Robin's system

[Crusty]

oh yeh turned 39 yesterday
Happy B day!


have to get a bigger swirl filter or do a bit more reading on other ways to remove suspended solids
What have you currently got?


I think that it should be the central element that aquaponics systems are designed around
You are not far from it Robin. All systems should be designed around feed input and none on the market are at all. Interesting that all of these folks think of themselves as experts. When very clearly, they are not. I would suggest that many back yarders have greater knowledge.

[robinmill]

thanks crusty

I currently am using 2 20l plastic drums joined together as a swirl filter
I think that a drum of perhaps 205l would work better
my theory is that the extra height of the 205l would slow down solids much more than my small filter

robin

the swirl filter has only been in the system for 3 months
I think I started last october

but they are not round , and not big enough

[robinmill]

hi again everyone

well I added a fridge as just a water tank to catch some of the solids in the middle of the system
their is a lot of gunk in it already
plus I added a 205ltr swirl filter
lots of gunk in it as well
at the water inlet to my grow beds I use some stuffing from teddy bears to catch anything which gets past the swirl filter
they are still clogging up after a day or two
maybe someone has some ideas on swirl filter design

also I have added another fridge with hydroton balls , but I cannot get the auto-syphon to work for the life of me
does anyone have any idea on minimum heights of syphons
I have a syphon in one of the baths with the same pipe sizes, maybe the height is important??

another question , has anyone had open days in their area?
I would love get some more people interested in my area


oh yeh the trout are happy, probably 150-200 grms now

good luck to all
robin

[GaryD]

G'day Robin,

Good to hear from you again.


well I added a fridge as just a water tank to catch some of the solids in the middle of the system
their is a lot of gunk in it already
plus I added a 205ltr swirl filter
lots of gunk in it as well
If you can set up a settling tank with a capacity equal to about 20 minutes of flow, you will settle out most sedimentary solids. It's a good idea to remove the solids as quickly as possible if you want to avoid them impacting your oxygen levels.


also I have added another fridge with hydroton balls , but I cannot get the auto-syphon to work for the life of me
does anyone have any idea on minimum heights of syphons
I have a syphon in one of the baths with the same pipe sizes, maybe the height is important??
Try reading the posts on Affnan's site (http://affnan-aquaponics.blogspot.com/)......he's my preferred source for all matters pertaining to auto-syphons.


another question , has anyone had open days in their area?
I would love get some more people interested in my area
If you let people know what town or district you are in, you may be able to organise a local AP group (or Microponics tribe).


oh yeh the trout are happy, probably 150-200 grms now
Good effort. Keep them happy and it will be BBQ time before you know it. Keeping your water as clean as possible is important if you are to maintain the feeding rate that will see your trout big enough by the time the warm weather hits.

Gary

[bunya boy]

Bit hard to offer any invite when we don't know where you are?
Nothing in your profile that I can see!

Cheers IanK

[robinmill]

hi bunya
sorry
i live near numeralla, which is close to 2 hrsc south of canberra
the closest town is cooma
their are three of us around here that i know of
i think we could do the rounds of all three come spring
my systen and one other are from mainly second hand bits, fridges, baths , spas, rainwater tanks
so it should create some interest to those on a budget

robin

[GaryD]

Hi Robin,

Good luck with the idea of the AP gathering.

It might be worth your while to get the local rag to cover what you do......they're always looking for human interest stories. That way, you'll flush out people who have a general interest in food production. Over time, you'll be able to get a local group going.....like Grassroots has done in Rockhampton.

Gary

[robinmill]

well here are a few shots
the first one is of the swirl filter
the second of a mature bed from last year with sived river gravel
the next two of new bed with old gravel on the bottom half and hydrotron on top
next a fridge turned into a bio-filter basically water in the top of the first chamber and under the next and over the top of the next
and then a wider shot of the system showing a new bed in the foreground

oh yeah the trout are getting bigger
and fewer , I have had two already, only about 200 grms
nice entree

[GaryD]

Hi Robin,

How's the swirl filter working for you?

Gary

[robinmill]

Hi Gary

I don't really know , i have never seen another
their is tonnes of gunk on the bottom
I don't even know if I have made it correctly
I don't know if you can see but the inlet is about 50mm below the outlet
its a 200 litre drum
it swirls around and is definately settling some of the solids out , but I still get solids in the beds
the biofilter is not inline so not acheiving a great deal I suppose
but it will have to wait till the trout are finished to put it before the gb's

robin

[holidaymatt]

Hi Robin,

Where is your swirl filter in the system? Between the grow bed and the sump?

[robinmill]

hi
its straight after the fish and then goes either to another tank 2000ltrs (just for extra water) and then into a biofilter( the fridge) or it goes the other way into the growbeds then the sump
i would love to hook a couple in series because a lot still gets through
maybe i need to change the swirl filter design .... dunno any ideas?
robin

[GaryD]

Hi Robin,

A swirl filter will only remove the sedimentary solids. You'll need a packed media filter or a mat filter to remove the suspended solids.

You can also integrate a packed media filter into your swirl tank.

Gary

[robinmill]

hi gary
the only reason i am wodering if it is not working at its most efficient is that when the water leaves the swirl filter and goes into a settling tank their is still sediment settling out in there.
only a small amount though
I really need to look at someone elses to compare
I could create a packed filter into my biofilter
any suggestions as what I could use ,, beads etc??
robin

[robinmill]

more pics,
water at 16 degrees now , upped the food and lookout
the small out of focus beans was put straight into the hydroton and germinated from there

[robinmill]

hi
well down to about 50-60 trout from 100
feeling pretty smug too need havnt smoked any this year
these ones are about 250 gms cleaned, pretty yummy
robin

[GaryD]

Congratulations Robin......an excellent outcome.

What are you planning to stock next?

Gary

[robinmill]

gotta love it
going with trout again, maybe brooks?
also going to try some perch again this year if i get the solar water heater going
here is another fish that my son caught today 500gms cleaned
thats 3 in the smoker as we speak

[robinmill]

hi :)
well waters down to 7 degrees c now
before it snowed see what happens in a few hours

[Pugo]

Wow! the trout make me feel hungry miss eating trout. But it is not a fish you can easily get here in Asia. Looks like you put a lot of work into your system.. Cool ! Nice job you can raise Trout then this is a great system, the water quality has to be very high.. as trout are fussy about where they live. Once again great job!

[robinmill]

thanks pugo
besides lots of air and a couple of filters
i think the fact that i have quite a lot of water in relation to my fish numbers
and some of my medium is gravel from the river and the water is from the river as well

so i think the gravel and water are fairly balanced to begin with

[GaryD]

Hi Robin,

Good effort.


....lots of air and a couple of filters
I had to provide the formula for successful fish-raising in eight words.....this would be it.

Gary

[robinmill]

thanks gary
and to add a couple of more words
lots of water
robin

[GaryD]

Hi Robin,

More water certainly makes fish raising easier. The smaller volumes of most backyard systems make the need for plenty of air and supplementary filtration even more acute.

Gary

[robinmill]

yes gary i agree
I dont have any wild fluctuations that i hear about with smaller systems
to add more volume is fairly easy , even if it is not line
i just split my line after my swirl filter one way to gb's and the other into extra tank
that tank stll relies on chops ?? to take the water from the bottom and let it out near the top so you dont need a lot of head to do this
it then goes straight back into my sump
maybe not the best way but my point is that you can add an extra tank in at any time
like if you have a thousand litres in a smaller system the a couple of plastic 44's for about $44 each then you have cheaply added a lot of water
cheers robin