Wild - Brisbane, Australia

[wild]

Hi everyone, this is my introduction!

In a few weeks I will be starting an Aquaponics system! Very excited. :)

It will comprise of 4 grow beds and a 1,200 litre (~300 Gal) fishtank with a fingerling tank that sits on top. Here in Queensland Jade Perch is a native fish that goes very well in Aquaponics - so I will be trying it after the system has cycled.

I want to try and raise the majority of produce from seeds, so have purchased a heated Autopot capillary bed. It is winter here - so the heated tray makes propagation much quicker. Just put in my first seeds, so hopefully I will have the system setup before they need to be transplanted. :)

I will also be experimenting with AutoPots. I love the concept of how the autopots work and cant wait to get them setup. I am keen to also try dwarf fruit trees in them. All of the autopots will be connected to a SmartPump. The SmartPump utilizes a pressure pump that keeps a constant pressure in the line. Then, when a SmartValue opens (ie the pot has used all of its water), the water flows into the pot until it has 30mm (1 inch) of water in it. The SmartPump also has a reservoir of water. The plan is for the water to be automatically topped up from the fishtank. Therefore, providing a constant supply of nutrient rich water to the plants.

Pictures speak louder then words, so I will post some soon!

Cheers, Andrew.

[badflash]

Tell us more about autopots...

Welcome BTW.

[wild]

Autopots are based around the SmartValve invented by Jim Fah. This page (http://www.autopot.com.au/default.aspx?PageID=d47b1ada-59f0-4a85-9132-d36f21954f1d) explains how the Smart Valve works. You can buy a "pot" with a SmartValve in it, or simply the SmartValve itself and hook it up yourself.

I am going to try and hookup a system that uses 1 SmartValve to water multiple dwarf citris pots that I will be putting together myself. I have to get my Aquaponics setup up and running first but will be getting the AutoPots setup after that.

Having all of the components for the Aquaponics system delivered today. So getting closer!

Cheers, Andrew.

[badflash]

Wow, it is a small version of the FLOUT. I wonder if there are pattent infringement issues.
What size piping does it have? Looks pretty small for aquaponics applications. Probably fine for hydroponics though. When fish enter the picture you get all sorts of bio fouling, so you need bigger pipes.

[flout]

Wow, it is a small version of the FLOUT. I wonder if there are pattent infringement issues.
What size piping does it have? Looks pretty small for aquaponics applications. Probably fine for hydroponics though. When fish enter the picture you get all sorts of bio fouling, so you need bigger pipes.


I appears to me that the smart valve system uses a "dead end" GB. The water going in only "leaves through the leaves". The FT water is made up with fresh and nothing returns to the FT from the GB. Seems many more GBs would be required since they are not actively filtering the throughput and the smartvalve would have to wait quite a while to let in another batch. Is it possible that just by coincidence so many of the smartvalves call for water all at once that the makeup water coming in so fast it could shock the fish? Would solids build up in the GBs? How do young plants reach the water which never exceeds 30mm? Is this truly an aqua/hydro ponic system?

No, the smartvalve is nothing like a Flout. The smartvalve is a float operated valve that lets water IN. The Flout is a float operated valve that lets water OUT!

Flout

[wolfracer]

I am very sorry that I took this long to say Welcome! I thought I already did. Looking forward to seeing your system.

[badflash]

I had trouble seeing how the system operated. FLOUT is for true flood & drain by controlling the outlet. The smart valve is an automatic watering system with no return flow.

How can this be used in an aquaponics system as it is a closed ended system?

[jackalope]

I had trouble seeing how the system operated. FLOUT is for true flood & drain by controlling the outlet. The smart valve is an automatic watering system with no return flow.

How can this be used in an aquaponics system as it is a closed ended system?

I don't think it can .... it would be like having an aquarium, and siphoning off some of the water every so often into a GB, but once the plants use up the nutrients, there's no way to get new nutrients to the plants until there is a demand for more new water ...... I looked at this system when I was getting interested in aquaponics ...... besides the price scaring me off, it wasn't a recirculating system, so I passed on the idea. I honestly don't see that as a good system whether it's used in aquaponics or hydroponics.

Just my 2 centavos ........

[badflash]

If you put the pots above the fish tank level and set up a drain with a lower capacity than the autopot fill, it would cycle on a F/D frequency. The drain would need to be regulated and cleaned to remove growies, but it could work.

[wild]

Lots of discussion on the AutoPots. :)

Well, I just received my Aquaponics kit - have to put in a bit of effort to get all of the levels of the 4 growbeds correct as they have to be exact - will be using gravity feed from fish tank to growbeds so to make sure they all get the same amount of water they all have to be at the same height. Will hopefully get started on that next week.

To answer a few of the questions about the AutoPots... My AP system will be a flood and drain using expanded clay in the beds and a bell siphon. The AutoPot system will be in addition to the existing AP system using the fish tank water. How will I connect it up so that the fish tank water will automatically go into the SmartPump "sump" without and solids going into it? Good question, haven't crossed that bridge yet...

If you want to know the (real) reason I need the AutoPots is because the wife really wanted to grow citrus - and I don't want something of that size tanking up space in my AP beds! So it was much easier to spend the money on AP if it included citrus. :) So I will be setting up a number of dwarf citrus pots (hopefully) off a single smartvalue, hence reducing the costs, as each single pot with smartvalue is relatively expensive.

Will also be trying a number of other crops in the SmartPots as well...

I am still about a month from getting everything up and running. I will video it all so that I can share how it all works.

After it is all running, there are a number of potential issues I can see and that have been raised in this discussion. For example, during the peak of summer, if you have 25 pots that are using 2 litres of water per day this means you are extracting 50 litres of water per day on top of whatever your AP system uses. There will be about 1600 litres of water in my system, will the 50 litres per day make a big difference? Lots of unknowns at the moment, but I will be monitor it all as much as I can and see how it goes.

If there are issues, I can also separated the SmartPump so that it only gets fresh water and injects Seasol (natural seaweed) to give the plants their nutrients. This is how I will be running the SmartPot system initially because I wont have enough nitrates for the plants for a while until the system cycles, fish get bigger etc.

Cheers, Andrew.

[badflash]

As long as you can afford the water, remove 50 L per day will not effect the AP system. This is actually benifical as there are some things that the plants don't remove and water changes are the only way to do that.

[wolfracer]

I am looking forward to seeing your system.

[wild]

Have received my AP system and will be doing the site preparation on the weekend. I have attached an image of the growbed layout (drawn by a friend Ian K).

Hopefully the site prep will be done by the end of this weekend then the plumbing next weekend. Getting closer. :D

[badflash]

Can't wait to see pics of the real thing!