Redoing my back-lane Aquaponics Set

The back lane set already few years old and it shows sign of rusting on its rack, apart from that the fish tanks was from my early aquaponics days and its about time for an upgrade.

I want it to be more compact and easier to make and maintain. So the fish tank need to be replace and those gutters shortened making it compact and suitable for average Malaysian homes.

The tank I am using is the 5 x 2.5 x 2 ft fibreglass this the biggest I can transport in my SUV thus saving on transport charges. Water volume is roughly double the existing tank so one of these tank should be sufficient to have a household productive aquaponics set.

Initially the set was assembled in the front part of the house and later after it's all done and tested I'll move it to the back.

I use PVC racking, unfortunately it bends maybe due to the size of tube use. It's too small at 20 mm, should have gone for the 25mm or larger. Well that's the price I have to pay for making prototype sets.

Once done I then reassemble the set to the back and after testing it for a few days, I decide to replace the racking with iron rack salvage from the old set. Paint it up the rusted parts, well I ran out of paint too. So this will do.

The PVC racking, replaced and all is not loss, I may turn it into a shoe rack or something.

I combi the unit with one older set but have the gutter replace it with a traditional growbed on top of fish tank. The racking for it I use PVC so that it can stand within the fish tank and not rusting away. Again I should have use a bigger pipes for it, 20mm just don't cut it.

All done, another tank of the bigger type should do nice in this setting. But that should wait until the kailan ready for picking.

Today Titbits 12 July 2015

What's happening today on my aquaponics sets.

Gutter growbed siphon tweak completed, this is necessary due I need more water circulation, aeration and noise reduction in the system. The outlet tweak to get the most from my 15 mm StrainerBell siphon.

Both the growbed having higher inflow so the outflow has to be able to accommodate the extra water flow.

Few Pacu fish has adapted to their surroundings.

Yesterdays they were hiding at one corner of the fish tank, they are more at ease today and I can start feeding them now. These few fish are for cycling the system and I'll gradually add more fish over the next two months period.

Planted simple buffer plants from cuttings, to get the growbed going. These plants will be difficult initially since the system is still cycling. Those in the brown pots are the parent plants in the gutter for watering.

Plant few more cuttings at the back lane single barrel set, these too for the gutter sets. Some cuttings may not survive the initial planting.

Finally few cili are ready for picking

These are the cili bara variety and they are best eaten raw.

I can do with more plants, will get more seedling from the nursery end of the month.

Nothing much happening.

Cheers :)

Backlane Sets Update

Backlane Sets Update

Cheers

Ornamental Set Update

Brief update on my Ornamental Set that previously placed all over the front yard.


Cheers

Gutter Growbed Pots Levelling

The gutter growbed that I finished making last weekend has one problem, the pots didn't fit properly due the contour of the gutter is not uniform in its shape. Pots will tumble since it doesn't have a stable flat bottom to rest.

I was contemplating to use a 4x4 tile making a stable platform for the pots, however this may be heavy, expensive and displaces water volume.

After much trial, I figure that round tubes that I use for plants support is of right diameter to get the correct height and if I lay them side by side in the gutter they will make a raised platform for pots to sit.

It work ! Five tubes can be place in the gutter making a raised platform and the pots is stable on it. Since it's a hollow tube, it doesn't displace much water volume and light in weight. I could drill holes making it even lighter and helps water circulation at the same time.

These tube were from my staking sets, I'll need to buy new ones and cut to correct length.

There you go, a very cheap and simple solution for a problem that I was facing ever since contemplating to make this set.

Cheers.

Testing New Pump For The Ornamental Set

Few types of pump tested on the ornamental set ranging from Alpha 1000, Alpha 500 and the Venusaqua E3302. Since I am trying to use the smallest siphon for the Ornamental set the Alpha 1000 and Venusaqua pump were not suitable due to the large flow rate.

The Alpha 500 works with the small siphon (15mm) but this pump construction make its maintenance high. The rotor is held by a shaft anchored at one end leaving the other unsupported and it is prone to cavitation. However it has been tested for almost eight month and still running. It only requires constant up keeping.

Test a different pump today a Sunsun HJ-600, an 8 watt pump with a flow rate of 600 Liter per hour maximum at zero head.

List of pump parts below.

The HJ-600 Specification.

The HJ-600 output verses height.

This pump has a front dial to adjust output. It does work, on my ornamental set with 15mm siphon I set it to slightly above the minus mark.

Side view, this pump is in 3 section, the front is the intake with the grille and flow adjuster. The mid section where the pump impeller vane and the front spindle support, with the back part house the motor coil and the permanent magnet rotor.

On the body it is rated at 10watt, oh well.. and the height max is 1.5 m, not bad for a small pump.

The other side of the pump.

Mid section after the grille removed.

The front part where the grille and flow adjuster.

To remove the mid section, quarter turn it anti-clockwise and it it detach from the body.

Exposing the impeller and rotor.

The impeller is different from Alpha series where this design reminds me of turtle climbing from a hole.

Shaft is stainless steel, to small for a ceramic but it is significantly larger that anything in its class. With larger spindle shaft pump will last longer.

Rotor removed exposing the housing which has a hols ad the beck for the shaft pivot point.

The back with hold for the shock mount rubber. This design should makes it easier to clean the mousing since we can have a water path right through.

All the attachment came with the pump, not in picture is a filler sponge.

Pump assembled, ready for installation.

What's left not required for operation.

In the water and will be tested for few months under actual aquaponics setup.

First flush.

Water in rate as at slightly above the minus sign and only after prolong use I will know how good is this pump for this set.

There you go,

Ornamental Regrow

Last month I redo the ornamental set then plant Pegaga Gajah or Java pennywort as a simple plants to start with.

It starting to colonize the small growbed and show good growth.

After the other beds had stabilized putting pepper plant on this smaller unit for trial.

Two variety one is the Cili Padi kampung or Capsicum annuum 'Bird's Eye'

The next variety is the Indonesian Cili Bara.

Pepper plant are sensitive to water and they may suffer if the drainage is not correctly control. Will post the progress of this trial.