Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

lol.

Yep, doing it properly (the way I would do it) would not be cheap. But I tend to over engineer stuff because of my background. So go figure :-)

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. I would be not skimping on the sealant. SIKA have an outstanding reputation for their products and that would be my choice.

Thanks f&f, appreciate your reply.


Having a play in the isles using pressure fittings and dwv fittings is half the fun,

think outside the square though.
We've not used siphons so cannot comment on afnan but try to keep it simple, don't over complicate.
One of the dis/advantages of AP

Not sure what the preoccupation is with larger stand pipes???

I use 20mm tube, with a 20>32mm adapter as a top "Funnel"..

The smaller the tube, the less issues getting flow started.. My GB's have NO PROBLEMS emptying, and depending on the drop underneath, the siphon suction is massive..

How do you plan to fit the siphon in the bottom.. Uniseals or Threaded-Adapter/Faucet-Fitting (pair)

Don't forget that IF you go traveling "Southside", you are welcome to look at my messy place/setup..
..
.

If nothing else works you could improvise something with a plastic pop bottle that has the bottom cut off.

BuiDoi - my fittings to drain the bottom of the growbeds are 50mm bath wastes.

The standpipes need to be 32mm or there will be too much "space" around the standpipe in the drain.

Progress shots. Ignore the fact that GB#1 on the far left is not sitting it its cage. I just plonked it there to fiddle with the plumbing.

From the South:



From the West: (Progress has been slow this week because I decided that before I finished plumbing/start cladding I needed to dig out all the grass under GBs and around the system and the soil veggie garden and install aluminum edging to make it look a bit neater and easier for hubby to mow. The bare soil inside the edging I will lay down newspaper, then hessian sacks and then wood chip mulch.



From the North:



Vertical supports for the GB frame made from galvanized fence posts. (Thanks Azira for finding the bracket/clamps for me!)



GB#2 is completely connected to ST#1 now. Later today I will test it out for leaks. Had to make heaps of marks on the fittings when I was doing my "dry fit" so I could remember how it was all supposed to go together and also so I could twist the fittings a quarter turn when pushing them together with the pvc cement. (Don't worry I did use primer as well!)





I feel I should point out that I am doing all this 100% myself. Hubby is busy building a cubby house for the kids with his father and so he hasn't really touched this other than buying stuff at the Bunnings near his work for me. I don't think I'm doing too badly for someone who's never done AP before and has to work around her kids' schedules and demands. While also studying vet nursing!

looking good!!!!!

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Well done, you are doing a great job and should be proud of yourself

Its all looking very professional, as said great work.......

With a decent water tight seal, silicone or some kind of rubber gasket, there is no reason why the section with the widow wont become the strongest part of the tank. It would be the most likely point of any leaks, but with a dual tank set up you can "easily" (it wont be) move the fish for any repairs as the seal degrades over time.

I'm just about to start a setup with the goal of getting the kids involved and teaching them about it all. I'd definitely go for a window.

We were just at a launch day for the first aquaponics shop in our town!!! But you couldn't see any of the fish in the tanks, these were only maybe 1m high. The surface movement from the pump outlet and air-stones meant the kids couldn't see the fishies inside the tank, they got over looking at bubbly water pretty quickly.

This is EXACTLY my concern. Because of all the water movement, air stones etc you won't be able to see the fish looking from above.

Before I install a window though I may try converting a plumbers bucket or similar into an underwater viewer thing with a Perspex window at the base and see how that works.

So today's progress: POWER!

Finally we have an outdoor power point for the pump in the ST, and working PowerPoint in the shed for the airpump. Woot! Full steam ahead on finishing the plumbing!



As a temporary measure I have the pump simply sending water from ST#2 to the GB directly above it.

SLO day here:

SLO "pickup pipe" For FT#2 which has corrugations on the bottom. The slots have been cut to coincide with the low parts between the corrugations.



SLO "pickup pipe" for FT#1 - should I cut slots or leave it as just holes to experiment?

UNISEALS! I struggled all day in the heat with the 2" uniseal in our corrugated tank.

Until I stumbled across this tip on the practical Aquaponics forum.

With a bit of dish soap slathered on the uniseal, this worked like a charm so I am sharing here.

What the practical AP guy did:


What I did: (Pretty good seal eh?)
I have left the pipe much longer than it needs to be so I can push through the pipe as much as possible so I can cut off the end with the slots and use it for the uniseal in the other FT. Saves me having to cut slots twice.

Nice work Sophia. Your system has grown somewhat since your early ideas. Great to see it coming together . It will all be happening soon with plants and fish...

Jo

Dry fit day! Spent the whole day (in between looking after the baby and the 5yr old) fiddling with the plumbing connecting the SLO from FT#1 to the SLO from FT#2. The current plan is to have the connecting distribution pipe as level as possible with only the slightest fall away from the tanks to preserve as much height between this point and the GBs.

I did a lot of tweaking with the spirt level and I think it should all work... The fall towards the GBs will be about 20-30 degrees.

Outlet from the SLO of FT#2:



Where it joins the SLO outlet of FT#1:


The plan once it's all glued is to have brackets attaching the pipes to the wall to prevent movement. I may have to wrap some extra insulation around the pipes...