Pumps and Aeration

Background

This is a guide to a hit and miss, handy-man, swimming pool conversion to acquaponics set up. I thought I'd write this up so others thinking of doing the same thing could see what might work and what might not.

This project began around the middle of the 2010 calender year after my neighbour handed me one of 48 Barramundi he had harvested from his standardised acquaponics set up next door.

Not long after the government announced severe water restrictions, after a winter of virtually no rain, and keen vegetable growers like myself faced the prospect of having to pull up our gardens over the summer.

An aquaponics system seemed like a way to solve a number of issues - including what to do with your swimming pool when the kids have left home and it gets little use. How to water your vegetables in the face of severe water restrictions, and how to afford fish when the cost keeps skyrocketing.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Pumps and Aeration

Well this was a bit like the grow media issue - lots of varying opinion leaving me having to trust my own judgment. Given the volume of the pool (now approx' 15,0000litres) and the need to filter that every 2 hours to keep the water quality high enough for some of the more temperamental fish species (ie trout), I was looking for something that could move a fair volume of water. I also had a fair amount of distance to cover with two of the three external grow beds about 6 metres away from the pool and at least 2 metres higher than where the pump sits.

The other reason I wanted a stronger than average pump was because I hoped to divert a percentage of the water away from the grow beds and return that to the pool via a large pipe running off a nearby pergola. This was a little piece of drama inspired during a recent visit to Spain where water gardens and water features are truly spectacular.

Anyway the end result was that the pump carried sufficient water to the three grow beds but not the arching aerator - I believe it is pumping well below its specifications and I plan to remedy that in the new year. In the meantime the return from the grow beds is aerating the water but on a smaller scale.