HYDROTON IN KITSAP COUNTY - Aquaponic Gardening2024-03-29T06:12:36Zhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/forum/topics/hydroton-in-kitsap-county?groupUrl=northwestaquaponics&commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A548042&groupId=4778851%3AGroup%3A20675&feed=yes&xn_auth=nohttp://www.theaquaponicstore.…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-14:4778851:Comment:5480422014-02-14T21:15:05.563ZLloyd Boothhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/LloydBooth
<p><a href="http://www.theaquaponicstore.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=13&search=kits&show=9&page=2" target="_blank">http://www.theaquaponicstore.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=13&search=kits&show=9&page=2</a></p>
<p>>.. <strong>How I got there:</strong> I went to the top of this page > clicked "Shop" > then on the shop's home page clicked "Search" >searched for "starter kits" but that did not give good results. Went back to Search…</p>
<p><a href="http://www.theaquaponicstore.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=13&search=kits&show=9&page=2" target="_blank">http://www.theaquaponicstore.com/SearchResults.asp?searching=Y&sort=13&search=kits&show=9&page=2</a></p>
<p>>.. <strong>How I got there:</strong> I went to the top of this page > clicked "Shop" > then on the shop's home page clicked "Search" >searched for "starter kits" but that did not give good results. Went back to Search and simplified the search to "kits" and on the 2nd page of 13 I found the starter kits, you're looking for.</p>
<p>>.. The smallest kit is the one for you (<100 gals ). It would also work on a 5000 gallon one, just take longer.</p>
<p>>.. Sorry I was delayed in answering, I have several sleep problems and they give me odd hours some days.</p> Everything takes fine tuning.…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-13:4778851:Comment:5476832014-02-13T14:11:47.212ZJeremy Cookhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JeremyCook
<p>Everything takes fine tuning... Can you please send me the link to the starter system that AP Source has?</p>
<p>Everything takes fine tuning... Can you please send me the link to the starter system that AP Source has?</p> >.. Well it isn't as hard…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5470882014-02-11T20:42:56.454ZLloyd Boothhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/LloydBooth
<p>>.. Well it isn't as hard as submarines, but it will take day to day monitoring at first. Once the system stabilizes and the testing hits it's norm (2 weeks to a month), then you will have a less of a need for daily monitoring. Of course by then you'll have some plants popping up that you'll want to admire and show off (and they taste good)!</p>
<p>>.. Have you thought about the starter system that AP Source has? It worked a treat for me! It's in the shop here on the site. It basically…</p>
<p>>.. Well it isn't as hard as submarines, but it will take day to day monitoring at first. Once the system stabilizes and the testing hits it's norm (2 weeks to a month), then you will have a less of a need for daily monitoring. Of course by then you'll have some plants popping up that you'll want to admire and show off (and they taste good)!</p>
<p>>.. Have you thought about the starter system that AP Source has? It worked a treat for me! It's in the shop here on the site. It basically gives a jump start on getting the bacterial system up to break down ammonia to nitrites then to nitrates which the plants need to grow. Once the Nitrates are stable then you can back away from worrying about your system, as much.</p> Thank you very much for the c…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5471852014-02-11T20:29:52.438ZJeremy Cookhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JeremyCook
Thank you very much for the compliment!!! I don't take them well so please bare with me :)<br />
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Ironically, I have a vast knowledge of systems. Working on submarines I deal with pottable water, reverse osmosis, trim & drain, lube oil, feed water, steam plant, etc. etc. etc. I've been doing this for a decade but never really was able to find any real application outside of work and basic plumbing till now. I absolutely love the though of a completely self sustaining eco-system that produces…
Thank you very much for the compliment!!! I don't take them well so please bare with me :)<br />
<br />
Ironically, I have a vast knowledge of systems. Working on submarines I deal with pottable water, reverse osmosis, trim & drain, lube oil, feed water, steam plant, etc. etc. etc. I've been doing this for a decade but never really was able to find any real application outside of work and basic plumbing till now. I absolutely love the though of a completely self sustaining eco-system that produces volumes of food and plants without all the thorns and thistles. >.. Time to fill and time…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5472702014-02-11T19:12:27.947ZLloyd Boothhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/LloydBooth
<p>>.. Time to fill and time to aerate are pretty variable. The old Romans used slaves to fill their tanks 3-4 times a day and did well. Modern manuals on Hydroponics say you can do it every six hours (flood and drain). I am not certain of the BEST times. Mine, like Linda's, cycle every 20-25 minutes and I have three growbeds. I try to keep them separated so they dump their water individually. But they system is calculated to allow all three dumping at once. Sump tank greater than the fish…</p>
<p>>.. Time to fill and time to aerate are pretty variable. The old Romans used slaves to fill their tanks 3-4 times a day and did well. Modern manuals on Hydroponics say you can do it every six hours (flood and drain). I am not certain of the BEST times. Mine, like Linda's, cycle every 20-25 minutes and I have three growbeds. I try to keep them separated so they dump their water individually. But they system is calculated to allow all three dumping at once. Sump tank greater than the fish tank.</p>
<p>>.. I agree with Linda to have a somewhat faster cycle time; then, you can slow it down and see what works for the fish and the plants.</p>
<p>This is getting exciting; keep up the good work!</p> >.. You are very ambitious…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5472692014-02-11T18:58:24.704ZLloyd Boothhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/LloydBooth
<p>>.. You are very ambitious for the first aquaponist. Most of my work was of the practical variety. No plumbing experience and little in the way of calculating anything. I even put my tanks in wrong the first time and they were buried in the ground! Fixing that was a lot of work!</p>
<p>>.. I would still prefer that you avoid anything complex until you've got the system working. I'm certain you have it all worked out in your head, and it appears to be a good head indeed! But my…</p>
<p>>.. You are very ambitious for the first aquaponist. Most of my work was of the practical variety. No plumbing experience and little in the way of calculating anything. I even put my tanks in wrong the first time and they were buried in the ground! Fixing that was a lot of work!</p>
<p>>.. I would still prefer that you avoid anything complex until you've got the system working. I'm certain you have it all worked out in your head, and it appears to be a good head indeed! But my experience has shown me that sometimes it can be difficult to get the system just the way you want the first time.</p>
<p>>.. On the other hand, starting with a 1 gallon per minute pump is beginning to sound pretty practical as you will have 75 gallons to fill (half of the total volume, I'm guessing). But as you lower the surface to growbed height, you may easily reduce that to much closer to what you want.</p>
<p>>.. By the way, how big is that fish tank? If it's not well over 100 gallons, you may want to think about a sump tank to handle the volume of water needed. Fish don't like have their swimming volume affected much. As in water from the grow beds goes into the fish tank (always fresh) overflows into the sump and is pumped into the growbeds.</p>
<p>>.. Also the length and the partial filling of the lines with fish waste, (and if not light-tight, algae can grow in them, too), will also slow the volume over time. That why we don't glue our PVC pipes, because we are going to clean them every few months.</p>
<p>>.. You are doing GREAT, and I am excited for you.</p>
Perhaps I misunderstood. Ll…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5473222014-02-11T18:52:02.684ZJeremy Cookhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JeremyCook
<p> </p>
<p>Perhaps I misunderstood. Lloyd stated "You will want to have the growbed fill in less than six hours, but the drainage will probably take about one minute."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is why I asked "What is the optimal time to fill the bed?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Linda, you would suggest an hour or less? All I was stating before is that I can change the flow rate to determine how long I want the beds to take to fill up by simply using a little math and some physics. I really don't know what…</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Perhaps I misunderstood. Lloyd stated "You will want to have the growbed fill in less than six hours, but the drainage will probably take about one minute."</p>
<p> </p>
<p>This is why I asked "What is the optimal time to fill the bed?"</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Linda, you would suggest an hour or less? All I was stating before is that I can change the flow rate to determine how long I want the beds to take to fill up by simply using a little math and some physics. I really don't know what the optimal time to fill the beds is.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>My brother uses a halo bucket system which trickles around his plants. This is excellent for tomatoes and peppers. This feeds and waters his plants regularly but also leaves the roots completely airated all the time promoting excellent root growth. Unfortunately, it is required to have a positive pressure in the bucket to force the liquid from the bucket into the straw that is attached to the halo and I cannot do that on a flood & drain system.</p> Why would you want ot take 6…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5471722014-02-11T18:31:27.370ZLinda Loganhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/LindaLogan
<p><br></br> Why would you want ot take 6 hours to fill your table? If you ask around or read some more I think most would fill their table in an hour or less. <br></br> <cite>Jeremy Cook said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/hydroton-in-kitsap-county?groupUrl=northwestaquaponics&commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A546892&xg_source=msg_com_gr_forum#4778851Comment547160"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p> </p>
<p>Oh wow!!! Completely understood…</p>
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<p><br/> Why would you want ot take 6 hours to fill your table? If you ask around or read some more I think most would fill their table in an hour or less. <br/> <cite>Jeremy Cook said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/hydroton-in-kitsap-county?groupUrl=northwestaquaponics&commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A546892&xg_source=msg_com_gr_forum#4778851Comment547160"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p> </p>
<p>Oh wow!!! Completely understood now. When you say slowly you REALLY mean slowly. I definitely have some calculations to do to determine what my water volume will be with medium in place to determine what the input flow rate needs to be to fill my table in 6 hours. Knowing this I will need to add a throttle valve to control the volume flow to my table. What is the optimal time to fill the bed?</p>
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</blockquote> I was thinking about getting…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5472572014-02-11T17:55:39.649ZJeremy Cookhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JeremyCook
<p>I was thinking about getting a 1 gallon container, filling it full of wetted medium, then filling it full of water. To follow, extract all the water I can to determine a good estimate for the ratio per gallon. I know each bed is 6' (72") x 4' (48") x 6". This means one table is 20,736 cubic inches or just under 75 gallons. By multiplying the ratio determined by the 1 gallon container I can figure out the over all volume of water that will be drawn from my tank/pond. A volume flow rate can be…</p>
<p>I was thinking about getting a 1 gallon container, filling it full of wetted medium, then filling it full of water. To follow, extract all the water I can to determine a good estimate for the ratio per gallon. I know each bed is 6' (72") x 4' (48") x 6". This means one table is 20,736 cubic inches or just under 75 gallons. By multiplying the ratio determined by the 1 gallon container I can figure out the over all volume of water that will be drawn from my tank/pond. A volume flow rate can be determined by dividing the volume displaced by the time it takes to displace it. Provided that 6 hours is the optimal time then once I determine the volume displaced I will know my volume flow rate.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>I totally get what you are saying about the height change manipulating the velocity. I can do this with my temporary tank initially. There is also a change in velocity when changing the overall distance that the fluid is required to travel (which should be taken into consideration). And, my pond will be stationary at ground level in the long run so adjusting the height WILL work initially. And by installing a flow restriction device, my biggest concern would be leaky fittings (and I'm a marine pipefitter by trade so I can solve that one very easily). Your thoughts?</p> >.. I would just start wit…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-02-11:4778851:Comment:5470812014-02-11T17:29:15.215ZLloyd Boothhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/LloydBooth
<p>>.. I would just start with a small aquarium pump that will just lift the height required. Use the surface of the water (in the aquarium) at the growbed filled-full level as your lifting surface level. If you set it up so one bed is almost full and the other is only beginning then your surface level would be higher. I don't think you want a flow restrictor on it until you have some idea about how fast the little pump can fill the growbeds.</p>
<p>>.. Have you calculated the volume of…</p>
<p>>.. I would just start with a small aquarium pump that will just lift the height required. Use the surface of the water (in the aquarium) at the growbed filled-full level as your lifting surface level. If you set it up so one bed is almost full and the other is only beginning then your surface level would be higher. I don't think you want a flow restrictor on it until you have some idea about how fast the little pump can fill the growbeds.</p>
<p>>.. Have you calculated the volume of your growbeds? if so, gravel will fill from 40 to 60% of that volume. For practice in calculations, I would do 50%. There's lots of practical things that can make a difference. Say you get a pump that will lift one gallon a minute, that's 60 gallons an hour. Probably more than you want. But if you drop the level of the aquarium a bit you can slow the lift to maybe half or a quarter of that. A little more drop may make the pump, barely able to get water out. This is the practical part of plumbing for Aquaponics that they don't teach you in plumbing school, as you are usually working to design specs in the real world.</p>
<p>>.. As to timing of full and emptying cycles, don't be wedded to a number. Anything equal to 20 minutes or more is safe for fish and plants. If you can get longer cycles with your small growbeds then lots of others will want to know more, including me. Don't be trying for a set point yet; just make your system work. THEN fiddle with it. The simpler your actual plumbing, the easier it is to modify. I'm certain you will modify it several times before you are satisfied. We all sure have!</p>
<p>>.. Keep those questions coming!</p>