Humanfly's Backyard System

Ian

'Pipe' is normally measured as 'nominal bore', i.e. a 25mmNB pipe is not exactly 25mm inside diameter, but it's very close, then the wall thickness is added to determine Outside Diameter.
"Tube" is measured as Outside Diameter and the wall thickness makes a difference to the interrnal diameter.
Just ensure that everyone is comparing apples with apples when talking pipes and tubes etc. It makes a hell of a difference to fittings and the like!.
Here in Oz we can have 25mm HDPE Black (Blue Stripe) water supply "pipe", but it is sized as a "Tube"! Compare that with 25mm diameter Black plastic irrigation pipe that is measured on inside diameter!!. The Blue stripe black "pipe" can slide inside the 25mm diameter irrigation pipe!! Go figure!! The HDPE should be called Tube and sold as such!!.

Cheers IanK :?:

Nocky

I am quoting ID pipe, and I wouldn't use less than 3/4", HF the grey stuff you are on about I am sure is for electrical as well, not that AP pumps are under a lot of pressure but the electrical stuff isn't pressure rated and also contains small amounts of lead (as mentioned) I doubt the lead would leach out but still for me wouldn't risk it, it is cheaper but the quality is not there, thinner walls that actually break when you tread on it (When pipe has aged for 12 months or so) For Ia long term thing I would go for the white PVC and buy the biggest pump the budget allows, you can put in a 3 way tap and divert water straight back into the tank, helps with aeration as well, no need buying a pump then expanding and need to buy another pump, found this on US ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/1600-gph-Water-Pump ... 2|294%3A50 this is similar to the pumps some of us use, I have used these for a couple of years and love them, but the higher the head the less LPH, this one is 1600GPH and uses around 110wts of power, mine is about 3000GPH (12,000LPH) and uses around 175wts, similar to this http://cgi.ebay.com/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI ... 0421838640 from the same US store, I must say allowing for dollar conversion the US pumps are a lot cheaper than ours

humanfly

Hi Nocky,

I understand all your concerns, you have me concerned as well so I called the manufacturer. They state there is absolutely no way there's any lead in this PVC. It's not intended for electrical, it's meant for potable water, swimming pools etc. This stuff is pressure rated and it's very thick, there's no way it will get brittle. It's for food processing plants, they specifically mention things like pickling (high acid food environment), fish farming, dairy farms. I tried to add the PDF brochures/technical specs but the site won't let me upload PDFs. I'm satisfied it meets my needs, and it might even be superior to the white PVC, it certainly looks much stronger. If anyone is interested you can view the details on the manufacturers website, http://www.ipexinc.com/Content/Common/3 ... /index.asp, I went under Process Piping Systems, Xirtec, Corzan; you may need to create an account on the site to view the docs, you just enter a name and phone number and it lets you into the download section.

I'm going by internal diameter.

humanfly

After reading all the comments I'm going to try to keep the pipe as fat as possible, especially where it comes out of the pump.

TCLynx

When you talk about turning your entire system over each hour, I think you may be putting more pressure on yourself than needed when I hear you talking about having 500 gallons but the fish tank is actually only 120 gallons. It is the fish tank volume you want to turn over each hour. So if you do have more fish tanks being put in beyond the 120 gallon aquarium, then you would need more than your current pump but if the only tank that will contain fish is the 120 gallon aquarium, I think 150 gallons per hour from you pump up to the aquarium will do.

I've seen the grey sch 80 stuff. Heavy duty. Only issue I see with it is since it is so much heavier, I think you loose some inside diameter since it seems to fit many of the same fittings as the white stuff around here. I've often used the thin wall pressure pipe since it is easier for me to cut and work with since most of my uses don't require being heavy duty. But for the stuff in/out of the pump I have used sch 40 but my pump wants 1 1/2 inch fittings.

Keep up the good work :cheers:

I strongly advise you to go ahead and do the loop siphon on the grow bed since you will get far more filtration out of it that way and you have the barrels to be your sump to deal with the fluctuations.

humanfly

Thanks TC! It looks to me like only the elbows are really thick, I have a length of straight pipe that's 2 inch and it looks workable. This isn't such a big system, I guess I'll see how much work it is when I start cutting. I've got a range of hand and power tools but no table saw yet, I don't know if I'll need one. Maybe I'll try to make the initial run out of the pump 2 inch internal diameter with adaptors and then split into three one inch like Nocky said.

humanfly

While I didn't manage to get the system up in time for pictures, I did get quoted in the article in the Globe and Mail. I hope this helps to raise awareness of aquaponics in Canada.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/foo ... le1218280/

humanfly

The guy who was coming to drill a hole for the bulkhead just called to say the bit was damaged when he got it in the mail. More delays. At least I collected some more PVC parts today. Maybe I can try mocking up a loop siphon from the growbed with these new parts and get that part sorted, so it's ready to go.

humanfly

That hole was finally drilled in the tank and I've started plumbing the barrels. I'm tapping at about 3/4 of the way up. I decided not to put the tap at the bottom of the barrel because I don't want all the sludge to collect in the lines. Each tap will connect to a T and all the T's will be joined by a line. The tap can be closed and unscrewed from the barrel so that I can take individual barrels offline, or just add another T and add more barrels in a modular fashion. Barrels can be drained with a spare pump. I'm taking out the brass tap at the bottom and putting in a plexiglass port, so I can shine a flashlight in at night and check how much sediment build up there is in the sump; I can't see to the bottom of the barrels and this should be a quick easy way to check if the solids need removing, just shine a light on the port and look in the top.

The guy that drilled the hole didn't want to use any jig, he used a drill and just went really really slow. I'll post photos of everything when I have a chance.

I have a tilapia that was rearranging pebbles and scooping out a big nest. At one point I saw something that I thought was an ovipositor. I had another smaller tilapia that was harassing the bigger ones so I thought it was a male. I put it in the tank with this one that I thought was a female and the ?female kicked the crap out of the ?male. I took them apart but at some point I want to breed them and I really can't tell males/females. What's the best tool to snip off the top lip, a branch clipper or something? I have metal tin snips, I guess I could sterilize.

BatonRouge Bill

Looking forward to the pic's

humanfly

Hi Baton Rouge,

On a side note I grew up in Nova Scotia. Ages ago there was a small French/Acadian group of settlers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada who if I understand were later mostly expelled by the Brits, and the Cajun people are descended from this population. I don't know much about Lousiana but if that's where you are there's this little historical connection to where I grew up, although I'm not Acadian/Cajun... I thought you might find that interesting...

humanfly

I tried adding two photos of the drill job.

I think that bully ?female was happy today and I definitely saw something that I think is an ovipositor. It was like a long slightly hooked claw fin that isn't normally there. Does the male have something there as well? When I search to find out how to sex I find that the female has a two holes, one is a slit and the male doesn't but this fish is pretty big and I don't want to disturb it by turning it over unless there's no other way to tell.

I made the homemade filter bigger by adding a second flower pot upside down and filling it with hydroton, and pumping water in the top. That should create some surface area. I have some filter medium and keep meaning to throw it in. I need to find a way to clamp the flowerpots together until I get the growbed online.

BatonRouge Bill

humanfly wrote:

Hi Baton Rouge,

On a side note I grew up in Nova Scotia. Ages ago there was a small French/Acadian group of settlers in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, Canada who if I understand were later mostly expelled by the Brits, and the Cajun people are descended from this population. I don't know much about Lousiana but if that's where you are there's this little historical connection to where I grew up, although I'm not Acadian/Cajun... I thought you might find that interesting...

A whole lot of Acadians were deported from that area by the brits for lack of a better term. Familes were put on any ship heading south. You will find cajuns sprinkled from the Carolinas to to Texas. Many families were split up in the process. But most came to Louisiana to settle. But the fishing traditions carried on, as well as the cuisine! I'm 1/4 french but not cajun. My Mom's dad came from France.

humanfly

hm. Something's changed the pH from 7.4 to off the scale on the high side 8,9?in two days. On Sunday it was 7.4 with Nitrites 3 Ammo 0
Unfortunately I made multiple changes:

-added a cinder block
-put a clay pot in the tank on the cinder block filled with hydroton, this pot was on the tank as a filter and I put it inside with just the top sticking out, the pump line filled it with water and it drained into the tank
-changed the tank cover from glass with some air space to loose fitting plastic with black landscaping cloth over top. I was trying to increase heat uptake during the day and reduce heat loss at night
-it rained really incredibly hard for two days, there was flooding elsewhere in the city, the tank was well covered with greenhouse plastic but the rain might have made it's way into the barrel, it ididn't look like the water level changed though.
-I think the system went through a temp change, we were getting highs of around 20 and 14 nights, The tank heaters are set at 22 so that's the night low in the tank. I think it went up to 28 at one point, so unusually low temps for awhile, and then warmer weather, maybe it went up to 30 so a temp swing
-increased water circulation, a bit of aeration and added a barrel, so an extra 50 gallons of water, 25 each for two days onto existing 100 gallons of pre0aged water
-added about a 10 foot section of PVC in the overflow, leading to a barrel containing the pump

The water coming out of the tap is normally in the high 7s range and shifts down as the system ages, it has chlorine only to my knowledge no chloramine. I thought my pH test had gone bad but I tested the tap water andit's accurate.

I took the cinder block out because I think it's the most likely cause. I took the clay pot out, and found a glass lemonade jar with a rubber tap the bottom. I made a bag out of fiberglass screen, filled it with hyroton, and put it in the glass jar, it's about half the size of the pot, so it's a smaller filter but glass, placed under the overflow outside the tank draining into the barrel.
I've stuffed part of the pipe on the inside of the tank attached at the overflow with filter material in such a way that it can't cause an overflow but will add filtration.
The fish didn't look disturbed, they weren't at the top looking for air or breathing hard at all. They may have been a little slow, but I've been used to that because of the cold weather. The didn't eat their vegetables, no more feed until I figure this out. They were acting normal, chasing each othe a bit and moving gravel around.

Tomorrow check nitrites ammonia pH do a water change
will take pics

hydrophilia

+1 cinderblock. Put it in a bucket of water overnight and test the water. Interesting.

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