Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Inflator motor?

What's that do?

(please don't just say inflate).

Looking good btw.

The plastic is two layers. The fan puts about 1/2 psi between the two layers providing about a 4 inch air cushion between the two.

Look carefully at the picture below, you'll see the plastic "puffed" out between the support pipes looking like pillows.

In the above photo of the outside you'll see the outside layer inflated like a bubble, providing that insulating layer. Not a whole lot of insulation but it's something. The inflation also protects the plastic in the wind

As can be seen in photo DSCN0266 I procured 2 more 275gal (1050L ) totes. A local aquaponics newbie gave up the hobby and sold these totes and the fish in them to me for cheap. I couldn't resist. So in the spring I will convert the 2nd greenhouse in the picture from conventional soil growing to aquaponics. Apparently the newbie was running his system in the basement of his home. It put so much moisture into his house that his wife and kids started suffering from mold allergies and he had to get rid of the system.

Over the past several days with my new greenhouse inside temperatures being much warmer since I got the plastic on, apparently the bacteria in the grow beds came back on line because the foul odor has completely gone away and the water has already cleared up, in just two days.

I finally got an outside vent installed for the inflator. Now I will not be inflating the greenhouse with the warm moist air from inside. The greenhouse should stay warmer and once the air space dries out between the plastic sheets it should transmit more light thus more heat.


Happy Thanksgiving to all............ Go Eagles.............

The buried sump is doing its job keeping the water temperature from dropping ridiculously low. So far it has not dropped below 56F. With outside air temps at night of 18F I consider that pretty good. The tilapia have slowed down quite a bit though. I am going to have to add another pond pump or get one with increased capacity. I now have 12 beds on line with another 4 installed, awaiting hookup and gravel. When running auto siphon on all 12 beds, every 15 minutes I have very little flow back into the Fish Tank, so I have to correct that.

One type of spinach is still doing very well. Another type I grew has yellowed out. The Kale and Lettuce are prospering too. The green onions had to be harvested, they were going to seed quicker than I could control it. Those worked out well in soups.

I am starting to put up some climbing strings so I can plant a bed of peas and one of cucumbers. I'm having a tough time getting the tomatoes started. All seeds are being started in the house. I hope that is an advantage.

Be careful with your water temps. Tilapia will die in the 50's. Depending on species, I believe anywhere from 57F on down. If not fatal, they get sick are succumb to other diseases. Colum, the double inflated poly has an appx R value of 1.25, compared to around .85 for single layer of poly. In our area, it could save you around 3K a year to heat vs a single layer. That's based on a 3000 sf ft GH.

I found a heater that I'm going to try out. I'm a sucker for clever and this screams clever.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQ8vUUpwYgU

looks like it will do what I need and not boil the fish. I have it partially built, am awaiting the thermostat controller to be delivered, got it for less than $16.00 in Amazon. Home brewers use the unit and they prize their beer as much as we prize our fish.

Careful with that guy's video. He's using one of the nickel-based heating elements, which can poison your fish. Not saying it will - but it's a risk i'm not willing to take, especially since nickel poisoning is hard track down.

I'm not using the nickel coated element, not because I knew it would poison fish, but because I couldn't find one in the volt/watt range that my utilities would support. We'll see how long this holds up in the sometimes organics rich environment

I'm wondering about the fish poisoning concerns. These heater elements are replacements for household hot water heaters. Why aren't we worried about this nickel poisoning us? Or has it simply not been brought to our attention yet.

In an aquaponics or RAS system, the water will flow over the heating element many times. In your home water heater, the water only flows through once. Plus, the water in our systems is more "aggressive" than tap water.

Might be better off spending the 2k watts on heating your GH?? I have a small(1000 watt) electric space heater and it keeps the GH in the upper 60's during 60's and upper 50's when it's in the 30's. I try to regulate the heat during the day, and close it up as soon as the temp drop below 82, It helps conserve the heat and requires the heater to not have to come on until later. I have a 500 watt heater in the tank, and it runs during the evening when the pump is off. Only problems I've had is the fish are getting pretty large...over 1 lb each and I'm starting to get some Nitrites when I keep the pump off during the PM. Your insulated Gh should hold the heat better then my single layer.