HD Aquaponics Ep.29 – Swirl filter blowdown, harvesting fish waste, fertilizer, sand filter

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This week we dissect the workings of the swirlpoincs and learn how easy it is to harvest your fish fertilizer for your soil-based gardens. Fan Page: http://w…

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24 Responses to HD Aquaponics Ep.29 – Swirl filter blowdown, harvesting fish waste, fertilizer, sand filter

  1. How are you connecting the 5 gallon swirl filter at the bottom to the spout where you drain the solids? (how does it go together i’d like to build one for my system

    WheresCarl Mcgee
    April 17, 2013 at 10:07 am
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  2. you might want to consider using threaded pipe for your waste valve connectors. I can see one morning you will come to find all your water drained on the floor if that drain pops off like it did in the beginning of the video. i had a similar thing happen to my koi tank when the pvc connector popped off from my water fall,, my 700 gal indeck tank was bone dry, fish survived, but not a fun fix in the middle of winter.

    grandmastermicochero
    April 17, 2013 at 11:04 am
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  3. In aquaponics what do you add to the water for fertilizer beside feeding the fish?, I don’t want anything that will hurt my Koi.

    Thomas Bohlen
    April 17, 2013 at 11:19 am
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  4. Ed I luv your creativity, you are truly one of the best in Aquaponics. Keep up the good work…

    Skip

    fishlaw1
    April 17, 2013 at 11:40 am
    Reply

  5. why not evaporate the water to leave the dried waste ?

    freddy kruger
    April 17, 2013 at 12:01 pm
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  6. Ed, what size is your overall system when this video was made. I want to design a swirl filter for a 1500 gallon system, but I don’t think a 4 gallon water just is going to be big enough. The other challenge is that I intend to have my swirl filter ABOVE the level of the tanks, so it will be fed by a pump, not by gravity. So I think my outlet line needs to be significantly larger than my inlet to ensure the pump doesn’t outrun the drain and spill over. Any thoughts on sizing?

    Tom B
    April 17, 2013 at 12:09 pm
    Reply

  7. On the contrary, my understanding (and observation) is that you don’t want the solids in your grow bed. They will eventually clog up the beds and water won’t flow through them properly. If you want to be more effective than just watering a dirt garden, I would recommend thinning the solution so it can run through a sprayer, and use it as a foliar feed.

    Tom B
    April 17, 2013 at 12:17 pm
    Reply

  8. probably a rubber 2 clamp coupling any plumbing shop can accommodate you

    yurajaro
    April 17, 2013 at 12:56 pm
    Reply

  9. Nice use of a water cooler bottle and love the easy cleaning. I’ve been trying to figure a way to install a swirl filter to an existing system where I have no place to put except right in the sump, still waiting for the final inspiration to hit me, lol.

    Ricky Somerville
    April 17, 2013 at 1:03 pm
    Reply

  10. How did you plumb the water bottle neck to regular pvc pipe? I’m trying to duplicate your idea but can’t figure out how to plumb in the drain.

    TJ Tinner
    April 17, 2013 at 1:56 pm
    Reply

  11. I just tried again and it’s the same… When I subscribe it says YouTube not available…this is on a iPad and a iPhone .. I would check it out just incase it’s happening to other people..

    J1SMOKES
    April 17, 2013 at 2:12 pm
    Reply

  12. how many gallons is the aquarium with the baby tilapia at the end?

    TheHM124
    April 17, 2013 at 2:57 pm
    Reply

  13. What a stupid ass comment!!!!!!!!! MortherNorth14 needs to pull there head out of there ass!!!! Sorry YouTubers but there are some real dumb asses out there!!!

    RockinCrawler
    April 17, 2013 at 3:45 pm
    Reply

  14. LOL finally a realistic aquaponic video, so often its made to look perfectly simple, never no problems

    “so heres bucket number one ….*BEEP*”

    LOL

    now thats much more realistic

    dramey03
    April 17, 2013 at 3:54 pm
    Reply

  15. Nice setup!  Do you know what the water flow rate (gpm) is? Thanks!

    Kntryhart
    April 17, 2013 at 4:47 pm
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  16. Not really an aquaponics system.

    NCHollop
    April 17, 2013 at 5:36 pm
    Reply

  17. time to start eating some of those bad boys ;)-

    indoorharvestgardens
    April 17, 2013 at 5:52 pm
    Reply

  18. Bee shrimp you can breed them yourself in freshwater they need 68-82 degree water temp same as tilipia. My system that I use 3-275 gallon tanks one is my fish holding tanks then it goes to my breeding tank plus my shrimp, snails, Otocinclus which goes to where my waste tank. I also have my 2-50gallon barrels 1 barrel receives the water from the plants and it fill the 2nd barrel this barrel the 1st is 1/4 full of sand and pee gravel and green scrub pads. The other fill’s my fish holding tank.

    1stWorldofFreedom
    April 17, 2013 at 5:53 pm
    Reply

  19. Your swirl filter is running backwards. Supposed to flow in the bottom, overflow out the top. You’re sucking that poo right thru!

    akettring
    April 17, 2013 at 6:37 pm
    Reply

  20. How about the Tiger Shrimp ? That seems to be a species which has some Aquaponic experience… My guess is any shrimp will do really… Anyway, I have seen a youtube on shrimp in DWC….not sure where thought…sorry…

    Sander Tel
    April 17, 2013 at 7:20 pm
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  21. I had started to read up keeping crayfish in the sump to keep it clean but read that the nitrites in the system would just end up killing them. Shrimp, I’ve not looked into that, can you get me a species to research?

    Edward Pozek
    April 17, 2013 at 7:33 pm
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  22. Aha, free…I like free any day…. Well I am sure most guys like to build things for the fun of it and find a use later on… Did you know you could keep large shrimp in a DWC floating raft tank ??? Did you know the shrimp will rid the system of disolved algea and that they tend to manicure the dangling roots to clarity….?
    I never knew Aquaponics can be this diverse… In both the plant and animal worlds…

    Sander Tel
    April 17, 2013 at 8:27 pm
    Reply

  23. Yes, I’ve thought about this. The reason we started using the filter was because of an over population of fish we were keeping in a 200 gallon tank. With a larger system this filter would not be necessary but like you said, the float raft almost makes it ideal. Basically I’ve secured a way to collect fertilizer for my raised beds for free.

    Edward Pozek
    April 17, 2013 at 8:55 pm
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  24. Excuse me Anynamenotused …
    1st: an UV light works in pools and rainwater storage but will kill all microbial life…including the good bacteria we want in the system.
    2nd: “Poor fish” is a relative term: you should see the African rivers in which most Tilapia fish ought to live… How poor a water quality are those fish NOT COMPLAINING ABOUT?
    The water clarity looks fine to me… Great work Ed… Now test the water clarity with a DWC and look how the roots look after 3 or 4 weeks…

    Sander Tel
    April 17, 2013 at 9:45 pm
    Reply

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