Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Good morning from SilverStrand Beach in California.

It has been awhile to say the least since I have posted here. Quick background: I have been keeping Saltwater Reef aquariums for about 15 years now, as well as cultivating indoor vegetables by way of DWC for approx ten years.

These two hobbies naturally intersected into somewhat of a symbiotic relationship and Ive experimented with various
methods of DWC, both what we call "innoculated" in the Hydro world:that is, no beneficial bac present in the Res, but instead synthetic salts and Sodium Hypochlorite additions to contain any would be pathogens, and of course the standard natural Bio filter system known as Aquaponics prevalent here.

My query today is more geared towards the sustainability of these systems in the event of a Grid failure,(potential EMP attacks, Solar Storms) which is not a matter of "if" but "when."

Since I am admittedly more of a diehard indoor horticulturist and aquarist, reliant of course on power, and my backyard Aquaponics setups have simply been exploratory, I am wondering if I am missing something.

What are the current safeguards against power outages/grid failures since? What are the plans to keep these systems running in the event of major disaster, since pumps will no longer be an option, regardless of the presence of generators which are simply an hourglass lifeline that will eventually run dry?

Are there currently Solar pumps you guys are using, or gravity loop systems that will circulate the Res in the event of a grid failure?

At your convenience of course.

John

howdy, sounds fantastic and I for one would love to see some pictures. I have a background in electronics although I was never very good at it, I had my own repair shop in our small town for ten years. Anyway, I still dabble in electricity and electronics, that said I have two separate and isolated from the grid electrical circuits in our house. One is 24 volt battery bank from our temporarily down for the count axial flux wind turbine to a pure-sinewave inverter. That one is our better system with 12 12volt gel-cell batteries, which runs our in house Wifi and entertainment system, yes very important indeed. I wouldn't know how to make any of that EMP proof, except build a bunker for it all. I tried to reproduce the great results with a smaller system except photovoltaics as the power source. This one is supposed to run my aquaponics pumps, but the cheap Wallmart deepcycle batteries have already gone beyond their life expectancy and won't hold a charge. The idea is sound, I've got four mixed used panels on the roof run to six 12 volt batteries in parallel, a 12 volt pure sinewave inverter in the fish house. I think it will be fine as soon as I can buy new batteries. Pump is aLaguna PowerJet 2400 Electronic Fountain/Waterfall Pump Kit for Ponds Up to 4800-Gallon I think I measured 60watts and a Hydrofarm AAPA45L 20-Watt 45-LPM Active Aqua Commercial Air Pump with 6 Outlets. I went with AC because 12 volt inverters are fairly inexpensive Xantrex 806-1210 PROwatt 1000 SW Inverter ~$240 I hear good things about the DC pumps as well if you want to skip the inverter

..
But... if electing to go solar and inverters etc.. 48V or in the least 24V battery storage is far more efficient..
Far better to get the power from higher voltage than from high current from paralled batteries ..

I must admit that in the field of PREP-ING, AP is the most obvious path to take.. :-)
..
.

Grid failure doesn't worry me, I run 2 AP systems entirely off-grid. It's all pretty straightforward.

My mind is currently approaching overload secondary to the befuddling jargon you have just dropped on me, but Im trying to process it all. It may take me longer than the time it takes me to finish typing this reply however. Bear with me. I envy your electricity savvy, Sir.




Indeed. Its the only practical solution, and yet, not so practical, if you aren't capable of keeping your fish alive off grid, which is the very essence of "prepping," is it not? Obviously this is a more cumbersome task depending on your locale.

.[/quote]
I just casually skimmed your build, and Im impressed. A very righteous setup you have there. Well done. My property, although a half block from the ocean, is essentially a shoebox contrasted with the canvas most of you have to work with. I can only hope that you take a walk out back each morning with your cup of coffee and behold your spread with the satisfying nod of approval that it warrants.
I noticed you run a chiller for your Res. Is this something you can also run entirely off-grid if necessary?
I am very familiar with chillers, you see, with my Hydro background, and Im just curious how it is "straightforward" to do so without the panel. Anxiously awaiting your reply. Perhaps I need to throw some panels on my roof if you guys are able to run pumps and especially chillers off grid!

Yes the chiller is run entirely off-grid, sometimes for over 8 hours in a day, like today, and it is necessary all the time, as I don't have access to the grid. I've got 5.7kW of PV at the moment, but will adding some more, along with a usable 17kWh of LiFePO4 battery.

Running a system off grid in the event of a major disaster .

Problems are many , batteries if available will only last a while.

I think money invested is better spent on a stand alone solar powered no battery bore pump system , and big enough infrastructure to run your food production system

A 22500 litre header tank (or scaled up to required size) feeding a steady constant flow through a fish tank then grow beds and raft then a RFF filter into a sump then pumped up via the bore pump to the header tank for the next 24hr cycle

25000 L a day pump will sting you about $6000 plus the tank ect ect

Sounds out of reach but you will never need batteries

These pumps are working every day , every day on isolated rural properties keeping water up to valuable livestock all around the world

You can buy a pump that will pump 10X that amount per day, plus a another for a spare, a decent capacity battery to run it for a couple of cloudy days, and solar panels and controller to run it indefinitely for under $6K, and save $3K by not having to buy the header tank

Hi,

You could go with the following setup:



And buy a cheap solar well pump to experiment.

No claims on the durability of these pumps though ...

http://m.aliexpress.com/item/32563313709.html

http://m.aliexpress.com/item/32371759015.html



Sent from my SM-G900F using Tapatalk

Holy cow, that's a lot...

I am living without any grid connection having only 420W of PV and 360A of AGM batteries. Not running any AP system on that though of course, but normal things like fridge, lights, tv, computers etc, etc. Surprisingly easy to get by with only this much power, switch on the inverter and charge laptop and phones etc during the day, even run the washing machine during the day. Only started the generator a couple of times over winter when there were multiple cloudy dark days... Can't see myself ever being grid connected again... Though I guess I am ATM, stupid caravan park that has no unpowered sites..

I started out with just two 60W panels, a home made wind turbine generator and 24V 200AH battery in 1991, barely enough for the lights, computer, TV and fridge, so had to use a generator in cloudy calm winter weather a fair bit. These days panels can be had for well under 1/10 of the early 90s prices!