Aquaponic Gardening

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I was wondering if anyone would be willing to educate me on your personal filtration setups. I currently am building a swirl type filter and was wondering if there was anything else that I could add to reduce the amounts of solids building in my plumbing

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I'm a big fan of the Radial Flow Filter, mostly because it is super easy to build and seems to work.

Here's a description: http://www.ecofilms.com.au/diy-radial-flow-filter-for-aquaponics/

I based my design off the one found at http://www.earthangroup.com.au/ but their site is down at the moment.

There's more photos of my filter here: http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/photo/photo/listForContribu...

And a video from one of my favourite YouTube aquapons: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVzNcU8EnwU

very nice. i built one similar but with a 55 gal barrel. i hope it works

perhaps you need to fix your plumbing? im not sure I understand what the problem is with out a bit more information, but if your having solid build up in your plumbing, there must be something wrong with the plumbing layout. too many turns.. too much up and down, etc. is what causes these issues. im not sure that spending the time and money on more plumbing is the answer.

a properly designed, and stocked, media based system(with red wriggler worms) should not have clogging issues what so ever. please elaborate on the system design, maybe post a picture, and try to explain where your having plumbing issues, so that perhaps we could diagnose the real problem, and save you some effort.

beyond that... I prefer a cone bottomed, "separator"

@Andrew Coscia - My system is constantly evolving. Presently I pump (15 on/45 off) from the top 12" inches of my FT to my grow beds (raft & media) which drain to the sump. The sump has a drain about 1 inch above the bottom, which drains to my main pump housing. While water from the grow beds is in the sump, precipitation take most of the particulates to the bottom, where they are harvested as needed to support my worm beds. The water going from the sump to the main pump runs 24 & 7 through a filter housing then back to the FT. The filter housing has a parallel line with a valve to bypass the filter housing to manage flow if the filter is near saturation. The filter housing presently has a cartridge filter which captures any remaining particulates as the water returns to the FT.

I am using a Hayward C-225 Micro-Star Clear Filter, which has 25 square ft element. other options are 12 and 20 square foot cartridges.

This configuration has gone through one cycle (I cleaned the cartridge once.) resulting in very little tubidity in my 1500 gallon system..My main FT is 26 inches deep and I can clearly observe the Tilapia on the bottom, whereas before this cartridge final stage was added the water was clear enough to see my red comets but not the tilapia.

Im sorry i dont have any pictures yet. i'll try taking some tomarrow. I dont currently have a problem with solid waste build up. long story short... all my fish and plants died with exception to my 12 goldfish while I was gone over christmas/new years (sorry Jim, i'll have to come get more tilapia from you). so since i'm starting over with exception of cycling my system, I'm taking this as an opportunity to "fine tune" my system. I have one pump constantly running, siphon drain, 3'x8'x13" media bed with red wriggler worms, and a 3 tier NFT sort of thing. since my catastrophe i have up sized the pipes in my system. My suction line was 1" now it's 1 1/4".return line from pump used to be 1" as well, it got bumped up to 1 1/2" to feed my "swirl" filter with a cone bottom. from there it is running laterally to feed my media bed/nft lines. there are a total of four 90 degree fittings and two 45 degree fittings.if this is where my problem lies maybe i can heat bend my plumbing like i do on my swimming pools. i'll try to get some pictures posted tomarrow. i have to clean up my tools and materials.I'm more than a little embarassed at the way my system looks. 

@Andrew Coscia

My gut reaction to your description is that you may be over-thinking everything.  For long enough I didn't have any filtration other than the gravel grow bed.  The water was crystal clear and all was good.

The main reason I added the radial flow filter was because I added a deep water culture (DWC) bed and general consensus is that the cleaner the water going to the DWC the better it is for the plants roots.  

I would be very curious to see the photos of your system.   Aquaponics isn't all that difficult, as long as the limits aren't pushed.  Get too close to the bleeding edge and things can go pear-shaped very quickly.  e.g. Trying to keep sub-tropical tilapia alive in 50F water.

I'm with Rob... If you over size your plumbing in compsrison to the water flow rate then you will have solids settle out in the pipe. If you correctly size the pipe, biofilm is the only thing that will accumulate.
I might be over thinking. My water has always been crystal clear. I was just curious to see how the rest of the group is filtering their system. I was planning on adding a dwc to my system. And the bio film is very likely what I used to see before I did the re plumbing. I have a feeling that I'm trying to build the perfect machine and falling short. I will try to post some pics tonight. Problem is I leave home when it's dark and get home when it's dark. Thanks guys. By the way..my wife read my reply and told me I'm rude. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off that way
I appreciate all the feedback I can get.

How did your fish die? I've done everything wrong and fortunately my Tilapia are still alive and reproducing. My system is an IBC with a drain and  fill GB.


 
Andrew Coscia said:

I appreciate all the feedback I can get.
Andrew, that's funny, my wife says I sound like a Dick on my forum posts too!
its not intentional.. I promise, Im only trying to be helpful and often trying to reply while having lunch etc. and keep it short and sweet, but seams to come across as cocky or just generally bitchy.. To all of us...its a forum.. don't take it or make it personal, and its all good!! ;-)
I love this forum and all its members.. keep it rolling!!

I've found you nothing but helpful Rob.

My version of the NashBlaster is working like a charm.

Cheers,

John


Rob Nash said:

Andrew, that's funny, my wife says I sound like a Dick on my forum posts too!
its not intentional.. I promise, Im only trying to be helpful and often trying to reply while having lunch etc. and keep it short and sweet, but seams to come across as cocky or just generally bitchy.. To all of us...its a forum.. don't take it or make it personal, and its all good!! ;-)
I love this forum and all its members.. keep it rolling!!

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