Pilot Commercial Aquaponics System

[tonyabalone]

Since February of this year Challenger Institute of Technology (Fremantle, Western Australia), in conjunction with the Armadale Noongar Corporation ( ANC), have developed a pilot commercial aquaponics system. The system is now finished and so far the system has performed very well. The first lettuce crop will be harvested next week.


The system consists of a 5000 litre tank, a modified Vortex filter system, 1000 litre sump tank with a submersible pump and 16 x 6 metre NFT channels. An inexpensive shade cloth system has been built to protect the plants from winds, frost, crows and a uniquely Australian problem of Kangaroos. Two systems have been installed with the ANC and trialled. At the moment each tank has approximately 350 Rainbow Trout. This will give a carrying capacity of about 35 kilograms per cubic metre. I’m confident that further trials will show that the system can handle higher carrying capacities
The key to the system working efficiently is getting the wastes out and maintaining the oxygen levels. The wastes are removed by an effluent arm that results in the tanks being self cleaning. All the solid wastes are sucked up by the effluent arm and taken out by a swirl separator. High oxygen levels are maintained ( 98 % saturated) by splashing the water as much as possible as well as a series of air stones strategically placed. One air blower is used to service both tanks.

The system has attracted a great deal of interest from those who have seen it and another company is expected to install a system in the near future.

[GaryD]

Hi Tony,

That looks interesting......particularly for the fact that the system includes an NFT growing system. For reasons that are hard to fathom, they are under-represented in Australian AP circles.

Do you have any internal photos of your vortex filter.......or even a description of how it works.

It's great to have someone from Challenger TAFE on board. You'll be a welcome addition to the ranks of the knowledgeable and the experienced that already grace the forum.

Gary.

[tonyabalone]

Hi Gary,

i should correct an error. The filter system uses an off the shelf Oasis Vortec 20000 pond filter. If you Google the name you will get more details of the three chamber product. I modify ous so that the very clean surface water is taken by two 50 mm pipes into the second chamber. The solids are taken out by the effluent arm which has an outlet 150 mm below the surface. Thus water pressure ensures that the effluent arm is always sucking wastes from thre bottom. have a look at the previous photos anf the ones I'm about to ad. The water is introduced back to the tank in such a way that a swirl pool action occors taken all wastes to the centre bottom of the tank.

[Crusty]

Sounds like an interesting set up Tony. How do you find those filters for cleaning and maintenance?

[tonyabalone]

Hi Crusty,

there is certainly more daily maintenance with this system in comparison to a backyard operation. In fact there is a lot more work but then again this is a commercial system with high stocking densities and hopefully higher production.
As stated earler this is a pilot commercial trial nand time will tell how it performs overall. I am happy to report back on how the system performs.

[Crusty]

Hi Tony.

Oh I understand the amount of work involved at commercial level. I was more interested in how you found those particular filters in comparison to other commercial ones?

[tonyabalone]

Crusty the Oasis Vortec has the advantage of being a compact three chamber system that fits neatly over the sump tank. The disadvantages are that they are difficult to service as they don't have a truly bottom drain plug and this makes the regular maintenance on these time consuming. The swirl pool has too flat a bottom and the solids tend to compact on the bottom and can be hard to remove. For what they are they are also expensive to buy in this country. They are imported from England and by the time they go through the various middle men they are not cheap.

[Crusty]

Cool thanks mate. I look forward to following your progress.

[GaryD]

Hi Tony,

As someone who owns a couple of redundant Oases pond filters (of a different type to yours), I share your concern about their cost and the maintenance they require.

I'm interested in an 'appropriate technology' approach to solids capture and removal and, to that end, we're working with Moving Bed bio-filtration and basic mechanical filtration strategies like sedimentation and swirl tanks and matala mat filters.

Gary

[GaryD]

I should also say that it's very gratifying to have people like yourself, Crusty and Arachdog on the forum to help me counter the prevailing notion that solids removal is not a requirement of aquaponics.

This is something that I started to debate on AP forums four years ago and, while my ideas are finally beginning to gain traction, it's good to have people around who are able to offer a perspective on solids removal that is premised on science and aquaculture best practice........rather than the aquarium shop voodoo that is so often a feature of the thinking of some of AP's self-appointed gurus.

Gary