Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Compare auto pot system to flood / drain or nft ..

from same tank in same light .. same flow rate ..

no problem ...

Since it is Melbourne I geuss I should go and see it next time I make it to the city.

The auto pot does look nifty depending on how it works and stuff. What I'd really say I was questioning was his statements about his systems and his comparisons with other forms of AP. If they work the way I think they work then I reckon they could have a role in certain systems depending on the aims of owner.

THe way I often work when looking at stuff I don't directly know/understand is that when I find something else from the same source that I know (think/believe) to be untrue I tend to throw it all out.

F&F Hope you got my message if not give me a call tomorrow

Ageed F&F... the auto pots/smart valve technology is great for what it is and designed for... a self watering system... and water efficient as the plants only take up what they need when they need it....

I also think they have great merit in the hydro type systems where the smart valve is incorporated and only refills the auto pots after they have been emptied/taken up by the plants.... giving the plants exactly the amount of nutrient needed when needed....

Anyone thats done any hydro would understand the inherent value in such a technique as opposed to recirculation of nutrients, salts imbalances, EC tests, nutrient top ups/recharges etc.

So yes I think the auto pot has a place in AP, however employing auto pots or satellite pots (like Gary) or utilising NFT channels, or drip techniques requires the use of a pre-filter to remove a fair proportion of the solids which would otherwise clog the system components....

Not a bad thing or approach in itself .... just a different philosophy... if the solids are recycled via worm farm or compost then I don't have a problem with that...

I will admit to some real un-ease though in the description of this type of system as "aquaponic"..... in as much as I think it is really starting to draw a long bow... mainly I believe just to cash in as a commercial avenue.

I mean to say.... if I carry a bucket of water from my goldfish bowl around once a week and water my indoor plants (like I do) and then top up the goldfish bowl....

Does this mean it's an "Aquaponics system"?????

Isn't that exactly what this system is in essence and practise????

As much as they are constantly changing water to feed the hydro unit I wonder if they would get a bio film build up in the auto pot portion.
It has its merits in that the plants are seperate so one could once again use anything to kill bugs etc as the water is never reused a second time.
Easier the closed loop AP? Not sure if I'd agree with that as its running a hydro unit but just using the fish water and then adding hydro chems to that. So an open loop system. I'm sure it would work fine but it isn't really the combining of Aquaculture and Hydroponics that I'm looking for. Staying as closed loop as I can for now.

May I ask if biofilm .. blocks the autopot valve?

Anyone had an experience of a long trial?



I LOVE the autoppot pot idea ...


Does it block up?

J7... Jim's probably the best person to ask, he uses them in his hydro setup...

Gary D uses them also I think... certainly uses satellite pots

Alderic uses them as well....

However, as stated before.... (not sure about alderic) ... everyone filters/pre-filters to remove solids before feeding to the auto pot/smart valve.... as such there's very little bio-film build up....

What will happen a couple of years down the track... who knows

So far I don't believe anyone has had any blockages....

Maybe jump the auto pot site and chase up one of the users....

Nobody (as far as I know) uses them for AP though other than those here and mentioned.

Thanks ...

I gotta try an Autopot valve ...

Johnnie check out all the autopot website

this is a businessman's sales stuff. just kind of junk for people who don't know about aquaponics to get 'impressed', mystified prehaps? then lead to sales......

I admire your work greatly. It's a revolution really. hope more and more people come to this forum and learn, share and have fun. there is a saying in Chinese, something like this, you not only give people fish, you also teach people how to farm fish. imho, this what you and some guys are doing. great. and thanks.

This 13mm clear tube thing is extraordinarily strange. I know from operating my system that has at times had 19mm clear tubing exposed to the sun, that it takes only weeks for this to block with algae and bio-film.

As for the rest of it - I think it has all been said.

I had nothing to do with it, other than happen to be at gardenworld for a manifold for my father's watering system.

I also have smartvalves. Biofilm doesn't seem to affect them (they have an ingenious flipflop effect which means that they are either fully open or fully closed). I don't filter the water to mine - then I would have to clean the filter.

The water consumption is presumably identical to that of a continuous flow system. I know, we've had this argument a zillion times, but it's very simple - the smart valve is entirely demand driven, all the water it uses is due to evapotranspiration. Assuming the surface areas and plant growth rates are the same (seems reasonable), these should be identical, with slightly higher evaporation for F&D due to increased surface area.




Anyone who has looked at autopot systems will know that they aren't cheap - the smart valves themselves are $35 each (valve and cover) retail, so there is $3500. This Jim guy is clearly in it to make money. But complaining about it is the wrong attitude (at least in consumerist Australia); if you think you can do better, sell a cheaper system.

I personally use 3 smart valves, each servicing about 3m^2 of olive pots (about 300 pots all up) with great results. I'm growing mostly desert plants in old washed cow poo (elcheepo peat .

The other demand driven valve I'm looking into is those ceramic wetpots. My experimentation with fish in a pot suggests that biofilm does not stop water seeping through ceramics (which is counter intuitive to me at least). My original plan was to use tall ceramic pots with a simple ping pong ball float valve, but the wetpots (at about $8 each) work out cheaper and are simpler (less likely to jam on).

Been to his place few times when still a hydro shop,
seems to me, he is jumping on the bandwagon for pure business reason
without any serious prior research. SS

I don't mind people using sales pitches to push their products, AP is something that already has so many advantages that it fairly much sells itself if you list them off in bullet form.. But incorrect, misleading statements and unproven, untested claims and products, irk me.



Is that whats happening here NJH? Seems to me it's more like people analizing his systems and claims, and in a free market consumerist Australia, you'd be a fool not to..

Reminds me of someone's remarks about newton's laws of motion.



Sure, and I think his system is probably over designed and wasteful. But he's no doubt making considerable money on it, and good on him. He has no less evidence for his design than you (no published data, anecdotal qualitative results etc). Indeed, he claims to have a masters in aquaculture and 30 years experience

So who here wants to make and sell a turnkey system for the plebs?

Why worry about it,
the autopots are very expensive compared to a gravel grow bed based system. It is a complement really, the guy is obviously worried that a very viable less expensive system (Gravel grow bed closed loop system) is a threat to his product. That is why he is knocking aquaponics as we know it.
I would try one (auto pot) if they were not so expensive, but i seriously doubt that I would set up a whole system. Why would you bother.
My gravel grow bed system is going great, and my one and only coco peat grow bed is also going great.
Even buying the best aquaponics tanks and grow beds (mine naturally) works out heaps less than an equivalent grow area of auto pots.
The good thing about aquaponics as we know it, is that it can be done on a shoe string budget if you really want to. Old bath tubs and old water tanks etc, and a load of drainage gravel is real cheap.
Murray