question/idea on a self contained unit

[sirtoggle]

Here is a quick drawing of what I have in mind, any feedback before I actually sit down and do a actual draft would be great, thanks

[attachment=0:1cec9ftk]testsetup1.jpg[/attachment:1cec9ftk]

[urbanfarmer]

I'm not so sure about this hydraulic ram pump. Will it work like that?

[sirtoggle]

it should, the water will flow downwards out of the fish tank, I'm not to sure what distance I will need for it to work, I've seen some large scale demo of a ram pump working, and if I can change the way the pipes are shaped to increase water flow the pump chamber pushes air into the out line to put pressure to carry it up to the grow bed, I'm sure I'll have to play with it a lot to get the right distance out of it.

here is a video example of a large scale one,

http://youtu.be/qWqDurunnK8

edit : Here is a perfect example, this one is an actual demo, he is able to pump water up 50 ft with a 6' head

http://youtu.be/FkrWEAyYhbU

I would only need it to pump up maybe 5' lets say, so the head around 1' drop from the fish tank should be well more than enough, and i can put a tray that dumps the extra water into the reservoir tank which would flow then into the fish tank when the floats get low enough to open the valve.

[JCO]

You are still pumping water directly from the fish tank to the grow beds....pump to a sump and let it flow back to the G/B and then F/T via gravity

[sirtoggle]

jco, what do you think of urban's idea to design the fish tank that works as a sump as well with a cut off to clean it out?
but if that doesn't work it wouldn't be hard to add a sump up top.

[urbanfarmer]

Also, keep in mind that hydraulic ram pumps are only60% to 80% efficient meaning your system will stop pumping eventually without added mechanical energy to move the water.

[sirtoggle]

Most of them say they wont stop pumping as long as there is water flowing into them, but either way I'll be building a test pump in the next week as soon as I have a few bucks to get the parts and see how long I keep it running for, or run 2. one pumps the water from the bottom of the tank to the sump, and one to pump from the catch tank to the fish tank....

[cedarswamp]

Hydraulic ram won't work for aquaponics. It doesn't pump from a tank up it pumps part of the water coming from above back up with a significant amount of waste water.

[sirtoggle]

Yeah my thought was to have the tank then a pipe coming out and down x' to the pump with a catch for the dumped water, and hope it would pump up about 5'.

I'm sure it's going to be a pain, but the idea behind it is not to have to use electricity at all. even if it might look funky or cost more to build.

[JCO]

I know many on here disagree with this contention, however I know from years of experience and mistakes made and it's a messy job I do not ever want to have to do again. Keep all solids and particulates out of the grow beds as much as possible

In answer to your question...I do not dictate that you have to do things my way. Doing it your way is how you learn what works and what doesn't. I'm 68 yrs old and my only child is my son who will be 23 in October...he doesn't listen to me either Trial and painful error is the best teacher for the young when all else fails.