Siphon Sets Done

Four set done, what left are just final outlets and installation which needs to be done on site.



Above are siphon top parts, those eight tubes in front four of which of same length are stand pipe extender to adjust water level in grow bed. Below are the outer strainer tubes, these are 110 mm uPVC pipes with end venting cap.



80 mm water PVC tubes with end cap forming the bell. Those half moon are formed using 25 mm hole saw, cutting two halves at a go making two bell tubes. So the half moon are roughly half inch high.


Stand pipe, 25 mm bulk head fitting drilled with 4mm drip hole, then 25mm PVC tube with final 25 mm ~ 50 mm reducer to make total length from drip hole to reducer to about 7.5 inches.


Extender tubes below, two sets for each stand pipe, the longer will bring water level to about 11 inches and the shorter to 9 inches. So the stand pipe are adjustable to 7.5, 9 and 11 inches.

  
Initial outlet below about 8 inches before the elbow, other item need to be done on site or after I had a look at how is the final installation.



These siphon sets are for new set that will be build early January, I just had it ready for installation when they need it.

Outer Strainer Done

Slowly but surely the outer strainer done, its a 110mm PVC pipe normally use for sewage or rain water gutter outlet.



Four pieces for  four Siphon set, those holes are 10mm using tile drill bit to make. This strainer is for 12" media growbed maximum height. I'll finish the bell tube next.

New set of Siphon.

Making 4 set of siphon for some one, I'll do the installation on the growbed. Hope fully this is a start of something great.


Cutting 4 strainer tubes and siphon bell (Grey tube) for 4 bell as well, which will be cut by making few circulars cutting around halfway its length making 2 bell tube in one go. Lots more to do, those strainer holes need to be drill onto the white tube.

I just submitted my house renovation completion paperwork to the Authority and hope the building inspector will come as soon as possible. After they had inspected my house renovation than I will be able to make a new Aquaponics set for myself.  Otherwise those extra stuff outside at the back of the house may land me in trouble.

Its been ages...

New Scooters

OK I love bikes,, and has many over the years.. nowadays Scooter are the best for running around town or going to work as in my previous post on commuting scooter : Here with Amir on it.



Got myself a bigger bike the Kawasaki Versys 650 for longer distance and keep the scooter as commuting bike, its a great bike this Kawasaki. A friend of mine took this Versys from Kuala Lumpur to London over land via China Mainland without any problem.



Finally been idling for a while these bike, I decide to change to a smaller scooter and a whooper.. :) So get rid of the SYM 200 VTS Scooter and the Versys and got my self this tiny .. SYM VS 150 or the Excel II as its called in Australia.. Its new old stock got it for a bargain about USD1300.00 its a steal.



For the Whopper got this..... Grand Daddy of all maxi scooter.....



The BMW C600 Sport.. its a 650 cc Twin super fast.. and probably the first unit over here .. :) This scooter is a self reward for commuting to work these last 30 years on bike..

Recent Comment Widget Broken :(

The recent comment Widget is broken.. and its still not fixed.
This makes it very difficult for me to answer any comment on previous post. Hope they fix it soon.

Daughter's Wedding 11 Nov 2012

Been very busy this year, first my house renovation which took almost 7 months to complete and then my daughter big day . I had to do the best I could for her and here are few shots of that day for memories.
They are in the traditional Malay Costume.


A380 - A Mambo Jumbo

Just a tribute posting.
Receive our second 380 yesterday, its a big huge and humongous no other words to describe it.
I'm on the 380 sim, having a ball of a time on the most expensive video game on this side of the globe.

Nursery Revisited

Earlier today visited the local nursery along Selangor Green Lane (Google Map : 3.159352,101.564317) checking out few items for my next Aquaponics Project.
Its heaven for green fingers and row or flower Nursery along this 5 kilometer stretch, which sell everything you can think of with regards to gardening and planting. Not quite everything, Aquaponics naaaa.. nil joy.
I was looking for a suitable container to make my mini aquaponic set, took a while to locate anything useful.
Ceramic ponds and vase aplenty.
These are expensive, hardly anything for experiment or as a test kit.
I need something cheap, without any holes on the bottom or the most a single hole where I can mount the loop siphon.
These will do but not as a test kit, a final product will be great to use these pots.
Finally I settle for this self watering plastic container, they call it self watering due to the bottom part hold water and will be there when plants needed it. So it will be less watering.
Okay, here's the inside look of the square plastic pot.
This container perfect for my test kit, I need to make a hole for a 15mm bulkhead fitting on the bottom and make a loop siphon as previous posting.

We'll see what turn out of this project.

BTW, love these camera phones, my DSLR and Lumix LX5 are at home most of the time. Either use my Galaxy Note or a  Tab 2 10.1, they are great for my simple shots.

Mini Aquaponics Set

Been toying on this for quite a while now, ever since knowing that I will not have any space  for a bigger setup. Using siphon on smaller set may not be feasible, multiple growbed with one master siphon is do able but will be difficult to maintain due piping and space required.

Drawing below of a single flower pot type of setup with its own loop siphon. Siphon must be reliable 99.9999% of time otherwise it is useless and not practical as a water controlling device. This loop siphon below is a conceptual and as rule of fluid dynamics should be able to cutout without problem (touch wood).

It will be made from 15mm or 1/2 inches PVC tube all the way, with an enlargement to make the down spout bigger to reduce it effective length hence making the length of D less than C.


Flower pot below is ideal for this project. Hole already there, just hook a siphon to it and you are done.

Growth Column

While waiting for my next candidate to be check out their knowledge on aviation maintenance just doodle few drawings.

Before I started Aquaponics using growbeds I use growth column using a large vase with many holes for decoration. It turn out plants grow from the openings, but its limited to few types of plants that can hang in open space.

This was way back in 2006 when I first started "water gardening", Aquaponics was Greek to me at that time. Not knowing these are actually the basis of Aquaponics, I did not continue using this method.
However with space getting scarce this is one option that I may use in the front part of my house. It consist of a fish tank about 6 ft long with a depth of about 1 ft. Three growth column each with rock or other material as growth media with holes cut out for plants and a water fountain on the top. Normal aquarium pump will do, but this can be an ideal candidate for an airlift pump experiments.

Its more or less same as those strawberry tower, with slight alteration for my locality. This can be a decorative piece too, since it going to be located in the front, at the back of the house I may try multiple mini growbeds with one master siphon.

Okay, just an idea that I had. Now where is this kid that I suppose to check out.

Renovation Completed

Thank God finally my house renovation completed, well 99% complete just one last item to be install the vent fan for downstairs shower.
Kitchen is wife choice, make her happy then everything else is good and fine and better and .. all the ands you know what I mean.


One of the two rooms renovated. This one is Amir's, he wanted Ben 10 color. Can't get a Ben 10 shade, we settle for a Donald and Goofy instead.


House still in a mess, its cleaning up time. Now I can plan my next Aquaponics set.

Hard Media Planting Tool

Some one asked me about this, but I can't locate the youtube video nor posting about it. Age is catching up its so forgetful of me, I did a quickie and here it is.

Update : Manage to find it : Here

Nothing special, take a piece of PVC tube about 4 ~ 6 inches long cut a tapper on one end and make a slit right along its length to hold the seedling.
Above how I insert or hold the seedling and use the tool to protect it and push everything into the hard media. That's it, I use it for tomatoes where its soft and fragile. This "seedling" above is hardly a seedling its from the bush nearby.

Borneo Revisited

Dinner at an isolated hotel. (@ Sabah Oriental Hotel, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah) [pic]: http://4sq.com/MypVEZ


Home Kit - Surviving

Update 23rd August 2014 check : Here

Renovation on my place makes it necessary to give away the home kit , here where its at and the person caring for it still need more experience hence I recommend yam as it is one of the easiest to grow.
These are Tilapia from my concrete tank, I am saving it for my future Aquaponics setup.
I can't wait to start, its been so long without.

Siphon Inlet Combi

OK call me crazy, I always wanted to try something like this. Its more for small scale application where water feed is using a small inlet piping.
Its only on the drawing board now, but I make one soon. Since I don't have the luxury of ample space I'll need to think on the smaller end of the Aquaponics Spectrum.

It's taken too long

House renovation work taken longer than I anticipated, the builder seem like taking his sweet time for the work. Basic work cost me 30k USD and with another 10k for kitchen cabinets and appliances. 


Apologise to all reader of this blog for not posting for a very long time. I want to set up a small scale aquaponics system once all work completed on my house but now its already end of May and nerve wrecking for me with all this construction going on.

Red Tilapia

Red Tilapia is a not a particular species of Tilapia but its name given to different man made Tilapia variants that is red in color. These variants are done by selective breeding, due to their popularity in certain markets.



Like any Tilapia, they reach marketable size around 500 ~ 750 grammes in about 6 ~ 8 months from fry. High protein feed will result in faster growth.



Tilapia will reach sexual maturity about 4 ~ 5 months, however its best not to let them breed until they reach around 500 grammes in weight. Too early will result in stunted fish or weak fry.



Genital papilla of Tilapia is located right behind the anus of the fish. 



Male has one single opening and female has two openings.



Need to practice to get it right, also using food colouring smearing the genitalia area do help in getting better identification.




Above Tilapia fry after removing from parents mouth. Its easy to breed Tilapia all you need are one male and few females kept in a tank after about 2 to 3 months you sure gonna have plenty of fry.




Few weeks old Tilapia fingerling above, feed them with rice bran and crushed fish pallets.



Frenzy feeding once they are large and hungry.




Tarakan Indonesia

Its my legal birthday on 9th Feb I am stuck here in Tarakan Island of the coast of Borneo.
Send there via Tawau Sabah Jetty (4.244453,117.878194) to conduct a class on ATR 72-500 Aircraft Familiarization.
 Its a small ferry took more than 3 hours to reach.
Interesting place but I only stayed there for 2 days, hardly can do much.



Stayed at Tarakan Plaza Hotel (3.303594,117.585305) its a clean hotel, but not much fun there.