Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Glad things are moving forward on your remodel. Let me know if/when I can be of further help.

I probably will not be available until the middle of January b/c of appts and going to look @ properties.....in Kansas/Missouri.

Adam

Awesome and good luck.

As for my yesterday, I should have just stayed in bed and let the day go by. 6" is all that kept me from getting better flow. What I thought was an easy-easy task was a NIGHTMARE! However, I plugged ahead anyway to try and maximize what I had built.

Then, as I reached down into the freezing depths to switch out an elbow, my lefty loosey was actually righty righty (b/c I was behind the fitting and not looking at it) and spun my bulk head which caused leak and it was 2' down. Drain the pond/tank and reset the bulkhead.

Then came the headache of trying to remove that elbow from the fitting, without destroying it b/c I did not want to grab another and deal with it later. Extracted (but should of grabbed a different one)

I abandoned the 2" SLO, to go with a strainer basket in the corner because it just was not pulling liked I had hoped. I also switched the places of my outlets. Why, don't know? Thinking I might get similar results as I did when I swapped the inlet/outlet in my filter?

However, if this does not work, then I shall come up with a different plan. (really saying: unless catastrophic, or somebody provides that kick in the head, it is staying......)

Adam

Sometimes it just goes that way. For me, the worst side effect of pain killers and/or cannabis was I couldn't think properly. Even if I could come up with a decent plan, I couldn't execute it. Seriously disheartening. While I still ache and the hip isn't fixed yet, I have removed both of those meds from the equation. Clarity is returning. My mornings are very different now. In fact I need to begin my exercise routine. Best wishes and happy new year!

:cue ominous music:

Kick in the head applied. After every possible configuration, I have successfully determined how not to build the sieve.

6 inches is all I need, and shall obtain by dropping the filter just enough to give me 2" from overflowing, and that is it.

I have saved money on building, but lost all the savings if I were to have been paying myself over purchasing retail. Oh well, another day shall be upon us and hopefully met with some success.

Night all.

Adam

Now we are cooking with gas-o-line!



Flowing close to 1750GPH and I don't even have the surface skimmer in play yet. I Need a bigger pump to push more water.

I'll pick up some real estate by eliminating the sump.


Adam

Looked at properties in Kansas/Missouri and awaiting the bank to decide what/when they are going to list a forclosure and if their price is worth it.

Today was a day to get back to it. The 27 gallon totes from Lowes/HD/Costco need to have a very stable surface. Otherwise, they crack and leak.

I had a steady stream of water to the point that I was having to top off daily (as opposed to 3-4 days during winter).

Cleared out the first bed except for the volunteer Tom plant. Aphids all over the place and the recent cold snap had caused majority of leaves to become moldy/wilted. Completely cleaned out the second bed and set up with some hydroton to start cycling a bit for preparation on the Dutch buckets.



Cleaned out the 3rd bed and put part of the volunteer Tom in it. Moved the strawberries over so I could free up some cinder blocks for making my cascading fines/bio setup.



Cleared spaced for something else.



I'll try to separate some of the strawberries and get them into a Dutch bucket or something else?

Hopefully I can carry on and get the rest of my mech/bio set up and start building my
DWC beds.

Adam

All the gravel from x4 growbeds.


Floating some transplants in the FT. The mint was soo overgrown (and one of the beds that failed) that I cutback and seeing if some of the rootstock/new growth will bounce back.



Before pic will not load, but the after pic zooms in for some reason... But about to become settling/diversion for the sieve filter.



Adam

Fantastic progress as always.
How's the sieve filter doing for you?
I added Lady bugs from the Bug Guys to our greenhouse. We still have a few Bell Pepper plants producing although no new flowers. I had hosed off the fruit, prior to getting this order of Ladybugs, which unlike previous attempts actually worked pretty well. I don't know where the Ladybugs went already, but they went somewhere. I think it must be a bit too chilly in the far corners of the greenhouse. Maybe they went dormant.
I must admit I get a pang of sadness when I think about you guys packing it out of New Mexico.
Best of luck with the new prospects.
Brian and Nell

Having not ever seen a proper sieve filter, I am happy with the results. There is an adjustable weir (that I did not build b/c it is usually fed by pump and I am gravity with pump after) that would take the guess work out of finding the sweet spot. I am still all over the place with temporary circuits and not properly sized pipes, but that should change today.

With head pressure, I am running at 3700 GPH and I do not even have the outputs from the tank adjusted for full output. I did away with the original sump tank, but going to use the IBC FT as a settling/diversion to reduce the flow to get proper retention times for mechanical/bio.

I have gone back to flying by the seat of my pants b/c my original design was for an IBC tank, and this is now become koi keeping until the move.

Adam

So, I have gotten one step closer to rehousing the koi and getting my DWC beds online.



Making the IBC as a settling tank with gravity fed to the first if three filters. Output from the IBC is about 22 GPM.





Temporary flow so I can reorganize the remaining two filters.



Sieve cleaned and going to take picture in am for debris catchment.



Adam

The hardest part of this build is using all of the original plumbing/barrels up instead of building from new. Trying to set elevations that will work with the existing in/outlets to get desired flow that are not in the ideal location. It has caused me to come up with some creative platforms that can support the weight and also be stable since higher up.

I probably spent more than just scrapping and starting new b/c I did away with all the uniseals and 1" connections and went to all 1.5-2" bulkheads to get better connections and stop all the leaks. Usimg all the 1.5 for drains and the 2" for output and once all used up, 2" for the remaining system concern g the DWC beds.

The left side (currently running barrell) may become an emergency overflow or plumb back into the next filter to keep flows up? I am thinking now of putting my stilling well pipe back into the first barrell along with media for SUP?

Decisions...... Decisions..... I am approaching this as one area at a time so I can see how things run to identify problems and correct right then and there.

Yesterday was just get it done so I can move on to new stuff/builds. It is hard b/c the wife's focus has become the best habitat for the koi that gives them space to where she can watch and me wanting to put them to work. So I have been trying to keep everything tight to maximize all open space yet give me just enough room (on one side at least) to have good/unobstructed access. So, I am having to approach the as a koi pond with an Aquaponics add-on (I am in for it when we move and I get to separate the koi from the GH) . It should be the wow factor when the next home buyer comes to look at the property.

I'll empty the current MBBR and slide it and the stand over to go along the side of the IBC to pickup the output and then make the turn to the GROWING AREA! :tup:

Time to get to work.

Adam

So, I decided to add the stilling well to the first SUP and got flows dialed in to where I have my pump running around 10.5k Liters/HR. So far, the power consumption on this system is 100 watts. 60 watts for the pump and 40 watts for the linear blower.

I think that the first time I clean this filter, the well will become somewhat of a MBBR. I did not have my phone with me, so I did not get a shot of what the inside looked like after I reconfigured.

try again tomorrow to get the rest connected, just had too many things going on today to where I couldn't not get past this first hurdle.

Adam

I'll go back to more math and figure if the actual usage rate is 100 watts or more with drops/distance. It may force me to get the outlets put in the GH. It is just a matter of 80 feet to pick up where I landed power in the Coop. 30 feet of conduit to tie into the underground conduit landed in the GH. Setup a small panel to then run the outlets (or shorten the extension cord runs )

Amp clamp or Kill-a-watt.

I almost get a Kill-a-watt, but then read how the meter has burned up at 8-10 amps (rated for 15). Anyone have comments?

Adam

I hadn't burned my Kill-a-watt meter out yet. I haven't used it all that much though. For my wind turbine I purchased a panel gauge with a built-in shunt. The shunt enables the gauge to handle pretty much any current by bypassing the main current at a specific amount through a resistor (shunt.)


Your progress is admirable and we love your descriptive text along with images. Thank you so much.