Water cooling using aquaponics tank

[nfhiggs]

Alright i have a list of parts. $150 total. I did a bit of rounding so it isnt exact but it at least is a close number. I attached a spreadsheet i saved as a pdf to see.
I know i said i would make a drawing, but i have no artistic ability so i will just skip to doing pictures as i do it. I already acquired 3 food grade barrels at $12 each (2 systems total). All used for teriyaki, apple vinaigrette and soy sauce.. i didnt even know those came in barrel quantities lol.
They may take awhile as i am doing this all on the cheap so shipping is a tad slower. I have 3 systems now and I paralleled the new catfish tank and the old tilapia tank together so i could skip the wait period for the grow bed to reach a stable bacteria colony to convert ammonia in the new system. Not going to lose the fish and couldnt wait any longer to get the fish as this was the last batch for catfish until fall. Trout tank in the basement is still holding steady at 64°f and they are doing good. The trout are wickedly crazy eaters and make the other fish seem lazy and boring lol. Current batch of tilapia are almost of harvest size now with the biggest hitting 11oz in size. Bigger suprise is how fast the koi i put in only a month ago is growing. It may be larger than the biggest tilapia i have now. I got it at only 4" in size and it is now over 6" and fat.

I would so do this if my wife liked fish.

 

[Ken Beck]

I would so do this if my wife liked fish.

Maybe she likes decorative fish like koi? Lol

 

[TherealMickey]

I have just installed this a couple days ago. I'm in wash so no feed back on other cycles but in wash they seem happy. Goes from top to bottom of tray. Made with some extra tubing attched to base with gorilla tape, a jelly jar and to increase flow I found putting an air tube inside the jar as high as possible inside it'll help move more water while still completell draining. So far they seem to like it.

 

[TherealMickey]

Your setup has solved a lot of problems I was wrestling with. I'm surprised the rocks don't get nasty over time.

I wash with 1/8 cup normal h2o2 per gallon the same rocks at the beginning of each cycle. Same rocks for years

 

[Ken Beck]

I wash with 1/8 cup normal h2o2 per gallon the same rocks at the beginning of each cycle. Same rocks for years

I dont even do that, i have red wiggler worms in the grow bed to keep everything clean and they do a great job. Only issue lately has been some clogging of the main line going to grow bed, but that is due to the pump loosing flow rate. Time to test some better pumps. I think a good rule of thumb is to always oversize your pump and dial it down as needed. What size is your system?

 

[TherealMickey]

I dont even do that, i have red wiggler worms in the grow bed to keep everything clean and they do a great job. Only issue lately has been some clogging of the main line going to grow bed, but that is due to the pump loosing flow rate. Time to test some better pumps. I think a good rule of thumb is to always oversize your pump and dial it down as needed. What size is your system?

I'm just doing flood into 2 2x2 trays on 10 gallon resivoir. Bell works nicely moving 1 gal per min system cycles in 8 min. Bell only installed on 1 tray

 

[Ken Beck]

I'm just doing flood into 2 2x2 trays on 10 gallon resivoir. Bell works nicely moving 1 gal per min system cycles in 8 min. Bell only installed on 1 tray

Ok so one tray dumping into another and second tray bell syphon? Or both trays connected? Just trying to to picture the system.

 

[TherealMickey]

Ok so one tray dumping into another and second tray bell syphon? Or both trays connected? Just trying to to picture the system.

Timer on second trey. Used to have 2 timers and pumps into the same resivoir. Alternating pump time. Now one goes all time and other gets about what it got b4. 2 bells with 1 r would be 2 risky of flooding since you'd have to have more than the bottom would hold. I'll probably connect the treys soon if I stay satisfied with the bell setup

 

[Ken Beck]

Timer on second trey. Used to have 2 timers and pumps into the same resivoir. Alternating pump time. Now one goes all time and other gets about what it got b4. 2 bells with 1 r would be 2 risky of flooding since you'd have to have more than the bottom would hold. I'll probably connect the treys soon if I stay satisfied with the bell setup

Yea bell syphons can be finicky. What fish are you using?

 

[TherealMickey]

Yea bell syphons can be finicky. What fish are you using?

I'm not. my contribution/interest in this thread is solely about the syphon lol

 

[Ken Beck]

I'm not. my contribution/interest in this thread is solely about the syphon lol

Yea 10gallons had me wondering lol.
Got a pic of your bell syphon?

 

[TherealMickey]

Yea 10gallons had me wondering lol.
Got a pic of your bell syphon?

A hoze some tape a jelly jar and an air pump. Air seems to help lower the water. Not worth a pic

 

[ttystikk]

A hoze some tape a jelly jar and an air pump. Air seems to help lower the water. Not worth a pic

How does the air pump fit into the system?

 

[Ken Beck]

How does the air pump fit into the system?

I think the air pump is outside the trays with the air hose going into it.

 

[ttystikk]

I think the air pump is outside the trays with the air hose going into it.

So it's just there to aerate the water in the tray, then?

 

[Ken Beck]

It could break the drain cycle of the bell syphon if the jar doesnt have a big enough air break area at the bottom.

 

[Ken Beck]

It could break the drain cycle of the bell syphon if the jar doesnt have a big enough air break area at the bottom.

Now that i think of it, why hasnt anyone done an automated valve instead of a bell syphon? Something that opens when the water hits a specified level and drains down to a specified level before it closes. I mean the adjustability and functionality should be easy to put together. I guess the only question is reliability of the sensors for opening and closing the valve. Or i think i have a better way, think of a floating valve for a toilet, it could use a manual switch for on and off and be easily adjustable for open and close levels. That way the switches for on and off position could be sealed. Any thoughts?

 

[ttystikk]

Now that i think of it, why hasnt anyone done an automated valve instead of a bell syphon? Something that opens when the water hits a specified level and drains down to a specified level before it closes. I mean the adjustability and functionality should be easy to put together. I guess the only question is reliability of the sensors for opening and closing the valve. Or i think i have a better way, think of a floating valve for a toilet, it could use a manual switch for on and off and be easily adjustable for open and close levels. That way the switches for on and off position could be sealed. Any thoughts?

Yes; a properly designed bell siphon would do all of those things with no moving parts and thus no chance of failure due to breakage or malfunction. The more I think about how a bell siphon works, the better I like it.

 

[TherealMickey]

It could break the drain cycle of the bell syphon if the jar doesnt have a big enough air break area at the bottom.

That's it exactly.

 

[Ken Beck]

That's it exactly.

I didn't get it at first either, but with your parts listed I put 2 and 2 together finding the most likely way it would be assembled. I take it this was just building it with whatever random parts you had laying around? Lol