Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Oh what I could do to a walkout basement...

([quote
]Oh what I could do to a walkout basement...[/quote]

Concrete blocks are heavy

Yay!!!

I was getting ready to get ready for bed and noticed the DVDs are here!

Thanks Joel!!!!

Phase 1 is halfway finished. The siphons are getting too much water and so I cheated for now by running the pump on a timer 15 min on, 15 min off. The pump runs through 3/4" pipe, I'm looking to hook up a valve to bleed off some flow until the siphons are happy. The outlets go in at a shallower angle than the previous ones, and the fish happily get to swim in the new current. They look bigger from the side! And the babies in the sump don't look like babies anymore.

One of the pumps still goes to the two beds on the platform. Two of the beds are moved over to the "pier" now, and siphon in from the end.

great job DD! and who said that timers are cheeting, i think its easer to make an autosysphon then finding a 15 on/15 off timer. great job!

-DF

Go the auto siphons

coming together nicely DD

Timers are definately [s]not[/s] cheating DD...

Nice solid structure too mate...

I plan to use a timer for the plants when the time comes, haha.

nooooo...go the siphons

Stage 1: Complete.

I am now running all four beds on the pier with no timer just siphons, although the pump has gotten noisy. There is still a bit too much flow and when I can swing it I'll put in a bypass to bleed some flow off. Our camera is not working (I think it's the little round memory card battery) or I'd post pictures.

It is much more fun to feed the fish now because they are right there in front of you! It will be much more fun with this arrangement.

Stage 2 is to increase the volume with the new tub, when the current sump becomes available that will go outside to be used for plants.

Edit: BTW, Everything is running on one 40 watt pump and one heater ATM.

Hi Dave,
Try disassembling the pump and cleaning out any gunk. I have found that when the pump is noisy, there's a piece of coral or chunks of vegetable stuck in the impeller. Just the least bit of imbalance throws it off and makes noise. I figure that can't be good for the wear and tear on the pump either.

So what's your total growbed volume now? And what's your tank turnover?

Oh it is lots of fun to watch feeding time, isn't it??!! My entertainment when we have guests over is to take the lid off the tank and invite them to get down close to the water when I feed the fish. Most adults are too smart for that one. Most kids are not.

Got vb the other day with a similar prank

The door actuators move rather quickly and when they pull up the flaps, water gets thrown up.....need I say more

Stage 2: 3/4 Complete.

Our new exchange student from China helped me move the fish three times on Saturday. We got the new tub hooked up but I'm now waiting on the extra water to age so the drain and sump can be hooked up. Until then the little ones are in the old sump and the pump and siphons are hooked up to the big tub only.

There were a lot of solids that had been trapped under the planting basket that the pump was sitting on. I am going to pay more attention to making sure that no obstacles or cubbies exist for the poo to collect in. I am thinking about putting some kind of strainer at the drain outlet that I could remove to the upstairs periodically, to take the solids straight up to the plants rather than letting them build up. The big tub stays very clean in this setup, but solids build up in the sump because of the low power continuous pump. The solids need some help getting to the gravel or otherwise.

It was fun catching the fish - we need a bigger net. Only one ended up flapping around on the floor. Several jumped out of the net and gt extra style points on the landing.

Stage 3: In progress. Labor Day weekend is a big yard sale weekend in the US. I got a 90 gallon outdoor fish pond from the neighors for $10 yesterday! I'm going outside to dig the hole for it now; I'm using it for the plant sump because it is bigger than the 70 gallon.