Paul a great presentation. I always have one question with decoupled systems. There are still nitrates being built up in the aquaculture part of the system so what happens with that? Is there a Aquaponics running with that as well or are the nitrates going through denitrifying processes and Nitrogen released to the atmosphere. If so why waste the nitrates? 2 grow beds one the decoupled the other Aquaponics.
Water is continuously flowing through the filter into the plant sump and then being circulated through the plant system so nitrates are being exchanged constantly. The aerobic mineralization tank is only used as a secondary nutrient boost on an as needed basis and is plumbed into the plant sump. When you need to add nutrients from the mineralization tank you can turn off the air to allow the solids to settle and simply open a valve to discharge the supernatant. Otherwise this system has the ability to supply nutrients continuously from the fish or it can operate in decoupled mode which is why there are two sumps (one for fish and one for plants).
One thing I wonder about: the beads filter traps the sludge but still the ammonia/NO2/NO3 levels will increase "little by little" since there are no veggies between the beads filter itself and the fish tank, so how is this solved? Through frequent fish water changes, or...?
Great looking setup but Paul describes it in the video as a decoupled setup, although in the comments It's described as the RAS feeds into the plants, making it a coupled system? How does this system actually work? Because from your comment it sounds like a coupled system with a mineralisation tank. Also, how come the Endurance isn't using automatic sludge discharge that has been described in other videos?
Billy, thanks for your question. Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) are not required to have a plant component. The water in the fish tanks is continually being filtered by the Endurance filter as the 'fish loop'. Waste generated from that loop is moved into a mineralization tank manually. The blending tank, connected to mineralization, recirculates the water of the hydroponics system, but doesn't go back to the fish loop. Think of it as two loops. 1)Fish tank and filter then the 2) hydroponics loop circulating as its own loop. The only "connection" or transfer point is the mineralization tank. In decoupled systems, the water sent to the plants doesn't recirculate back to the fish. Coupled systems send water through the fish, then the plants, and back again. astfilters.com/aquatic-systems/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/01/12202019-MDC-2000-Brochure.pdf This system was installed by Aquaponic Source. Automatic discharge is an option, customers choose their setup configurations. It may have been done this way to have more control over the amount of water and waste being transferred.
Hi Paul, great video and education on decoupled system. keep on the good job! One thing i cannot comprehend is how the nitrate in the water in the aquaculture side is disposed/processed? Looks like the solid is drained and a little of the nitrate is past on to the hydroponic side. Would the nitrate keep building up in the fish water? please someone explain. Thanks.
Great Question! The short answer is yes, Nitrate will build up in the system over time. This is advantageous for the plant side of things but if left un checked (for a long period of time) could cause issues for the fish, depending on the species. Any true closed RAS system has a certain length of time that it can remain "closed" meaning no replacement of water (besides refilling due to evaporation). This timeframe is completely dependent on management. Other technology and water treatment techniques can be applied such as denitrification which will help control the nitrate concentration, but what will ultimately limit the amount of time a system can remained "closed" is the inevitable salt buildup that occurs from little to no water exchange. Thanks for the question and for watching!
@@ASTFilters my backyard is semi-detached aquaponics very similar to this setup. the fish tank is built from 2 ibc totes and the output of that goes through a set of diy swirl filters made of 55 gal drums and then the Endurance 4000 bead filter before airlifted back to the 2 tanks. I also has a mineralization step but that is small flow, about 20 gallons each week or two. Tanks are stocked 60x at 5-10+ inch koi in one side and 100+ 6-10+ inch tilapia in another. The plant side is made of two 55 gallon drums, chopped vertically and laid on the sides as a trough filled with clay media and bell siphoned to control the drainage. it has a 100+ gallon sump on the bottom of the grow bed. For my system, there is a small 1/2 inch PVC line that connected to the sump from the plant side to the fish and a small 80-100 gal/hr flow connect between the two. Nitrifying is happining very fast and there is no ammonia nor nitrite in the water, slightly higher nitrate in the fish water about 5ppm compare near 0 on the plant loop. If I were to redo this system, I will make it a one close loop 100% coupled system. Initially, I thought the same way, that the 2 systems can run independently but this somehow cause the nitrate to leach out to algie growth in the tank (my system is uncovered in the backyard) rather than growing useful plants. We hope to one day visit the AST setup and see what other filter options are available from you to take us to the next level. Thanks for your informative explaination. By the way, since our system is outdoors, the occational rain storm will top off/replace the aged system water natually. so it is not 100% closed RAS in our case. Just FYI.
Can you please explain your grow area size from what I can see from your system size of Ra's. It's rather small you are adding fertilizer to your hydroponic system? As the system tanks that size and that means a low stocking rate
Hello, How can we get AST Bead Filter in India ? I am planning a Aquaponics setup in 3000 Sq.Ft as in First now . Need to have Bead Filter . How to get & are your services available in India?
Just solved one of my long thought about problems for my future system. Duel temps. Some fish like 55F to 65F max. Many plants find that cold. Decouple! Geo control the cool fish side. Solar control the warm plant side. I don't see the down side of decoupling. Are there any?
Yes! that is the beauty of decoupled systems, both the fish and plant systems are able to be operated independently while still having the synergetic relationship. Decoupling not only allows you to operate at different temperatures, but also water chemistries: pH, iron concentrations, etc. Have not found any downsides with decoupled systems yet! Thanks for watching!!
Welcome back guys!
Great Job Paul about time you got off your duff and got back making videos.
What a great video. Very informative. The fish look amazing too!
I like what I see I need the filter for my system at my school.
Where is your school
In Kentucky
Wow it's future of organic farming.
What
do you need chelat fe too?
Hi great video! Is it possible to have a blueprint of the piping. Or maybe a video shot of the back of their system?
How do you deal with nitrate build up in the water as you have isolated it.
Paul a great presentation. I always have one question with decoupled systems.
There are still nitrates being built up in the aquaculture part of the system so what happens with that? Is there a Aquaponics running with that as well or are the nitrates going through denitrifying processes and Nitrogen released to the atmosphere. If so why waste the nitrates? 2 grow beds one the decoupled the other Aquaponics.
Water is continuously flowing through the filter into the plant sump and then being circulated through the plant system so nitrates are being exchanged constantly. The aerobic mineralization tank is only used as a secondary nutrient boost on an as needed basis and is plumbed into the plant sump. When you need to add nutrients from the mineralization tank you can turn off the air to allow the solids to settle and simply open a valve to discharge the supernatant. Otherwise this system has the ability to supply nutrients continuously from the fish or it can operate in decoupled mode which is why there are two sumps (one for fish and one for plants).
If you dump into the miniralzaton tank doesn't that which you dumped in go right back out to the plants not miniralzed because you just extraced it
One thing I wonder about: the beads filter traps the sludge but still the ammonia/NO2/NO3 levels will increase "little by little" since there are no veggies between the beads filter itself and the fish tank, so how is this solved? Through frequent fish water changes, or...?
Great looking setup but Paul describes it in the video as a decoupled setup, although in the comments It's described as the RAS feeds into the plants, making it a coupled system? How does this system actually work? Because from your comment it sounds like a coupled system with a mineralisation tank. Also, how come the Endurance isn't using automatic sludge discharge that has been described in other videos?
Billy, thanks for your question. Recirculating Aquaculture Systems (RAS) are not required to have a plant component. The water in the fish tanks is continually being filtered by the Endurance filter as the 'fish loop'. Waste generated from that loop is moved into a mineralization tank manually. The blending tank, connected to mineralization, recirculates the water of the hydroponics system, but doesn't go back to the fish loop. Think of it as two loops. 1)Fish tank and filter then the 2) hydroponics loop circulating as its own loop. The only "connection" or transfer point is the mineralization tank. In decoupled systems, the water sent to the plants doesn't recirculate back to the fish. Coupled systems send water through the fish, then the plants, and back again.
astfilters.com/aquatic-systems/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2020/01/12202019-MDC-2000-Brochure.pdf
This system was installed by Aquaponic Source. Automatic discharge is an option, customers choose their setup configurations. It may have been done this way to have more control over the amount of water and waste being transferred.
Hi Paul, great video and education on decoupled system. keep on the good job!
One thing i cannot comprehend is how the nitrate in the water in the aquaculture side is disposed/processed? Looks like the solid is drained and a little of the nitrate is past on to the hydroponic side. Would the nitrate keep building up in the fish water? please someone explain. Thanks.
Great Question! The short answer is yes, Nitrate will build up in the system over time. This is advantageous for the plant side of things but if left un checked (for a long period of time) could cause issues for the fish, depending on the species. Any true closed RAS system has a certain length of time that it can remain "closed" meaning no replacement of water (besides refilling due to evaporation). This timeframe is completely dependent on management. Other technology and water treatment techniques can be applied such as denitrification which will help control the nitrate concentration, but what will ultimately limit the amount of time a system can remained "closed" is the inevitable salt buildup that occurs from little to no water exchange.
Thanks for the question and for watching!
@@ASTFilters my backyard is semi-detached aquaponics very similar to this setup. the fish tank is built from 2 ibc totes and the output of that goes through a set of diy swirl filters made of 55 gal drums and then the Endurance 4000 bead filter before airlifted back to the 2 tanks. I also has a mineralization step but that is small flow, about 20 gallons each week or two. Tanks are stocked 60x at 5-10+ inch koi in one side and 100+ 6-10+ inch tilapia in another.
The plant side is made of two 55 gallon drums, chopped vertically and laid on the sides as a trough filled with clay media and bell siphoned to control the drainage. it has a 100+ gallon sump on the bottom of the grow bed.
For my system, there is a small 1/2 inch PVC line that connected to the sump from the plant side to the fish and a small 80-100 gal/hr flow connect between the two. Nitrifying is happining very fast and there is no ammonia nor nitrite in the water, slightly higher nitrate in the fish water about 5ppm compare near 0 on the plant loop.
If I were to redo this system, I will make it a one close loop 100% coupled system. Initially, I thought the same way, that the 2 systems can run independently but this somehow cause the nitrate to leach out to algie growth in the tank (my system is uncovered in the backyard) rather than growing useful plants.
We hope to one day visit the AST setup and see what other filter options are available from you to take us to the next level. Thanks for your informative explaination.
By the way, since our system is outdoors, the occational rain storm will top off/replace the aged system water natually. so it is not 100% closed RAS in our case. Just FYI.
I also read another comment below. This system is running as a coupled system during normal operation, with the ability to run as a de-coupled system.
Can you please explain your grow area size from what I can see from your system size of Ra's. It's rather small you are adding fertilizer to your hydroponic system? As the system tanks that size and that means a low stocking rate
Hello, How can we get AST Bead Filter in India ? I am planning a Aquaponics setup in 3000 Sq.Ft as in First now . Need to have Bead Filter . How to get & are your services available in India?
i would like to know what the price for that system, from the fish to the hydroponic tank plzz
sir, is the sump tank and the hydrophonic tank connected?
would like to know where these items can be purchased ??
Theaquaponicsource.com
Please can we get a proper pneumatic system explanation the basic over explanation is not enough build one for us so we can see the whole process.
Just solved one of my long thought about problems for my future system. Duel temps.
Some fish like 55F to 65F max.
Many plants find that cold.
Decouple!
Geo control the cool fish side.
Solar control the warm plant side.
I don't see the down side of decoupling.
Are there any?
Yes! that is the beauty of decoupled systems, both the fish and plant systems are able to be operated independently while still having the synergetic relationship. Decoupling not only allows you to operate at different temperatures, but also water chemistries: pH, iron concentrations, etc. Have not found any downsides with decoupled systems yet!
Thanks for watching!!
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