Connecting the Tanks Pictures from 29 April

Piping connecting the fish tank to the sump

To achieve a "constant height of pond" (CHOP) in my bigger tank, I needed to install pipes to let water flow down to the sump.

I used 3/4" pipes to plumb through the tank walls, because that way I could get away with using the 1" drill bit. I drilled two holes near the top of the tank, in the recessed ribs so the piping wouldnt stick out as far. If I was doing this a second time, I would locate the holes a couple of inches lower, but this works.

Once the two pipes coming from the fish tank join, I transition to 1" piping, to make sure flow out of the fish tank isnt restricted by the plumbing joining the tanks.

[After I already had the fish in the tank, I realized I would have to turn the tank so the side with the ribs close together faced the sump. Not sure the fishes liked having the water drained down to almost empty, but I was glad to be able to move the tank without having to net everyone out.]

The fish tank, with pipes to suck water up from the bottom

The 3/4" pipes in the fish tank extend down to the bottom, forcing water from the bottom of the tank to flow out of the tank when the grow beds drain into the fish tank. I drilled a pattern of 13 holes in each end-cap and cut small slices at the very end of the pipe with my miter saw. This allows enough flow through the bottom of the pipe so water drains well (else the fish tank could overflow). The reason to use two pipes is so drainage can still happen even if one pipe gets blocked.

This picture was taken before I actually plumbed the two tanks together, so the 1000 gph pump is still in the fish tank. I used regular 5/8 hose and a garden hose splitter. Turns out 5/8" no-kink garden hose and regular splitters work fine - they are inexpensive and come with built in ball valves. After these pictures were taken, I replaced the green hose with white hose that is lead-free and certified safe to use with drinking water.

Goldfish in the sump

Once I get to the sump, I transition back to 3/4" pipes, again so I could get away with my 1" drill bit. You can see the 45 degree joint that lets the water from the grow beds and fish tank flow into the sump with minimum noise.

Ive been running the system for almost a week since these pictures were taking, and it works just fine.

Grow bed 1 of 4 (lots of different plants)

For the record, heres what the grow beds looked like when I plumbed the tanks together.

Grow bed 2 of 4 (lots of basil)

Grow bed 3 of 4

I ended up adding hydroton to all my beds when I couldnt coordinate getting the expanded shale delivered before my fish had to be bought. Too much travel, between spring break vacation and work trips.

Even though I would have preferred the expanded shale, a nice thing about the hydroton is it is distinctly different in color and shape from couple inches of gravel from my original system in the bottom of each grow-bed.

Grow bed 4 of 4 (check out the banana plant)

In the week since these pictures were taken, Ive shifted the pump to the sump, invented a way to keep the water topped up, and built kiddie covers for the tanks. But Ill cover those items in future posts.

Gnight!

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The Husband calls it Impressive

Alas, the camera is taking a break. But heres what Ive done so far:

• Purchased all required stock tanks
  
• Installed wood frame at base of greenhouse
  
• Placed cinder block bases, with 2x6s to support grow beds
  
• Plumbed the siphons (and made extras for my Mom)
  
• Moved all the gravel (~3" in base of each bed)
  
• Added hydroton to two beds
  
• Installed EMT hoops
  
• Installed 6 mil plastic sheeting roof
  

The system is up and running with one solid growbed. One down, three more to go. Pictures coming soon!

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Tuesday the 7th of September

Those garlic are coming along fine, the one that was one and a half inches is now about nine inches and the other one sent up two shoots and now its/theyre about 3 to 4 inches.

Because of the small size of this unit, it is very susceptible to major fluctuations. This was within my desired calculations as I wanted at that stage to have a small system that would be behaving like this so that I would have to be able to cope with any eventuality.

Thankfully I havent had too much go wrong and over the last couple of weeks it has settled into a really steady rhythm.

Now back to my notes.... 

Can Aquaponics Pay for Itself?

by Sami Grover, Carrboro, NC, USA on 08.24.10

 Next question - What is Aquaponics - Where are these people hiding????? Well here it is.

Now we have the Woodbine Ecology Centre with and Introduction to A/P Hmmm

Now, the next one is "An Overview of A/P" and at this point Im getting a bit sick of every cat and dog re-introducing the re-introduction for the umpteenth time of A/P.  Like how many times are we going to have another rehash of the same stuff, over and over again. As you read through all of this stuff it doesnt take an Einstein to recognize the same old ongoing saga being revamped from the original from U.V.I. NOW..... But Here It Is.

If you want to get some meat instead of all the potatoes there is something brewing that could prove more and more interesting as it rolls along. You would have already been aware of Murray Hallum from over my way and the lady who I have introduced to you on these pages a few times who goes under the handle of "Slywoman" who is in the U.S.

There is another guy over here who has a site called http://www.aquaponicshq.com/ Now both Murray and Slywoman advocate 12 inch depth growbeds and Gary advocates through his book and his site, 6 inch growbeds and they are having a degree of public disagreement over it all.

So where do I stand? 

Well Im on the side of Aquaponics. That means that I believe A/P is the most forgiving bacteriological process that man has embraced. We have at our disposal what might be the ultimate answer to feeding the starving populations of this planet and we need to focus ALL of our combined talents toward that end.

I believe that both parties are mostly correct. Depending on what is being grown, in what climatic condition and under what circumstances, there is reason to lean to either a deeper or shallower system. An example of this is shallow levels during high temperatures can cause failures. Although flow rates can even assist there. Its up to the grower to know the plants, conditions and the possible outcomes and act on their experience and understanding then work within the needs of the plants.

Back to more important issues:

Urban Farming - Reaching for the Skies See it Here

Now, here is Slywoman with a digest of several of her more important articles. Right Here

O.K. Until we return, you take good care of yourselves - See You Soon

Ozzie

P.S. You can contact me HERE

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