Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I think you could do a lot just by applying the baffle technique.

I would just make the flow travel under a baffle then over a baffle. This makes it so any floaties can't move to the far end, they are forced down so they have to settle out. My sump on my salty tank I went with an over/under/over baffle, but then I ended up having crap settle in the middle and I couldn't siphon it out because they were only 1" apart (and I ended up having fish get in between the baffles a few times which is a lot of fun trying to use two nets to catch fish that are stuck between baffles when you only have 1" between them and the fish keeps swimming back and forth). Simplified to just an under/over baffle you can clean it out and it is pretty effective in forcing waste to settle.

Since I do not know sizing, what is the general footprint of the above and are you proposing open, or have the other chambers filled with media?

I am looking for volume and quickly capture solids/debris in a small footprint. Open a valve and flush the contents into my MT. Most DIY I have found, storage bin with a couple bulkheads and mesh screen. Going a few steps above that.

Some are saying it can't be done for much less than purchasing unit. It needs to be adjustable weir height with bellows and wedge wire. Ninche market for screen, so a 12x20 (don't know exact dimensions and rough guess) is 350.00 (wedge wire) for retail unit

I got 8sf of mesh for 95. 00 and if I am changing sooner, I can have a screen each day of the week with spares for the same price.

Now there is some head scratching for making sure my volumes of wa
Terrazas can be maintained, but at the point of just get it done and sort details if any come forward.....


Adam

I wanted to do a sieve early on in my design after seeing them in the Mora fish hatchery https://www.fws.gov/southwest/fisheries/mora/index.html
I got to see a self cleaning barrel sieve in action, once every hour or so spray bars cleaned to sieve screen.
B

They call that a RDF (Radial Drum Filter).

Now that is something to buy off the shelf as opposed to a DIY approach. Gear ratios, self sealing gaskets, the drum itself. They can get pricey real quick. 8000GPH is over 6k. I am going low tech to where I still have to do things.....however, if I had one to look at study... :thinking:

Adam

Adam the main thing is the spacing between baffles. Typically in the aquarium trade I think they are about 1" between baffles. The compartment size can be whatever you need it to be to make it fit in your space. The more space you have in the 'settling' side the better, but really the only way they can go wrong is if it's not big enough for the amount of flow it might not settle, but the size of that looks like it would handle a lot of flow.

You need to make sure there is a large area of overlap, so your 'under' baffle the water has to flow down to about the bottom inch, then the 'over' is up higher, it sets the amount of water that will be in the tank (typically important in salty tanks because you need to control the height of the water for your skimmer to work properly so you set the over baffle at the water height needed for the skimmer... in your case it wouldn't matter, so the higher it goes up the less likely any stuff will flow back up and make it out of the filter).

I hadn't really thought about using it until I saw your contraption... I think I like the idea of adding just a baffled settling tank to my system better than adding barrel filters. Might be the route I go if I ever get around to adding a filter to my system. I will probably just buy another 40 breeder tank and build a stand that fits between my tanks... I will probably switch my system to a CHOP2 if I do add any kind of filtration because the reason I haven't done it so far is that the outlet on my IBC tank doesn't have much drop to the inlet on my grow beds, so to add a filter in between I just don't have enough drop to play with... switching to a chop 2 I could do it and just have it overflow from the filter back to the sump tank and pump to the beds from the sump instead of overflowing from the tanks to the beds... more work though so who knows what the timing will be if I make any changes.

I keep trying g to get to the table, and she keeps buying more koi.....

Fishes!






Adam

So, scoured the net looking for a wedge wire screen, and happy to report, albeit it not huge savings, 100.00 less than retail.

Built the box, but did jot take pics b/c too late in the day, but some I'm the morning as I get ready to apply the pond shield.

Adam

Dry fit.


Ready for epoxy coating. Doing in two sections so I make sure to have good access to all surfaces. Then I'll out a bead of glue on the outer edge, silicone on the inner and anything that squirter out, fine tune with finger and screw for added piece of kind.





Seams already done once before coating.

Adam

Probably not the best environment to apply, but it is the only area that is warm enough.





Should be completed tomorrow and flowing.....going to get some plexiglass to complete the drain and have something already waterproof and use it for mounting the sieve screen.

Adam

This looks like another brilliant plan well executed and moving ahead.

The proof is in the pudding... ready to see how it works =)

No progress today, fighting last minute x-mas shopping, but have all the items needed for anything that can pop up.

And progress tomorrow since the screen arrives. I am hoping that this works as planned and provides a good alternative in a compact footprint for under 450.00 (add 100.00 if one has to source screen new)

Adam

I thought the test system had been torn down... it looks like there is still a greenhouse within a greenhouse in that picture....

There is. I still have 31 koi that are powering the system and no other place to put them. Plus, it is a much smaller footprint to keep heated with the aquarium heaters. Been in the teens past 3 mornings.

I am having high PH issues in the pond/tank and getting ready to isolate and try performing some chemistry. I am going to try checking my hardness level and then adding some baking soda to adjust to 80-150 ppm wait 12 hours and then adding some Calcium Chloride because any PH reducer I currently add rebounds back within a few hours.

I'll take my expansion system offline so that all my tinkering will be restricted to the pond/tank sump and not affect any of my aging K1 from the expansion system.

Test = original
Expansion = 2nd system
Pond/tank = 3rd and what I'll be adjusting today

Adam

Other than waiting for the waterproofing to cure, the sieve is procured.....:legend:



Side profile, filters 300 micron and bigger.



Underside.




Adam