Comment

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 2:33pm

@ Chris I believe that Mark attended one of Friendly's trainings in Hawaii and that is probably where he got the idea from. It really is a small world and getting smaller with the internet. I will call you to arrange for pick-up.

@John I think you are headed in the right direction with that food valve

Comment by John Malone on March 13, 2012 at 2:25pm

OK here's a thought regarding float valves in dirty water, such as aquaponics.

It's called a flood valve.  Install it in a pipe pointing down in to the fish tank and 'Voila!' you've got an industrial strength float switch.

Comments are very welcome.  Designing in the public square here!

Comment by Chris George on March 13, 2012 at 2:13pm

As a footnote...Mark at RhibaFarms talked about switching to a white liner for their commercial system....white just makes loads of sense here in our abundant sunshine.  I think it might be the ticket for a long duckweed run too! 

Comment by Chris George on March 13, 2012 at 2:09pm

@Kent  Thanks for the reply.  Sold!  I live in Scottsdale...I can drive to Goodyear if that is best for you, but I'm always in Tempe and/or Mesa.  Give me a call and we can figure out an exchange point.  Thanks!  480-250-1780

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 1:16pm

Chris - I paid $145 for a 6' by 50' roll and shipping was included. Not sure if you looked at the link but this material is marketed for use in aquaponics and hydroponics systems. I found this company's information from friendly aquaponics who uses this material in their grow beds and they are a certified organic grower. As far as I can tell this is the safest material we could use.

I built 2 8' grow beds so with the excess I had to trim off at the ends I'm certain that there is at least 25' left over or enough to do 2 more 8' grow beds. If I could get $70 and arrange for a pick up in either Goodyear or Tempe/Mesa I'd be a happy camper.

Comment by John Malone on March 13, 2012 at 12:45pm

Kent - I pondered the idea of a float valve between the raised sump(s) and fish tank.  My main concern is that of the valve blocking as you mentioned.  It still bears some consideration though.  I'll noodle it some more.

As far as scrap lumber goes, I built most of my system from scraps.  You are right about the construction sites throwing away good materials.  Back in the housing boom I built a lot of furniture out of wood I got from dump masters.  It's a bit harder to find construction sites these days, with a lot less construction being done.

Office Desk  Side Tables  Step Stool  

Comment by Jacques L. on March 13, 2012 at 12:40pm

@Sherri

Yes, it is a big system, but I plan on using it to supplement our income. I also plan to share a bit with our neighbors 

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 12:35pm

Sherri, you are right to use recycled materials when possible and even though you don't see it I found a significant amount of scrap lumber to build my grow beds. I wish I had started to accumulate materials earlier as I think I could have done most of the build out of it. Problem was I'm sort of a design as you build guy so I didn't have a complete list of necessary materials ahead of time.

Check local construction sites, you would be shocked what they throw in the dumpster. If you really want to score talk to the foremen and cut him a deal to buy left overs and a cheap price. Most of the times leftover lumber gets tossed because its a pain to move it in small lot.

Comment by Kent Biswanger on March 13, 2012 at 12:24pm

@ John

Thanks for the compliments, I am learning like everyone else here and I hope you all learn from me as well. BTY I also insulated my beds before I skinned them.

You are correct that in your design the sump needs to flow into the fish tank and water must be pumped up to your grow beds. Your drawing below would allow for sump expansion as grow beds are added and would give you the necessary water to make sure the sump always has a surplus. I don't think its necessary to burry your sumps, just raise you grow beds high enough to fit them underneath.

I think Sheri has the right idea with a float shut off valve. If you connected a return line from the sumps to the fish tank and had a float valve on the end then gravity would deliver enough pressure to return water to the tank when the float valve is open. 

The risk you run with this would be if the float ever clogged up you would have a serious system back up. This could be solved in one of two ways 1) install a overflow in your sump that flows into the fish tank so it can't completely drain and your sump won't overflow or 2) install a float shut off that turns the pump off if the water drops below a certain level.

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 13, 2012 at 12:21pm

Bob, great work on the siphon!

Kent, we talked about building a lined tank like you and John have done, but one of our self-imposed challenges is we want to build with re-purposed/low cost materials as much as possible. This is because 1. we're cheap, and 2. we want to show others what can be done for very little. Oh, and 3. it will be fun to learn how to weld plastic. :) But we may change our minds once we get to building the 4x8, so we'll keep your liner in mind. Sharing costs is a good thing!

Wise move on the smaller bed. Moving the AC is a sign of an obsession gone wild. It may be true, but you don't want it to be that obvious! LOL!

I've been playing with an idea of pumping from the sump. It's a Sunk Sump Pump System. (Dr. Seuss, step aside!) It would maintain a constant height in the tank, and like John's, it would require a buried sump, but it takes less sf surface area. In fact, I've spent my work time today drawing out Team JJ's idea and the SSP system to try to find flaws. I'll post images later after my co-engineer reviews the work.

We're moving from shallow (6') beds w/pre-filters to 12" beds in order to be able to benefit from the solids. Our experience (it may be different than others) is that the solids muck up the shallow systems, so we've been pre-filtering. But since we're taking the opportunity to expand, our rebuild will use the growbeds for filtering.

Jacques, do you have a lot of teenage boys, or are you planning to feed the world with your system?  :^D 

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