaned, and a car full of pressure pipe and fittings .

Just waiting for a final 'home' to the system- and that involves me finished two more projects- my front stairs and verandah balustrading. Husband is covered in mortar as we speak, so steps are almost finished, and this weekend will see the last of my verandah completed. Yay!! Room for the AP

I have a few questions for the experienced APers

I'm trying to build a decent back-up/ICE system from the beginning, and was wondering if anyone had any experience with aeration devices like this..

http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/1013/Bait-Aerator-Floating

I think it looks great, but was wondering if it would be enough air (it's rated at 360gph) for a 900L FT in an emergency? I plan hook it to a battery and sensor that would kick in if the power went out, and the normal pump was not operating.

I cant see why it wouldnt work, TSalt.

Without seeing one working Im assuming it is basically a bilge type pump (with floatation) that pumps water through the bottom filter foam and uses a venturi to draw in air through the output?

Its approx 22L/m which is not too bad. It would provide aeration and water disturbance which would be better than nothing.

What are others thoughts?

Thanks Charlie

My other back-up air plan is a 20L bucket with 500 holes drilled in the bottom, and a chain-gang of children re-filling the bucket, in a constant stream until the power comes back on............... but that is bound to lose me my mother/wife of the year award.....

Yea once you got it you dont want to loose it... apparently they dont come around too often.

As silly as it sounds there are many here that have used the bucket method, including myself before I incorporated a back up system. You gotta do what you gotta do.

How you handling the heat there? You guys have really copped it.