Aquaponics System, Passive Solar Greenhouse build

[stevehull]

Nice air pump. I am looking for one like that to aerate one of my deep farm ponds. Can you send specifics on model number, where you got it and cost?

Your project looks awesome!

Thanks,

Steve

[pinballlooking]

Thanks.

Sure it was an eBay item from China. I got the MPG-902 18W it is the small one I wanted to keep the watts down so the battery would last a while. But it still puts out a lot of air.

It was $50.99 shipped it took about 15 days to get to me.
DC12V Air Pump Aquarium Pond Aquaponics Hydroponics 18 35 60 100 120W | eBay

Others on the aquaponics forum had used similar pumps.


I bought a spare water sump pump same model as I have now and a new pump impeller. I am getting closer to geting my fish so I wanted to have some just in case items on hand.

[Daox]

How does one transport 25 tilapia?

[pinballlooking]

I have a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank. That I will put some rain water in it.
I will put my boat battery in the back of my truck with my new pump and a couple nice 4” air stones.
He will give me some water to add to the tank so it is not so much of a shock for them.

I have never have raised fish before so this is new to me.

[stevehull]

I looked up this 18W 12 V air pump with the link you sent. I see it puts out 38 L of air/minute (~ 10 gallons). Do you know what pressure it can achieve? I want to put the far end of the air hose down about 30 feet (about one atmosphere; 15 psi).

Because it is a piston driven one, I think this is positive displacement and I bet it can put out a lot of pressure. This would be PERFECT for my pond aeration needs.

If you get a chance, can you see what it will put out in terms of psi. I don't see any psi vs volume graph in the online specs.

Thanks,

Steve

[pinballlooking]

It is 0.06 MPa that gets converted to 8.7 psi. more than enough for my 4' deep fish tank.

http://www.tiniusolsen.com/resource-center/mpa-psi.html

My AC pump was a small pond pump and it had a styrofoam ring so you could hang the air stone deep but not at the full depth. I not sure that helps you.

[pinballlooking]

I got thinking about my new air pump and this is how I will hook it up. Much simpler and it will use less things to buy and it will use less power.

It is the same operational theory.

I am going to use a contactor relay with normally closed contacts. This way I can just power it with 110 volts. When the power goes out it will turn on the 12v pump when the power comes back on it will open the contacts back up and turn it off.
I just bought this cheap one off eBay it gets powered by 110 volts.


This is a more robust solution.
The contactor will just close or open the red wire to the pump. It is rated for way more amps than I will ever use.

Most of you know this but here it is if you don’t.
A1 and A2 110 volts
21: pump red wire
22: battery + 12 volt (put a fuse close to the battery.)
Battery black – goes to pump – black side.

21,22 are the normally closed contacts so when power is applied it will open the contacts.
Then when we lose power it will close the contacts giving power to the air pump.

[pinballlooking]

We are cycled! I dosed 1 ppm ammonia yesterday morning.
And today
PH it is about 6.8
Ammonia is about .0 ppm this came down from yesterday.
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate is showing up at about 30
This is exactly what I wanted. This means when the fish produce ammonia my system can convert it to nitrates in a 24 hour period.

Now I just need to see when I can get my fish.

[jeff5may]

Originally Posted by pinballlooking

I have a 100 gallon Rubbermaid stock tank. That I will put some rain water in it.
I will put my boat battery in the back of my truck with my new pump and a couple nice 4” air stones.
He will give me some water to add to the tank so it is not so much of a shock for them.

I have never have raised fish before so this is new to me.

That tank is almost exactly what my parents use for their goldfish fountain. They bought some keystone pavers and built them up 3 or 4 courses high around the tank. A raised planting bed catches any spillover when it rains, and the thing has never floated up out of the ground like the more expensive landscape ponds. Been there two decades or longer.

[pinballlooking]

I pick up my fish tomorrow. Here is the setup stock tank ¾ full rain water and a cardboard cover.
New 12v pump two 4” air stones extra battery to run it.