Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Deuem,

You are thinking of sprayers. If he used them, he would loose alot of water. Beacause the spray would miss the net pot holes in the square gutters he prepared. He is using drip irrigation. Which is a slow trickle of water out of the end of a fairly small hose, with an adjustable tip on it, at low pressure. And it is not just the fish waste that made it past the filters you have to worry about. It is also the biofilm that will try and clog the small hoses as well. As you have stated he will eventually have to remove each drip head one by one and run extra pressure through its line to clean it out. But at 300 holes that is a chore you would like to limit the amount of times a year you had to do this. Especially being in the design stage still. Stuff like making the runs of drip tubing as short as possible will help.

These are all valid points, and why we are trying to slow down and possibly re-plan this.

Rishel,

Have you looked into aeroponics? Seeing that your nozzles would be inside the nft gutters. Your HOA may let you do it this way. It would also allow you to run pipes big enough with enough pressure to not clog. Nowhere near as often at least.

That is a pretty nice tank FF found for a couple hundred $$. Do you already have a particular RFF plan in mind?


With a 55º cone, I think it would get Ryan's stamp of slope approval. And it looks like it would be easy to build suitable support.

--
Sam

Not yet. We are shortly heading to talk with an HOA Officer. Ugh. I will let you guys know. If something actually happens that is conducive for us, we will switch to grow beds like everyone is suggesting, and put this entire clogging issue and other obstacles to rest.

Will know shortly.

I read it as he wants to drip feed. I take that to be something like a leaking faucet. On my Test 1, I drip feed the pot to a constant stand pipe over flow and things are growing well enough. Water drips in to the center at around 30 small drips a minute or less even and soaks the entire pot. I don't know if it would saturate the clay balls the same. That is test 2. IMO if the water had to rise up to drip, the solids would not make the climb on such a low pressure system. It most likely will just pass that location and on down the pipe. I can give you a for instance. My FT has a built in filter in the hood with a long pipe full of holes on one side. If I place it holes down they get clogged up. Roll it over and the holes stay clean and the pipe fills up.
Either way I am a newbie here and at this AP stuff so I am wandering thru all the info also.

rishel What's a HOA Officer and why do they make you worry?

Thanks, D

Deuem,

Drip feeding that way would mean at least 100 ball valves, and accompanying elbows. The way his system has a o be set up. Making it so cost preventative that I immediately dismissed that option.

HOA means home owners association. They set the rules for the community. And can tell you what to do on your own land. If you go against their rules they can evict you from your own house.

Ok on the ball valves, very expensive for 300 of them. So instead I would use a common fish tank right angle screw valve that you use to regulate air to a stone. Put it at the end of the fish tank hose in the planter near the plant. You can adjust them right down to a drip or a constant pour. Plug them into your feed pipe on the top and for a few cents per plant you have a drip system. If the screw valves get clogged just unscrew the valve head and blow it out or replace it. Getting something to drip at a predicted rate is a bit harder then I thought it would be but this worked. This should be cheap enough for 300 plants and if you leave the air hose a bit longer you can move it around the bed. So it is not fixed.

On the HOA, They can do that? OMG that is terrible! For a green house? I can see them giving one a problem if you did it on the front lawn but this house is out back.
D

HOA: the NIMBY brigade is alive and well but they have expanded to "not in Your backyard either".

We have a Council of Owners in Strata titled complexes, but for bungalows (free standing houses), only the local government by-laws need to be complied with. You are living in the wrong place to be an individual!

Well, a little shocked here, but I am pretty much clear to build whatever setup I want. I am not allowed (as if I didn't know this, by law) to place any fish in the pond in the back. Again, I already knew this as per state law.

So gentlemen, now I can switch, but what a waste of previous money on the fence posts, and all the labor on it.

Good fences make good neighbors. Not a waste but a good investment.

What are you going to switch too, Hydroponics? Another million options there.
Are you having fun yet?
D

No, I am going to stick with aquaponics, and move away from the drip system, and towards actual grow beds. So yeah, this is a slight reset switch, so I am sure some semblance of fun is about to start.

I am not sure if I can drip using the clay balls, there is a lot of extra room in there for the water to just pass by. My test 1 uses FT gravel and every stone passes water to the next one. They all remain damp. Test 2 will tell me the amount of water needed to maintain wetness. The Clay Balls seem to be best for E&F or CF. I am thinking I would have to add/mix it gravel to take up all the holes if I drip in. Due to the lack of room in Condo farming I might need to just go hydro anyways. I don't have enough room for a growing food fish tank of several hundred or thousand liters. It would all just be goldfish and I don't eat them. With one tank, one GB, it is too easy to get to know the fish like pets. I would need a school of fish.

Rishel,
Awesome news. In the end I seriously doubt the fence post parts you have already made will go to waste.

Deuem,
Have a look into building T barrels. They save room and since the fish are somewhat hidden. It is harder to get attached to them.