Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just a few tips, hopefully helpful:

1) because they are only 20 litres (~5 gal) buckets, put gravel in them - it is not too difficult to up-end them at any time

2) put a larger pipe around the drain pipe, this will keep roots/gravel from clogging the holes that Steve just mentioned

3) make the stand pipe (those that are in the buckets now) easily removable (they probably are but I am not sure)

4) 10 minutes is a reasonable time for the buckets to be flooded, this would be around the time if filled with gravel

5) how long are you looking at turning off the pump so that the buckets can drain - this can be worked out after you have drilled the holes and seen how long it takes to drain with the gravel in

Ok cool. The stuff on the bucket is cement. Should I replace the bucket or is this ok?

About the standpipe, yes, its just a piece of pipe slipped into a 1" male connector. No glue. I thought about putting a larger pipe around it, but didn't know if I shouldn't take any more room from the plants, since its kind of a small system.

I'll take care of that. In the meantime, how often should I flood / drain the system?

Not sure so will let the others answer that...or just use the right sized hammer a bash/break it off

With gravel in the buckets the flood time will be around 10 minutes, so around 5 minutes or less to drain will give a nice safety factor - put one hole in a pipe, see how long it takes to drain (fill the bucket manually is the quickest and easiest) then work out how many more holes you need.

So the fill drain cycle should be constant? The timer I have lets me turn the water on / off every half hour. In that case, what should I do? Or should I buy a better timer?

Felix, if you put ball valves just before your buckets, (one for each maybe), you'll be able to control the flow and/or fill rate....if your pumps just way to strong you can install a tee after the pump, with a line feeding back to your tank....

This will "bleed" of some of the flow (and slow the fill times) plus it will add extra oxygenation to the tank.

Hi everyone. Ok here's the latest. After drilling (2) 3/16" holes on the bottom of the standpipe, the buckets would never fill (Head pressure prooved to be too much). What I did was I removed 2 buckets & it works ok. I also put a larger pipe (with a bunch of tiny holes) around one of the standpipes. I only did it to one, because it was all I had at hand. I plan to do the same to the rest, but I want to test them as they are. Here's the updated photos of the bucket ponics!









Now assuming this is ok, whadoido next?

Thanks!
Felix

Hi Felix,
I`d cut the inner pipe a bit shorter so it overflows below the top of the gravel, or perhaps add some more gravel. As it is in the pic, apart from evaporation, the plants stems will be well submerged during the fill cycle which could encourage them to rot.

yeah id do what hex says

general rule of thumb is 20 mm below gravel line i belive

Felix i only have one 4mm hole in a 1000 litre grow bed also cut 1 1/2 in of the center pipe

....or put in more gravel.....see you didn't clean it to the high expectations of a true APer

Ok cool. Thanks! Will do this evening!

Thanks again!
Felix

Ok guys. Instead of cutting the standpipe 20MM under the gravel, I drilled a bunch of holes to allow the water to drain, but to prevent the gravel from going over & through the pipe. The timer I have switches on / off a minimum of 30 minutes. The thing is, its not a grounded timer. I'd rather get a better one, since It's going outdoors. Could someone recommend a timer & a on / off setting? The buckets need around 5 minutes to fill now (more or less. I didn't time it this go around!) Also, should I plant the tomato seeds directly in the gravel or in an oasis cube?

I think we're almost ready for blastoff!

Felix - the holes in your outer pipe appear very small in the photo. Be aware that biofilm will attach to the pipes in your system and small holes are prone to become clogged with biofilm.

Also, the idea of cutting the inner tube lower than the gravel level is so that IF you do get blockages of the small hole in the inner pipe or have a timer falure the water will still spill over the top of it.

and not out the bucket onto the floor draining your pond/tank