This is my first aquaponics setup. I'm growing herbs (mint, sage, and cilantro) to try it out. It has been running for about a month or two now. I'm happy the plants are growing and alive.
The setup features a larger version of the pneumatic ejector pump I had designed. It uses a chamber that is 2 Liters instead of the 1 Liter container used in previous videos. The check valve is also custom design I have invented and it is built from simply a horizontally mounted plastic bottle with a rubber ball inside. This works extremely well for large debris (so well that I had accidentally pumped two of my fish to the top of the grow beds). The pump is powered by a 6 watt 15L/m ActiveAqua model AAPA15L air pump.
goo.gl/FYcoF4
As the pneumatic ejector pump chamber refills, the air exits the long pipe at the top passing through a larger diameter pipe filled with filter floss material (the muffler) reducing the gurgling noise the pump makes.
The liquid from the aquarium is pumped at a height of roughly 2ft and then into a two stage filter made from re-purposed plastic juice dispensers. The first container being a swirl filter and the second container a media filter (half filled with hydroton and the rest filled with filter floss).
As both grow beds fill, liquid is distributed to both grow beds via a "U" siphon connecting the two beds. The auto-siphon in the second grow bed will then actuate to automatically drain both grow beds when the water level is at an adequate level. The grow beds fill and empty at a cycle period of a little under 7 minutes.
The auto-siphon's drain pipe is a perforated length of PVC pipe to create a shower head to aerate the water as the grow beds drain back into the aquarium.
Watch an explanation of how the air lift pump works:
• Low Power Airlift Pump...
26 июл 2015
