Cleaning Aquaponic grow beds. Solids be gone.. 

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It was a big job & we were very careful not to let any foul water back into the fish tank..The filter wool work well too.. The radial flow filter looks to be doing a great job at removing most of the solids at the moment..Thank you & have a great Day..

I think the problem would be no where near as bad in a flat bottom grow bed that allowed the solid to get flushed when the water drains out.. I think I have a good idea on how to make it a bit less painful to clean but want to test it before I post on it.. Thanks for the comment & hope you have a great one ..

No problem... Thanks for watching Steve :)

Thanks again Rob, I taped a air hose to a water spear and turned on the water and compressor and pushed it into the river pebbles in the flooded grow beds. Bypass the sump and removed the solids in 6 grow beds. It worked well. The was the second time I have used this method and the amount of solids that are removed is amazing. Cheers, Jim

It was one worry we had when we first looked into aquaponics Dale.. Don't think we have actually wasted much water at all except for overflows during the floods.. The plants do love it I think.. Have a great one Sir :)

Nice that nothing goes to waste solved the problem in one system and gained a lot of organic fertilizer for the rest of the garden.

Will be interesting to see how the iron bar works Bob.. After having the spike we had with the nitrates (after disturbing a big mass of solids built up in a bed) I think I will always have some sort of solids filter on the systems.. Some small bits will always find their way through though to share their nutrients with the plants.. Cheers sir :)

Glad the clips are useful Ray.. Let us know if there is anything you would like to see & I will try to add it to a clip.. Have a great one..

I have thought about the rafts but then I would need to install some large bio filters for the bacteria to live in.. The whole system is getting a make over with flat bottomed beds (is going to be a job & a ½ ) so we won't have this issue in the future.. I also think that the radial flow filter has greatly reduced the amount of solids that go into the beds too.. Should do a bit of an update on the solids issues.. Will try & post something this weekend on it.. Cheers & have a good one..

Someone mentioned trying that or knew someone that did & it didn't work out too well so I haven't looked into it too much.. I have some flat sided IBC's that will be used to make up some new flat bottom beds soon.. Just need to do some other jobs first before they can go in.. Glad the clips are useful to you Wayne.. Enjoy the build too... I think it's the best bit next to the harvesting :) Thanks & have a great one..

Hi there.. The beds have a ton of worms in them but they will still only break down solids to a degree & still produce waste themselves.. For me it was a huge lesson in the need for filtering the solids out before they hit the grow beds.. I do know others don't follow this school of though but I do now as I have seen what can happen when things go pear shaped & the resulting nitrite spike.. The solids are not wasted & will be building a mineraliser in the near future.. TBC

Will be cleaning out the beds once they are de stocked further just to see what has built up.. Should be an interesting & messy exercise I think.. Thanks have a good one..

The in pipe & siphon are in opposite corners so the water gets to have a chance to flow through the whole bed evenly.. It helps the bacteria have a chance to "clean" the water for the fish as well.. I have some new flat bottom beds that will be going in once some other jobs are done on the list.. One thing I will be doing is slopping the beds towards the corner with the siphon to help the solid drain out.. Thanks for that & have a great one :)

These beds ran for over a year before a filter was added so they collected quite a large amount of solids in that time.. There is now a radial flow filter in pace that is collecting the majority of the solids now.. Water is drawn from the bottom of the tank & runs through it to get cleaned.. Did a bit of a how to clip a while back on it.. watch?v=RVzNcU8EnwU It is doing a great job & the plants in the soil patch are loving the water that is being drawn off of the filter.. Hope that helps some..

Foi um grande trabalho e fomos muito cuidado para não deixar a água suja de volta para o tanque de peixes .. A lã de filtro funcionar muito bem .. O filtro de fluxo radial parece estar fazendo um ótimo trabalho em remover a maioria dos sólidos no momento .. Obrigado e tenha um ótimo dia ..

Hi RB, I haven't started my AQs yet. I'll be doing that in a small area in the basement in September. I'll start with a 40 gal. fish tank and a small grow box. Then next spring (I live in the Colorado Springs area) I will build a green house, of sorts, outside. Your videos give very valuable and useful information. Thank you so much. Wayne

We line in Ipswich, Queensland, Australia.. Is a nice subtropical climate here so we get to grow all rear round luckily.. have a good one Howard..

thank you from Ermont near Paris. good thing with u is you re showing also the problems and how to fix them. Not only the happy face of aquaponic

I know... Think I need a larger filter to take all the solids that we will be expecting from the tanks we are thinking of adding.. Might play around with the one we have to see how I can improve it & a conical base would make the cleaning of them much better.. Have a good one :)

I have some small green scrubber pads there but I think I do need more.. I hope to fit the radial flow filter in line with the grow beds this coming week/weekend if all goes well.. Have a good one..

If the bed was tilted towards the corner where the water comes in, and the siphon was also in the same corner, maybe the sludge would be easier to draw out. Also, if the ridges on the bottom of the bed are a problem, I think you could make the bottom smooth by covering it with clay. Thanks for the troubleshooting demonstration! I hope to get into aquaponics when I move :)

There are loads of worms in there & a few came to the surface during the clean but were edited out as I can get a tad long winded :D I kept feeding the fish after the salt was added on the recommendation of someone who has been building commercial systems for well over 10 years.. I have also found that the ammonia will fluctuated between 0 & .25ppm as it is always present in the system just like nitrite is.. Shall be off to suss out your system now.. Have a great one Jon:)

Sort of makes sense.. What would be getting the much into the holes, a siphon ?? Trying to wrap my head around it.. Thanks for the help & suggestion :)

Hi Rob, to clean my fishtank gravel i use a plastic 3litre juice bottle with the bottom cut off, coupled to a length of 25mm flexible hose. It has plenty of suction, stirs it all up inside the bottle but doesnt suck the gravel out. Works a treat. Reckon itd be great for the GB clean.

Hi Rob, Thanks for showing me how to remove solids from grow beds. Made a water/air spear attached to a compressor and a water hose, flood the bed, bypass the sump, plunge it into the river pebbles and it lifts the solids to the surface. Have done 2 grow beds with 4 to do. I have used a pitch fork, extra worms, digging and water blasting and using the air/water spear is the far and away the best. Thanks again. Jim

G'day ,when I made my gb's I cut them from the sides instead of top or bottom ,you get two beds from each ibc and they have nice flat bottoms .You then use tank fittings for the drain.You then cut the ibc cage to the height you want ,incorporating the base ,you then use the leftover top section of cage for a stand, ie the base sits on top of the top,you may have to cut the corners of the cage to open it outwards to allow the gb to fit.You can also jump up and down in the centre of the base to form a sloping bottom to your gb's.I also noticed that you don't have nearly enough holes in your media guard to allow fast draining which I found made the auto siphons play up a lot , as in they would not break cleanly.I found that angle grinding as many slots as you can, vertically is best.With this setup I have found they stay quite clean as there are no low spots.I have learnt a few things from you and I hope this info is of some use ,Cheers mate.

Potential problems are something I should of paid more attention too I think... I read up all about what can happen & how to fix it before we installed the system but didn't really let it sink in.. Figured I could go to one of the links I book marked to find out what to do when I need to.. Problem is my computer went haywire the week I needed the info :D

There was also a bio digester type filter I saw that may be handy, basically an air stone in the bottom of a bucket with a mesh over top and small 2cm pieces of 1/2" pvc on the top and slit on one side. The small pieces of pipe provide bio mass and banging together from the air stone breaks the solids into smaller pieces until broken down by the bacteria.

Why thanks :P I have a few ideas up my sleeve but it would mean emptying the beds of media for me to do it & then it will take a while to test it.. The problem is that if I put the filter in line it will take forever to get enough solids in there to be able to test my design :D Might do a mock up bed in a few months to demonstrate the design.. Have a good one:)

There are loads of worms in the 3 beds we have set up.. Their solids also fall into the low spots & ad to the anaerobic problem unfortunately.. I think I have a clip somewhere showing the worms..

Think the plants loved it:) Have a good one..

Great Job Rob! I just finished cleaning mine out as well. I pulled all the media and washed it off. What a mess! I like your idea with the air wand. I think I will be storing that one in the back of the old mind. Have a great one!

Reapplication idea, we have tool vats with a stainless pipe and pinholes in it zigzaging a cross the the bottom of the vats. We hook compressed air up to this and open the valve to agitate the vats. Pipe has standoffs and a grate overtop. This might help cleaning your beds become more effective and painless.

I get it now.. Thanks for putting the time into that & it has got me thinking about altering the ideas I have... Shall play around with it when I set up the beds.. Cheers

Forever sounds like a good plan, reducing maintenance is always good.

The will allow the solids to be used in the system as extra nutrient.. I haven't been wasting them at the moment as I have been using them & the water to brew up worm casting tea for the soil beds.. Not 100% clear on how I am going to build it but the process has been explained to me & makes sense.. Went a tad off track there sorry :D Need a coffee I think.. Hope that helps some & have a great week.. Rob

I don't know if you've ever cleaned a fish tank before but you use a syphon that is shoved down into the substrate. If you flood the bed like you did then used your spear the same way but with suction instead of air coming out of it and sucked out the solids and kept your backup water flowing in, you can pinpoint the mucky areas and not have to floor and drain the entire bed so much. Just a thought, as you said it's a constant evolution.

Some "experts" in the back yard AP game say that solids are not a problem in a system our size & I fell for their advice at the start.. The solids can only be broken down so far.. As plant don't take up solids as such there will always be some left in the system.. A great clip was posted the other day explaining just how far solids can be broken down & the need for filtering of some type.. It's called "Solids in Aquaponics Take Two" watch?v=wQqkoWYtHi4 Hope that helps some & makes sense..

Heat is not really a problem we have had with the fish as they can stand fairly high water temps. I was worried about the heat of summer affecting them at one point but it never reached the high temps we were expecting. Burying the tanks in ground can help maintain a more constant water temp for the fish. I have thought about running the water from the sump to the fish tank through 5-10 meters/yards of black pipe that can be left in the sun to passively heat the water for the fish during winter.

We have them in the 3 beds & they do just fine.. The worms have somewhere to go if need be as there are always areas that are dry above the"high tide" mark.. They mustn't mind the water too much as I have removed them from the roots of plants that have been puled out of the beds.. Hope that helps..

Great information Rob, I,m yet to clean mine and that's an excellent idea with air and water and use the syphon and divert it straight onto a soil garden, my A/P turns off at night and didn't want the beds to stay flooded so I used affnan,s idea drilled a small hole right at the bottom of the stand pipe so it drains out slowly and doesn't effect the syphon action, just add more water if anything, maybe it can be done with dead spots.

Our plants bounced ok from being traumatised with the wand so I think they can take a bit of damage.. Good luck with the clean out..

This is by far the best video you have ever posted and your videos helped me build my system. Thank you so much. I'm going to switch it up a bit for my system but this is perfect. Thank you very much :) p.s. I have talapia. They love eating bug larvae.

We put worms in at the start with this bed & there are still loads of them in there.. Have a clip on some we pulled out from the roots of a plant a while back ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QeVrZwIRf6Q.html The worms also leave solids that wont be taken up by the plants which is something many don't tell you.. I think the solids filter has dramatically reduced the amounts of solids going in there now so am not that concerned any more.. TBC

Your welcome. We are setting up our first system And I like our RU-vids. Thanks Btw. We're in the world do you love. We are in Great Falls, Montana, USA

That's what I found so have left the others be for the moment... Hoping they will last until the fish are out of the system & they will get a clean then..

Great video Rob. It was good to see how your method evovled.

thanks for reply Rob. I'm a newbie that's trying to make a simplistic approach more complicated than what it should be :) Meaning, I'm trying too also look at elements which are potential issues, so that I can try and avoid.

Hope that helps some..

No problem Buddy... Is an enjoyable way to grow food I think.. Cheers

The sun has been nice when we see it Brock :) I think the beds need to be cleaned every 12 months or so.. If a filter was on there from the start I think they could go a few years before needing this sort of attention.. After these fish are all harvested I think I might pull the beds down & retro fit them so they are easier to clean.. Is all fun & games :) Have a great one Sir.. Cheers..

The water is flowing through fairly fast Adubb but unfortunately the media does catch a fair amount of the solids.. As the water slows down during the fill part of the cycle the solids will always settle out to the bottom causing a build up.. Fairly sure I know how to fix it using an artillery air line placed in the base of the beds.. Something I will be adding to new beds.. Have a great one sir :)

I think fish in is the way to go as long as the pH is kept down & there is some salt to help the fish over any nitrite spikes.. Can you pinch some media from someone else's system to help jump start the bacteria cycle ?? Will be sussing out your clips a bit later... Need to get some "framing" for the hoop house..

Will be making one to go with the fish farm.. Not sure if I will plumb it directly in as I was shown or if I will leave it as a stand alone unit.. Thanks again Larry :)

It's back for the winter :D Cheers..

Shall have a look into that.. Thanks & take it easy :)

Am hoping that the radial flow filter will pick up any finer bits that don't get washed off as they come through.. That might also help the system not get overloaded with too much stirred up nutrient rich particulate.. I think that the tap water might be too harsh on the bacteria I knock it around a bit. Do you have another tote you could settle out some water in & wash out one beds worth of clay a day? Hope that helps out a little bit mate & you get it sorted out soon. TBC

A few thoughts, To determine which grow bed is the culprit I would take a sample as each bell siphon discharged and do an ammonia, nitrite and nitrate on those. From my experience you only need to clean out the bed when you have a dead spot, that can be caused by a build up of solids or from a large root rotting.

Hi Rob, i've been doing a bit of research, and i came across a few RU-vid videos on enhancing your aquaponics setup with vermiculture. as i understand it, the addition of worms to your grow bed should help keep your sediments aerated, and reduce the amount of time you need to maintain your ecosystem. cheers, ...max

Might be a go if the pressure could be regulated... Something to look into.. Thanks :)

Yet some will tell you a system this size doesn't need one :O I don't pay heed to those "experts" any more ;) Looking at integrating our radial flow into the system a bit better.. Think I have all the piping I need now :) Cheers James :)

filters...filters...filters The most important part of a system.

Also will be great if you tell where did you get covered material for you greenhouse. Thank you in advance.

I think it is just a case of letting the bacteria catch up with the load that's in the water once the issue causing it has been found & fixed.. It is just a matter of time before the system will come back into balance so I have found.. That was the advice given to me & it appears to of worked ok here.. Are you having issues right now ??

A siphoning gravel cleaner for aquariums should work well. It pulls all the decay/debris with it so none can escape into your system. I prefer the siphons that are not self priming because those has smaller openings that trap debris. I have three types and "Aqua Culture Regular Gravel Vacuum Cleaner" is My fave. (Some decent videos on RU-vid ;-) bout using them in aquariums.)

Have a few ideas how to stop the dead spots in the next grow beds or these if I get game enough to retrofit them.. Really don't want to have to go through the beds every 8-12 months.. Hopping the filter gets rid of most of the solids so I don't have to do it ever again but I think I'm dreaming there..

Not to sure about that but will try & help.. How big is the bed in Litres Jayendral ?? You might want to look at reducing the standpipe down a bit depending on the size of the bed..

From what have read & understand the water in the system needs to be turned around at least once every hour.. I run ours (at a guess as I have the flow restricted a bit) at 925gph for a 450gal system so I should be getting the water replaced in the fish tank nearly twice every hour.. That way you get good filtration through the grow beds.. How many & what type of fish are you looking at stocking in there ??

I have little to support this idea, but AP systems seem to get better as time goes on and it's my belief that all the little pockets of gunk may actually be a benefit. Along this way of thinking I have also been experimenting with pieces of rebar placed in areas where I suspect anaerobic conditions in hope of making iron chelate. It's too soon to know if that will work.

Hey Rob. I'm a future aquapinist. An idea I have is to place a screen of sorts in the bottom of the bed that would provide a gap for the media to rest on. If a drain is installed it could suck the solids down without the media in the way. Have you ever heard or seen this? Thoughts? Thank you for all the great information!

I had to cut that experiment short today. My 800 gallon fish tank is 4 feet deep and I suspect the bottom plate rotted. There was a big bow in the side and the bottom was being pushed out. I had no choice but to move all the fish and empty the tank. Tomorrow I will disassemble it. I'm afraid I will not be setting that experiment up again because I'm going to go with a smaller design, Maybe just use a drum. I believe Jon Parr is also doing this same experiment with one of his systems.

I'm glad the spear worked so well or that's what I would of had to do as well Mark.. Not a job any of us really want to do methinks... Have a great one yourself :D

Perhaps a tap at the bottom side for draining the solid laden water when using the air spear instead of through your bell siphon would be easier

Hi Max Would love to get the link off you of the clips if you want to PM me here on YT. That grow bed is loaded with worms but unfortunately they can only break matter down so far.. I had to edit the footage of them out as I get a tad long winded.. I have a clip of some we have found before if you would like a look QeVrZwIRf6Q Worms also contribute solids to the system as well I have found.. TBC

Part 2 Have the spray bar holes facing down. The you could have a hose coming from that to place in a bucket on the ground. Once a week, or 3. You could walk by and hook up the hose and syphon the gunk straight from the bottom of each low area. Would work basically on the same principal as the process for a swirl filter. That make any sense?

I have never fed the perch more than 3% of their weight, which was recommended during the early stages.. That has been reduced to around 2% as they have matured so I doubt that is a big part of the problem.. The low points in the bed & lack of filter for 18months or so is probably more the issue.. People I have spoken to who do large aquaculture/ponics installations for a living say that this type of solids build up is just a part of of the cycle.. TBC

They didn't appear to Chuck.. Only ever to see a bit of shock when we plant from soil into the aquaponics.. I think washing the soil out is fairly traumatic o the roots..

Thanks for sharing. I'll check that out.

Sorry for the slow reply Jeff... Just caught your other clip, how's the koi going now ? When the grow beds here get moved soon (they are chock full of solids on the base :[ ) I will be taking out the cleaner clay from the top then flooding the bed to give the rest of it a bit of a wash to get the bulk of the solids off.. Will then move it into some clean water & give it a good dunking to get any solids off that don't want to cooperate.. TBC

What a great Idea :) **claps** Shall definitely look into that as it makes a lot more sense & would be a lot more painless... THANK YOU :)

Looks like a dirty job and you're just the man to do it! With a system setup like that I don't think a lot can be done to change it. But for a new system it would seem a bottom with a gentle slope to the drain would make cleaning a lot easier. Those ridges really don't help with draining those solids.

Hence, the difference between DWC hydroponics and grow media aquaponics. That smell is from anaerobic conditions developing down at the bottom of the beds...like in a septic tank. Not what you want! You wouldn't grow food in septic waste! While you prefer not to use the actual under-gravel filter that are sometimes used in aquariums...you might consider installing a course screen under the media, a couple of inches up from the bottom, so the media doesn't do down to the very bottom of the beds. Then, if you limit the drain holes to the bottom couple of inches of the standpipe...below the level of the media...you might find that you can get some good turbulence in that media-less bottom part of the beds. Perhaps, considering how much flow bell siphons can develop, that could dislodge the sludge as fast as it builds up and carry it out to the filter so that the sludge doesn't build up. Of course, the other issue could be inadequate filtering Some people don't use filters at all...and they like to show off how clean their fish water is. But, of course, what's happening is that they are sludging up their grow media, turning them into the equivalent of septic tanks. Sooner or later they'll certainly have the same issues you've experienced. The solution is more filters. "Backyarders" don't differentiate between settleable and suspended solids. The homemade swirl filter doesn't remove the suspended solids...but the grow bed does! Using bag or drum filters might be the only practical solution. I haven't seen anyone come up with a homemade drum filter yet, but someone will sooner or later!

Beautiful fertiliser. :)

Would like to know how you get on once it's done.. Cheers & all the best, Rob.

I plan on seeding it with some filter media from my 5 different fish tanks so i should be ok on that. The greenhouse is in the works still, i put it on hold to get the Aquaponics system up and running. Thanks for the advice. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions on my system. Thanks.

I wonder if placing a filter on the inbound flow pipe (inside the bed) would help catch the solids?? Cheese cloth type material???? Love your videos!!

Could be a lot easier Larry... Looking at a few options for when the beds get rebuilt in the future.. Thanks... Rob..

What are your pH, Ammonia Nitrite & Nitrate levels sitting at Jeff ?

YT says "NO".. Can see it sorry Jeff..

Would worms in your system help keep the solids down?

A wee bit of work eh Rob. Is this something that needs to happen ofter? or do you feel it's from a specific reason. Everything looks so nice bro specially with all the sunshine :) Brock

Hi Rob, great videos...thanks again. I have not seen all of them yet but working on it :) Would using worms mostly resolve some of that "muck"

Does this activity cause any of the plants to go into a shock situation? Chuck

Have you considered having rows of tubing with holes on the bottom that blast air, like one of those solar aerators 24/7?

Would it be plausible to incorporate an air line/s UNDER the chosen medium before filling a grow bed? This may allow for air to be pumped in at the lowest levels without disturbing the most of the medium or any of the plants and still make it possible for the water to be flowed throughout. I am unsure as to whether a air compressor would help or hinder this as I think there could be too much pressure in such a system. Ideas?

Its a bit radical but do you think a jet washer pushed down to the base of the grow bed would be to extreme?

very cool thanks

After watching you Vblog I see tank design and flow patterns are much to be pondered apon. As I live in Florida I am wondering if you have a way of mantaining temp. To hot and to cold?

Hey Rob, awesome videos! I have small system (8 sq ft bed & 50 gal fish tank) and your videos have made look into upgrade to a system like your IBC chop and flip. Have you found a way to design the grow bed so you don't get all that solids build up? Or a solid waste filter that doesn't take a lot of space? I've seen your radial flow filters but I'm afraid I won't have room for it. Did that bed have worms in it?