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bruce
02-08-2010, 04:07 PM
Can somebody tell me whether you calculate ratios of water to grow bed volume with or without growing medium in place?
Also I am in the market for a good quality water pump.I have a large system and need to move approx 2000litres of water two times in my hourly cycle. Can you purchase pumps with timers connected or is it better to buy and wire these separetly?

Thanks bruce
badflash
02-08-2010, 05:05 PM
It is a bad idea to cycle a larger pump over and over. It will blow the motor. It is a better idea to use a bell siphon to dump the water faster than the pump can put it in. In larger systems, small pool pumps work very well. The little ones that come with the cheap pools work amazingly well.
jackalope
02-10-2010, 08:44 PM
Can somebody tell me whether you calculate ratios of water to grow bed volume with or without growing medium in place?
Also I am in the market for a good quality water pump.I have a large system and need to move approx 2000litres of water two times in my hourly cycle. Can you purchase pumps with timers connected or is it better to buy and wire these separetly?

Thanks bruce

I don't know about anyone else, but I calculate with the Growing medium in or out - it makes no difference to me .... I just measure the container they are in and where I plan to have the highest water level. I use this calculator Clik ;) (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/calc.php) and put in the dimensions of the container/growbed and it will tell you in gallons or liters, If I have to get so technical that I'm going to figure out the displacement of the pea gravel, brick, lava stone, marbles or whatever I use for media, I'll give up! If it's that critical, just add a grow-bed or two, rather than figuring the volume of the media, I'd say. Of course, there will probably be some that disagree with me (there are always disagreements), but if it becomes so technologically challenging that I can't have fun while I'm raising my fish and veggies, it's too deep for this old man :!: That would make this a full time job, not a hobby, I'd rather guesstimate than be perfectly correct any day.