A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Solids removal /bio filter in Friendly AP system

I'm a newbe, so forgive me if there is an obvious answer to this, but is there a reason the Friendly AP systems (say, the 64/128) don't have any solids removal or biofilter? Or maybe they do and I don't know enough to know it's there.

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Sahib Punjabi on December 9, 2011 at 10:23am

Hello fbiwaterman,

I believe it is all related to fishing density that you stock and the number of plants grown. This should be explained in their Manual.

God bless

Permalink Reply by Brian Thiesing on December 9, 2011 at 3:13pm

We have the 128 system and have since added a clarifier and biofilter. The fish are much happier because they aren't swimming in their own waste and no more issues with ammonia. The plants are also thriving!

Permalink Reply by Mike Pollard on December 10, 2011 at 6:13pm

Thanks Brian,

can you make a recommendation as to what you used for these?

Thanks again,

Mike

Brian Thiesing said:

We have the 128 system and have since added a clarifier and biofilter. The fish are much happier because they aren't swimming in their own waste and no more issues with ammonia. The plants are also thriving!

Permalink Reply by Paul Trudeau on March 19, 2012 at 6:21am

Before seeing this discussion, yesterday I emailed Susanne Friend essentially the very same question. FYI, she says "it works better, it's cheaper to build, and it's far less expensive to operate."

Permalink Reply by Vlad Jovanovic on March 19, 2012 at 7:27am

This doesn't really seem all that expensive nor difficult to build...

http://www.ecofilms.com.au/2010/08/20/diy-swirl-filter-for-aquaponics/

Permalink Reply by Kate Mink on April 9, 2012 at 5:10pm

For a small, low-flow system you really don't need one. Remember that the bacteria and other organisms (Gammarus water fleas) do a lot of processing. Some material settles harmlessly to the bottom of the troughs, you clean it out every few years.

Permalink Reply by Brian McCormick on April 12, 2012 at 1:51pm

Mike- If you do not use a clarifier, then you are going to have more solids in your plant trough meaning a higher oxygen demand there. That will lower the amount of oxygen for your plants, as will using the plant trough as your only biofilter. so you will have to add more aeration to your plant troughs. i agree with Kate, it all depends on your size but I would expect the plants to grow slower without a clarifier and biofilter becuase the lack of dissolved oxygen available to them in the water.

Permalink Reply by Matthew Mireles on April 18, 2012 at 12:21am

Brian, can you elaborate on where you placed the clarifier and biofilter? Also, what particular equipment you purchased or designed. I have minimized the Friendly 64 to about half size for my small back patio. Brian, if I sent you some photos could you give a newby your opinion on integration of a biofilter and clarifier? Thank you so much!

Brian Thiesing said:

We have the 128 system and have since added a clarifier and biofilter. The fish are much happier because they aren't swimming in their own waste and no more issues with ammonia. The plants are also thriving!

Permalink Reply by Nigel Clement on April 18, 2012 at 7:20pm

Mike,

I started with a Friendly 64, expanded it to a 128 without any filtration but that was because I was running a low load of fish. I have since increased the load and had to immediately build a solid settling tank which is working well so far. It comes down to your biomass of fish. Once you go above a certain ratio of fish to growing troughs you must have components to deal with solid filtration, a point which has been made by previous contributors.

Permalink Reply by Jim Fisk on February 12, 2013 at 7:57am

I am about to add 5 more gbs to my system and would like to make some (ibcs) rafts as I tried last Summer. Without a solids filter the roots, after a great start, rotted. I need a solids removal filter and would love some plans posted here. The Ecofilms build strikes me as a bad design as it has an inlet pipe that WILL clog eventually without a heavy flow to keep it clear. Anyone out there with some good drawings for their proven design? Details please. Here is a pic of my ibc raft conversion. I simply replace the bell siphon with a drain in the corner. Works great but I need that solids trap. I keep all plumbing in my system flowing down hill. That up pipe strikes me as all wrong.