Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

20cm deeper is damn good when you have clay to contend with!

I used a bit of mine to mound up the ground around the tanks, it does make for a nice solid base that doesn't let much grow through it, lol. However put gravel over it if you don't want to slip again when it rains!

Or you could make some dorodango with it http://www.dorodango.com/create.html

That's hilarious! The proverbial lemonade from lemons! I personally thoroughly hate the white clay now and want nothing more to do with it.... But you've given me an idea... I'm going to set the kids on it tomorrow and ask them to make some fish shapes to decorate the AP... A little sentimental nod to the b-dy white clay....

Ok plumbing question:

I have heaps of greywater hose I was hoping to recycle in the AP system.

It's 25mm - is that wide enough to provide sufficient flow?

I was hoping to use it for the Pump to fish tank connection as well...

Thoughts?

Hubby picked up two more IBCs for us today!

So once the hole for the STs is leveled off, it's all go!

I've been looking at cutting the IBCs vertically rather than horizontally - just seems like a waste of the metal cages to me. I think I'll just cut them horizontally and seal the screw cap carefully...

it should be ok.

that mud ball thing is crazy cool. It is so pleasing to look at at. I imagine they are really fun to touch

The pump I have is 6,500lph. With 5m head. We will be running CHIFT PIST with continuous operation.

The FTS will be roughly 3,000 Litres and the grow beds hold almost 800 Litres water, the STs will be 1,000 Litres each.

Do I need to upgrade our pump or will it work ok?

.
6500L/h pump... 3000L fish tank.. less head loss = two water change per hour...

Also gives the capacity to split the pump outlet to separate. The FT flow and say, a filtration loop..
..
.

OR, expressed in a way the pump sellers dont want you to think about:

6500lph with no head

zero lph with 5m head

Any idea of what your total head will be, including frictional losses?

How do I work that out?

Hard to easily work out exactly, but you need to take into account: vertical height between top of water that pump is in to outlet (static head) + pipe size, pipe length, and any included bends, T's and flow, to give dynamic head. It will almost always be more than you expect, meaning flow will be less than you expect.

you have CHIFT-PIST so initial head is between the sump tank and the pump discharge height on your fish tank.

The maximum gravity head is the lowest water level in the sump tank to the outlet height (which is presumable the top of you FT). On top of that you have pipe and fittings friction [friction head] - which is why you want to keep these to a minimum. They are most likely going to be low 0.1-0.3m in most cases unless you are pumping a long way.

to measure either use a home DIY laser level if you have one or else just use a hose.

with hose attach to the FT then take the free end over to the sump.
pour water into hose until it runs out BOTH ends (so is full) and then block the sump end with your finger.
lift it up above your head and then slowly lower until water comes out.
use a tape measure to measure the hose down to the bottom of the sump.
then subtract the expected depth of water.
that is your gravity head.

the water must be at the end of the hose at the FT end at all times - so may need to be topped up.
the pipe does not have to be horizontal or held up - it can lay on the ground in between.

like this in principle - http://www.wikihow.com/Use-a-Water-Level

I think the pump sounds about right but just checking, it is a pond pump yes ? As bilge pumps are not for continuous use. I wouldn't choke it with 25mm pipe either, go 32mm or 40mm.

Ok so I used a tape measure to measure the distance between the furthest FT and where the pump will be in the ST.

It's about 6-7m if I lay the hose neatly rather than direct. (I.e, run the hose with a few bends so it hugs the side of the shed before making its way inwards.

This pump will be feeding two FTS at the same time - does this make a difference?

It's a Jebao pond pump which I will be using with a piggyback float switch.

>> Ok so I used a tape measure to measure the distance between the furthest FT and where the pump will be in the ST. It's about 6-7m if I lay the hose neatly rather than direct. (I.e, run the hose with a few bends so it hugs the side of the shed before making its way inwards.

distance is less of an issue - it is the lift (vertical distance = head).
there is some additional friction loss but it wont be much over extra 1-2m if you are using reasonable pipe
(ie. smooth internal surface) and don't have too many fittings.

Vertical head is important to know - from your pictures, diagrams, going from sump to shed etc it looks as though you may have around 1.5-2m of head. The flow rate curve diminishes pretty rapidly so you wont get 6500 L/hr.

I am guessing you probably have around 2.0-2.5m head all up.
1.5-2m + pipe + fittings. But should really measure/check at least the vertical head.

>> This pump will be feeding two FTS at the same time - does this make a difference?

that will mainly affect the FT's rather than the pump. Whether they get enough flow to drive the SLO and get the required water volume turnover.

>> It's a Jebao pond pump which I will be using with a piggyback float switch.

leave someone else to comment on that, not familiar with them.

What is the actual model number ? Jebao CM 6500L/H Wet/Dry Eco Pump ?
The flow curve is sometimes on the packet or in the instructions.
It can also simply be a table.