Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello everyone! I am a AP Newbie and designing my first system. My question is....clarifier? or no clarifier? and why do I or do I not need one? I appreciate any and all help.

Scott

Scott.. the first question to you is what do you call a clarifier...?

Are you talking about crude solids removal, or bio-filtration and true clarification

Eg.. my water is pretty clear of solids, but is taking on the tannin colour from the fish food ..
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Maybe he means a UV clarifier? Not absolutely necessary, but handy in some circumstances.

Indeed, and that is why the first question.. "What do you mean?"

eg the koi people were calling that Kitty-Litter / Basket system - a Clarifier - a very vague word IMHO

and I suspect that a UV purifier would likely not remove food colors from the water, just kill algae etc.
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Thanks for the input. What I mean? The piece I am looking at is indeed a UV and biofilter combo. I'm just not sure if it is necessary or what the actual benefits of incorporating it would be.

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Again...more detail..

If Folk are to give opinion of VALUE, then it is rather important to know just what it is...

The UV DEVICE is generally not needed, but sometimes added to control algae blooms, that can happen if the system is not well designed..
If money was no object, then I WOULD plumb in a UV, BUT, leave it off until a situation arises that necessitates it's use...

Bio filtration ... again.. a well designed system won't need it, but, I would think that it won't do any harm..
So much will depend on your setup.. and with my new setup, your bio-filtration would be a plus to me, but I don't have growbeds and rely on solids removal, filtration. Etc. To keep the chemistry balanced ..
Eg.. my new system has a Bio filter of about 300L of clay balls.. there are no grow beds and all solids removed to a digester where it is Bio mineralised for used in a hydroponics system


I could only say that if you have questions, it is far better to document the whole system so that a value judgment can be given..
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Thank you for your answers. I would give you system details but I haven't actually built the system yet which is why I was asking if it was necessary or helpful. I am not going to be doing hydroponics but rather aquaponics so hopefully the grow beds and the plants with do all the filtering and I will not need it. I was just trying to get the opinions of more experienced people so I could built it right the first time and save time and money from not doing something then having to add something later and re-work it. Thanks again.


Scott