Hai, Nagaraj from India

[Nagaraj]

After much spadework, I have planned to kick start my venture in AP with a trial system of 50 gallons or 200 liters barrel. Now I want to know the following details.

what should be the size of the pipes which are to be connected,

what should be my motor capacity,

shall i go with timed flow of circulation,

Is it possible for the system to be without water circulation for a few hours (maybe 2-3 hours) in case of power failure.

 

These are the queries I need to clarify right now to help me start.

 

Kindly advice.

 

Regards

Nagaraj

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Naqgaraj,
Maybe you missed it but i did upload the file for you on your last posting.This gives details on construction of a 50 gallon AP system. In case of power failure for a few hours you can purchase a small battery powered air pump, i have one that runs for up to 8 hours on 2 small batteries, or get a small 12 Volt inverter which can be used with your car battery

[Jeremy Day]

Heya Nagaraj,

 

I've just completed my barrel system that is probably close to what Harold sent ya.  I have tweaked the flow to the point it floods every 15 minutes.  Its the Travis Hughey design where it fills the flood bucket and floods when the water is high enough.  Great system as you get a little bit of the hydroponics at the to with a media fill at the bottom.  I haven't cycled mine as of yet as I have to disassemble it for a demonstration this weekend.  The battery backup in India from what I hear is a very important feature.  I work with several Indian docs that talk about the power grid in that country and how it is normal to be without power once or twice a week for a few hours.  This works well for you as your system doesn't require a huge amount of water cycling.  A small 12 volt pump with 100-200 gph would be more then suffice for your barrel system.  As for the pump that you need?  From my understanding if it is the same system I have, you have a volume of water in the fish barrel, the flood tank, and the float tank.  I estimated that the total volume was roughly 70 gallons.  I went with a pump that pushes 400gph, but at the lift of 6ft it turns out to only pump around 90gallons per hour.  It was the best i could find that was close to my system gallons. 

[Mike Konshak]

I just built an AP system with a 55 gal grow bed and a 250 gal fish tank. My 550gph pump is running at half volume as I have the output split in half, one to the grow bed and the other back to the tank for airation. This made the loop siphon work the best. it a 3/4 pvc feed and a 1" drain. The grow bed is full of 200L of Hydroton. Right now it takes about 9 minutes to fill and 4 minutes to drain with the pump running all the time. Question: What is the best frequency of fill and drain for a media based AP system?

[Harold Sukhbir]

Hi Mike,
Ap by nature is very flexible with it's draining times and these are mostly dictated by the crop you choose to grow. For example, lettuce does better with longer exposure to water while tomatoes prefer dry periods in between the F&D cycle. However, I'm presently running a 7-8 minute cycle and all plants are growing well. Here's a link to some more on the discussion.
http://aquaponicscommunity.com/forum/topics/draining-time

Mike Konshak said:

I just built an AP system with a 55 gal grow bed and a 250 gal fish tank. My 550gph pump is running at half volume as I have the output split in half, one to the grow bed and the other back to the tank for airation. This made the loop siphon work the best. it a 3/4 pvc feed and a 1" drain. The grow bed is full of 200L of Hydroton. Right now it takes about 9 minutes to fill and 4 minutes to drain with the pump running all the time. Question: What is the best frequency of fill and drain for a media based AP system?