Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My plan is to use a 180 gal tub which is situated on the ground.

My growbeds (with bell siphon) will be located on tables at a height of 3 feet.
Either (2) 60 gallons: 28"x42"x12" or 1 120 gallons: 2'x8'x12"

I would also like to add a radial filter.

Would I set it up with the pump inside the tub which pumps water to the radial filter. The radial filter will be located above the grow beds. Gravity will take the water to the grow beds.

Welcome to the forum 8081808 .

Sounds like you're trying to get things figured out still but I couldn't really understand what you were asking. I'm going to move this thread over to the General System Discussions part of the forum.

Hi 8081808.

You don't really need a radial filter for a small system, so when starting out you could probably get away without it. You would add one for example if you were planning on adding a DWC or something, though you could simply feed water from the grow bed to the DWC. But if you add one it wont hurt either.

what questions did you have. What you descirbe is a pretty reasonable basic system.
It is not uncommon for basic/starter systems to have the pump in the fish tank.

more important questions for you are what type of fish and how many ?
what type of pump are you looking to run ?

Thanks for the reply. Ill draw something up when i get home.

Yea I wanted to add a dwc bed with floating tray but read somewhere it is harder when first starting out.

Another problem I also face is the location of my greenhouse. It is located maybe 150 feet away from the nearest plug. I probably cant install a power line there so I would need to run an extension cord. I currently work with kids on a military base and am trying to make it for them. An additional power line would be hard to get approved. Is solar an option?

Replying to previous post.

The fish ill be adding is either tilapia or guppies. Not sure on the amount.




What size pump would you recommend?
Radial filter located about 4 ft. off ground.

I understand that a GB is capable of growing lettuce and leafy vegetables but i'm also wanting to grow tomatoes and cucumbers. So I posted another pic with a dutch bucket system.

Solar is certainly an option.

I'd suggest stocking it lightly with hardy fish until you have a handle on your power generation/storage/consumption.

I'd also suggest keeping the height difference between the top of the water in the tank, and the discharge point, as small as possible. The smaller the height your pumping up to, the less energy required. Less energy means both less battery storage and less solar panels.

It might be a few cents difference in running costs on normal electricity, but might be a few hundred dollars different when purchasing panels, batteries, and pumps to run on solar.

There are a few threads here about solar.

My plan, if I go solar, is to use bilge pumps to run timed flood and drain. Bilge pumps don't like running continuously but they are a cheap way to move water with 12VDC. Running a timer means that I can set it to come on less often at night (just enough to keep the fish happy) and have smaller batteries.

Thanks.

Trying to keep the pumping height as low as possible seem like a problem.
The tank is 2ft high. The beds need enough clearance to drain to the tank. Does the height between siphon exit and tank height need to be a certain size. I plan to build the tables so I could make them a height of just over 2 ft.

Also in my pics above it shows the pump feeding water to the radial filter. Will solids going through the pump hurt its performance?

Edit

I figure my pump will be no more than 60 watt usage for a 700 gph pump. That might be too big.

Solar:
It comes out to 1440 watts a day running constantly
Would I be correct by saying that maybe I have good sunlight to power the pump for 6-8 hours a day and then at night it would run off batteries?

Extension cord:
I read a little about power output dropping with a longer the extension cord. Would I still be able to use a 60 watt pump at those lengths (150 ft)?

As I mentioned earlier I am making this for some kids where i work. A big plus would being able to see in side the fish tank.
I've thought about doing chift pist but realized i would need to raise my tank a considerable amount and this would defeat my purpose.

If my tank is 2 ft high and grow beds 1 ft high but 2-3 ft off the ground then how high should the fish tank be?

If you budget on 5hrs of sunlight a day to generate that power, and factor in a 20% loss, you need a pretty big and expensive array of panels.

Rather than leaving a big gap between the beds and the tanks to see the fish, have a smaller gap and fit a window the for kids to look in.

I don't know what the electrical regulations are like in your area so I can't tell you what is and isn't allowed but running a pump on a wire that long wont be an issue so far as voltage drop. This chart will give you a bit of an idea



The chart is for water well pumps, and uses modern units.

The smallest motor in the chart is 250W and they recommend using 1mm wire for distances up to 213' from the power socket.

I have a 26,000W pump on 300' of wire. It is very, very, thick wire to prevent voltage drop!

Im not sure if you are familiar with home depot. Its one of our big box stores.
They sell 12/3 100 ft extension cords. Is it not safe to buy 2 and join them?

Do you think they'll be able to handle being outdoors 24/7?

Or i could buy 250 ft of 12/3 cord and make my own?

Personally I would rather that you get the cable and make your own, it's better than having a join that may well end up in a puddle of water.

I'd also suggest using a cable that is UV stabalised is a good idea.

I would also suggest that you use a residual current device in case somebody ever damages that wire

Most of all I'd suggest consulting your local electrical safety regulations

Running it off solar would remove these potential safety issues as everything would be low voltage.

I'm pretty sure that would work. You'd have about 5-7 amps to work with when using 200ft of 12 gauge wire extension cord according to the chart here - http://www.diybyexample.info/2010/07/what-size-extension-cord-do-i-need/. The amperage required by a 60 Watt pump should be well below that.

I'm not to keen on the extension cord plan, seems like it's likely to have someone cut it with a mower (once the grass grows even an orange cord can effectively become invisible), trip over it and unplug it, deliberately unplug it or have it otherwise cease to work. If you do decide to go this route I would protect the junction of the two cords and it wouldn't hurt to have a backup plan to keep the fish alive.

+1 on Sean's suggestions as well.
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Grow beds can grow just about anything including tomatoes and cucumbers. Splitting them out into a dutch bucket system helps a bit with tomatoes trying to take over a grow bed but they grow just fine. Dutch buckets give tomatoes their own space and give you a bit better control of them.

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You typically want to turn over the volume of the fish tank once per hour (In your case it looks like 180 gallons but see suggestion 4 below). The pump needs to be able to pump the volume of the tank in one hour at whatever the head height is for your setup. To explain, head height is from the top of the water the pump is in to the highest point that it pumps to. Most pumps have a chart or graph that tells how much water will be pumped at any given head height. Other than head height there are some other things to think about.

1. What type of system will you run
a. Constant Flood (pump always running, grow beds flooded to a constant height, usually pumps 24/7, because the pump is always going you might be able to use a smaller pump than in Timed Flood and Drain)
b. Flood and Drain with Siphons (pump always running, flood level fluctuates as does water level in fish tank, usually pumping 24/7. Because the pump is always going you might be able to use a smaller pump than in Timed Flood and Drain)
c. Timed Flood and Drain (pump on a timer, water levels fluctuate, Might be able to save some money on electrical costs vs the other two types)

2. Efficiency of the pump - Makes a difference in cost to run the pump which might make the pump cheaper to own over the life of the pump.

3. Is the pump designed to handle solids. Many pond pumps are designed for this.

4. It's a good idea to slightly oversize the pump so that some of the flow can be used to help aerate the fish tank.

Thanks for all the help!

I've decide to go with the SJOOW cord and make my own.
Would the gauge matter for such a small pump?
Heres my options
12/3
14/3
16/3
There's even 18

It will be plugged into a GFCI.

The extension cord will be in a low traffic area. We have all fake grass on the way to green house.
There is a fence running along the way aswell. Is it smart to ziptie the cord slightly above the ground along the route of fence?

Thanks scotty.

Im trying to do a bed with siphon.
Im thinking I may just do chift pist now.

I think I should clarify even though you may not need it - CHIFT PIST = Constant Height in Fish Tank, Pump in Sump Tank

The reason I mention that is that you could do CHIFT PIST with siphons or without. You could even used timed flood and drain and still have the system setup so that the water level in the fish tank stayed the same and the pump was in the sump tank.

I do think your best bet would be to maintain a constant water level in the fish tank. Especially for smaller tanks it's less stressful for the fish. If you didn't want to have a sump you could accomplish almost the same thing by running the system Constant Flood with the pump in the fish tank. Because there are no grow bed water level fluctuations using Constant Flood (since there are no siphons or timer and no weep hole in the stand pipe either) the fish tank only fluctuates due to evaporation and transpiration. I still prefer using a sump but it works either way.

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I suspect you'll want to do other things with the AP and may eventually want to add lighting to extend the season so I'd go with the 12 gauge wire even though it's probably overkill.



I'd do whatever you can to avoid it becoming a trip hazard