Barramundi Bretto's Pics

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Hi one and all,here are a few pics of my system.Just have to connect the grow bed drains and it's all ready to start cycling.more news later
hoo roo ,Brett

[Hamish]

Another pic.

[Outbackozzie]

Looks good, but 2 questions....

The rubbish bin sump really needs to be lined - the galvanising will leach into the system - a few fish kills have been attributed to this.

Why run the plumbing up so high? Would it be wasteful on power / harder on the pump? Handy for climbing things up though I suppose.

[Jonathan Dyer]

Hi Bret,
So far so good. One expensive set up you have there. How many fish do you intend to grow? Why the choice of 40mm PVC a bit over kill is it?

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

G'DAY Outbackozzie,thanks for the compliment,to answer your queery on the Gal bin, a plumber told me it would be no worries,i guess i worked off the fact that i have been drinking water out of Gal tanks for years and havent gone belly up yet,so hopefully the fish wont,I have seen some grow beds made out of Galvanised tanks and thought fair enough.the height of my plumbing is due to the fact that I am over 6 foot tall and it affords me the luxury of walking freely underneath it all without having to do the limbo.the pump more than handles the head,the excess water is pumped straight back to the fish tank to help with airation,I'm happy,and hopefully the fish will be too,I didnt really factor the cost of electricity into my system as unfortunately it is a neccesity,like putting petrol in our cars to make them go.
regards Brett

[Outbackozzie]

Nearly all Gal tanks used in AP are Aqualined, AP water tends to be more acidifying than normal tank water.

40mm is the standard size for big setups. Especially for flows over 4000lph.

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Hi jonathon,so far so good,yep getting close to 7 grand,not much to spend your money on in emerald .I'm looking at it as a hobby and therefore hopefully money well spent.The 40 mm pressure pipe probably is a bit of overkill,I think it's just my nature, if i'm going to do something i usually do it pretty big,it wont break in a hurry anyway.I will probably grow some jade perch first up not sure about how many though just yet, i'd probably rather kill 150 than 300 at my first go, wait and see.
hoo roo Brett

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Ta for pointing that out outback,could i just use a heavy plastic bag of some sort in the bin.

[Outbackozzie]

Best thing would be some potable paint on liner. Rubbish bags would do it as well, but are they any safer? - its up to you how far to go.

Its just that people with unlined gal tanks seem to have fish kills, until the tanks are removed, usually happens around the 6 month mark....and they rust relatively quickly in AP.

[Hamish]

Hi Brett,

One thing I would be a little concerned about is the size of the return pipe from the beds to the sump. I have a similar setup and if more than one bed flushes the autosiphon at the same time the water can back up and leak. If at all possible can you run the large pipe all the way to the sump?

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Hello Hamish,I thought about that when,i was building the drainage system,basically all of the 40 mm drains that run into the 90mm carrier are all sealed with sixaflex or whatever it is called,hopefully no leaks.

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Ill definately look into it outback,the local plumbing shop should point me in the right direction,thank's mate.

[Jonathan Dyer]

32mm pipe flowing at a velocity of 1.5m/sec = 90Lmin or 5,400L/Hr the pump Bret has is capable of flowing more with more pressure so therefore 32mm is more than capable of handling systems requiring around 10,000L/Hr. 40mm PVC is almost double that, trust me I deal with the stuff every day. My system is 32mm and my pump is around 8000L/hr.

I’m sure you have realised that your sump only holds a small amount of water (120L?) and if you were to drain all your beds at the same time with a large pipe it would more than likely overflow so I don’t think that a large drain is entirely necessary, I don’t know how you have set things up only time will tell.

[Outbackozzie]

Yep, your right JD, but the 32mm will become 28mm within a few months, as biofilm takes over the world. 40mm will flow more over a longer period - and wont load the pump up as much.

[Jason Palenske]

I like it. Is that a car port your using to cover the work area or something you built yourself?

[DaveOponic]

Brett, you sure have gone for AP in a big way! How many litres does that big round tank hold? Good luck with the cycling.

Dave

[Jonathan Dyer]

Its interesting I have never had any thick bio-film inside my main line pipes when I pull off fittings to check there is only a grey stain on the PVC as my water is flowing all the time perhaps they don’t get a chance to grow. But when I reduce down to 19mm there gets a buildup pretty quick. As for loading the pump it depends on what type of pump you have as I’m sure you know some pumps just wont handle it while others like Bret has will as they are designed for those circumstances; centrifugal pumps will handle quite a bit of pressure reduction as they compensate for the load exerted. In my system I need a bit of presser to operate my sand filter effectively as well as the bypass jets I have to aerate my water, no need for an air pump. I do use a 50mm return or drain line back to my tank, no sump.

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

G'day,daveoponic and jason.Daveo the big tank is 2500L plus 250L for the overhead one.I went pretty big first up as i can afford the space and the quality and prices of veges in emerald is terrible,we are only a couple of hundred kilometers inland but may as well be on the moon with all the extra freight we pay,and then theres the problem of living in a mining town the retailers think everyone is on a hundred thousand plus a year,just not the case.
Jason the shed was built by me and comprises of 2.4m star pickets with black poly pipe as the arches .I wired on ceiling battens then screwed on the laserlite,all up it cost about 1200 dollars and is pretty much relocatable,but wil have to cut the star pickets off at ground level if i move,or if we get another storm like we did here last year,it may dissapear all by itself,fingers crossed.

[djs-sa]

awesome stuff brett, dont worry about peoples thoeries too much until u test the system with water over 24 hr period, but the sump could be a little bigger in my eyes. What is the galv sump sitting in? line that with pond liner and that would increase the volume.

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Hi DJS-SA,mate your a legend the answer to my sump problem was staring me in the face.The box the sump sits in is made from form ply,painted inside and out with liquid flash,hopefully to keep the rot away.lining the box is a great idea and worthy of investigation.Your right about the theory side of things,when i can run my system for an extended time only then will i chance any problems,then you will certainly here a bit more from me.Thanks for the input. Hoo roo BRETT

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Howdy all,got rid of the gal bin today and painted my sump box with gripset bitumen rubber waterproofing,say's that it is solvent free,water based and suitable for potable water so should be fine for the fishys.I will reconnect my drains tommorrow but have to wait 10 days before i can wet the sump,waiting waiting.

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Helloooo there,finished my sump finally,all back up's are in place and working,yet i still am yet to empty my grow beds to fix the drains,I strongly reccomend testing your system for leaks before 3 odd tonne of rock goes into them,keeping me fit although.
bye Brett

[djs-sa]

great work brett, i know how u can over think things and go too much into a tangent, like with the galv. bin and the solution is banging u in the face

[DaveOponic]

Hi Brett

What are the dimensions of that sump? You had a galvanized garbage bin in there as I recall, so it must be a decent sized box. Will it hold up to the weight of the water? It doesn't seem to be reinforced at the edges.

I recently bought a plastic 1000 litre fish tank from the aquarium shop and made an angle iron frame to support it. The weight of the water bowed the edges and I had to put in some additional angle iron.

From the appearance of the photo, you might need some additional reinforcement at the corners of the box. Water is heavy.


Dave

[BARRAMUNDI BRETT'O]

Hi there Daveoponic,you are right it was a gal bin,I tend to think the sump (about 700 by 600 by 600) should be fine it is constructed from form ply which was glued and nailed.Considering it is buried there wont be any pressure exerted on the sides from water inside the box,if anything the water should stop the weight of the soil around the sump pushing the sides in,I did reinforce the bottom of the sump with the old lid of the sump to give it more support,all internal angles are taped as well.
Brett
PS:Hey davo,i just had a look at the pic and it gives an illusion of being above ground,i think i know where you are coming from now.