Great video, you really break things down. I just wanted to add that when sizing a biofilter, I think it helps to always just round up in all of your calculations and buy the next highest unit quantity of supplies you think you'll need. For example - did you calculate your feeding rate would produce 27 g of TAN per day? Round up to 30. Did you calculate that you'd need 1.3 cubic feet of biofilter media? Buy 2 cubic feet. Did you calculate that you'd need a 20 gallon container to house your biofilter media? Get a 30 gallon container. The "always round up" rule of thumb has simplified these sorts of things for me and those who I teach aquaponics to when it comes to designing systems.
Thank you for the useful info I use K1 in my hatchery and this will help me fine tune this system. once I get my green house up I will be using expanded shell for my grow beds along with floating rafts. The grow beds will be 55 gallon drums cut in half. What would be the calculations for that??
Thanks for dealing with the science of moving bed sizing. It's helpful as I work to design the system I'm putting together. Subscribed. Gonna go explore more of your videos and maybe sign up for the course. I like what you're trying to do here.
Hi there, very good day to you Michael i have excruciatingly gobsmacked by your drill in this subject, thank you very much. as a matter of fact, i would like to know if there are devices to measure the TAN amount in the grow bed subsequently we will be able to feedback or adjust the system day in day out?.
Hey Brooklyn. Is it possible to feed herbs and things like moranga to the fish long term and their flesh absorbs the medicinal compounds which can make their meat a superfood by default? My thinking is in line with the same way antibiotics, pesticides, and steroids as well as heavy metals have been found in most fish and meats.
sadly it doesn't work that way in the reverse, however, you would get a healthier fish which will benefit if you consume it. Those compounds are trace elements that reside in the plant, in most cases, there is a synergy with other compounds those compounds sometimes seem inert but together their true benefits are derived. it's like average singers in a choir when their voices blend its magic. the process of digestion will make the absorbable compounds available for the fish and very little will remain to be transferred to us (in regards to the fish being a superfood that is) in some cases fish don't digest plant material to well, like soya. I say go for it, feed them moringa, duckweed also the raw leaves, nothing bad can come of it. you may even get more fertile fish.
Also Brooklyn you have excellent videos but you need to hashtag them for more exposure. Use #aquaponics #biologicalfiltration #fishproduction #aquaponiclearning #gettingstartedwithaquaponics #fishandveggies #organicgrowing #tilapia
I have a question: if you are planning on expanding your setup over time, wouldn't it be cheaper to size the biological filter you will eventually need right away?
15:05 you're not going to get more nitrifying bacteria if you have an excess amount of bio filtration.... But I thought the amount of bacteria was directly related to the surface area & that all components of the system outside the tanks/ponds also produced some form of biological filtration in a limited capacity due to bacterial growth. I'm speaking outside of the filtration unit(s); like your PVC, beds, rafts, hydroton.. even lines that provide drip irrigation for those vertical towers. Aren't they all home to nitrifying bacteria? That being said, wouldn't the extra surface area provided by the "excess" biological filtration create more places for that bacteria to live? So is it safe to say that even with an excess of surface area, that the amount of bacteria present & thriving is also related to how much ammonia & ammonium is produced? In other words, if we remove our fish, crustaceans, amphibians or whatever else is producing our nitrogen, would this bacteria starve & die off?
think of a big house. the big house has allot of space to keep many peaple inside but the peaple inside would not stay there or survive if they had nothing to eat. if you can only provide feed for 2 peaple than your house will only have 2 peaple living there even tho you still have many free rooms to occupie. just that there is no food around to grow that famely biger in size. potentially though you could have a very big famely living there if you had enough food to give evryone.
now imagin the tax of a biger house and the power to light it or heat it(if its cold there) it would cost you more to have a bigger house and have only 2 peaple living in there would not be considered efficient. its the same principle with a big biofilter
Hi Brooklyn, great video. I have a question on cycling my biological system. I have your book and have designed and building a media system. It will have 10 300 litre grow beds, two FT, six tabby tanks (in sump) and about 30kg of fish (Wilson Leonard) with clarifier and mineralisation tank. I thought I’d cycle the media whilst constructing the FT, and have been adding ammonia for about 5 days. All my clay balls are from a friends previous aquaponics system, have been kept dry for 12 to 18 months. Water temp is about 12C, TAN up around 4ppm, nitrites rose to 0.25ppm. But my nitrates have risen already to around 120ppm, perhaps more, yes I need to add plants. Just wondering if the media will be full of spores and could cycle faster, or if the increasing nitrates is normal. Still not converting TAN yet.
Love your videos. Learning a ton. Can you do a video on all these equations that you explain that is needed For aquaponics or do I have to buy a program for the school of aquaponics? Thanks
95% Extra? Try 2000% extra as that is 20 times what you actually need (0.05 vs 0.95) 95% more then 0.05 would be 0.975 by my math. I recently had an argument with my supervisor about this exact topic, he swears that having too much BSA causes ammonia spikes by starving the bacteria. In practice I did add more media to the system at work and it did significantly lower our chronically high ammonia, TAN reading dropped from 8.0ppm to 0.25ppm over the course of about three weeks.
Hi Brooklyn! Thanks for yet another informative video. You got the point thru very well 👍 I do have a question about it though. I wonder if you flipped the gram numbers. As 29,4g is about a 20th part of 605g, shouldn't the calculation be 605 devided by 29,4 and not 29,4 devided by 605 and the correct answer should be 0,2057m3 ?
This argument confused me. There is something in the nature of a cubic foot that confuses me.. so 12inches x12inches x 12inches is considered 1 cubic foot so thats actually 1'728 cubic inches!! its ‘NOT’ 12cubic inches!!! so now 100cm x 100cm x100cm is considered 1cubic meter thats actually 1,000,000 cubic centimetres! ‘NOT’ 100cubic cm!!! the numbers basically get super inflated because of the cubing 1meter = 3.28084 feet but 1cubic meter = 35.315 cubic feet thats because in one meter there is about 3.281 feet that fit inside it so you have to do 1cubic meter = 3.281ft x 3.281ft x 3.281ft which = 35.319837041 ‘cubic feet’ so 1m^3 = 35.3ft^3 hence 0.05m^3 is = 35.3ft^3 x 0.05 =1.765 aquaponics god had wrote down 1.8 which is very close, so he’s Right! though i also thought he had mad a mistake before. google states its: 0.05 cubic metre = 1.766 cubic feet which is practically what i calculated. there is just a lack of understanding about what a cubic foot actually is, which i myself also had this misunderstanding since i was actually going to agree with Richard before i looked deeper into this issue. i 1st thought that this square(below) could be considered 5square cm but actually it would be incorrect. its definitely 5cm in length and 5cm in with but not 5square cm in area. _ _ _ _ _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | | _ | _ | _ | _ | _ | (just imagine the little squares are actually 1cm^2 cm in size) this square is actually 0.0025 square meter so 25 square cm the “square cm” ‘unit’ is practically just counting the amount of squares in that area. so along a length of 5cm and a with of 5 cm we get an area of 25squares that are 1cm in length and 1cm in with. 1square meter has 10 thousand of those smalle cm squares composing it and 1cubed meter has 1MILLION of those size “Cubes” not squares!! this next square is actually considered 5square cm. _ _ | _ | _ | | _ | _ | actually i cant draw it as a square because adding the 5th square cm would look like this. _ _ _ | _ | _ | _ | | _ | _ | so the one from before was 4square cm 0.05 square meter actually has 500 of dose little squares so 0.05 square meter is 500 square centimeters which i before thought that 0.05 square meter was equale to 5square cm because like i normally think in the normal meter 0.05meters is = to 5cm but if you doing squared or cubed it wont have the same proportions. it will instead be heavily stretched
Great video, you really break things down. I just wanted to add that when sizing a biofilter, I think it helps to always just round up in all of your calculations and buy the next highest unit quantity of supplies you think you'll need. For example - did you calculate your feeding rate would produce 27 g of TAN per day? Round up to 30. Did you calculate that you'd need 1.3 cubic feet of biofilter media? Buy 2 cubic feet. Did you calculate that you'd need a 20 gallon container to house your biofilter media? Get a 30 gallon container. The "always round up" rule of thumb has simplified these sorts of things for me and those who I teach aquaponics to when it comes to designing systems.
Another great video Brooklyn, great information and explanation.
Excellent detail very good information, thank you. You do a great job leading us to the right answer in these videos.
Thank you for the useful info I use K1 in my hatchery and this will help me fine tune this system. once I get my green house up I will be using expanded shell for my grow beds along with floating rafts. The grow beds will be 55 gallon drums cut in half. What would be the calculations for that??
Thanks for dealing with the science of moving bed sizing. It's helpful as I work to design the system I'm putting together. Subscribed. Gonna go explore more of your videos and maybe sign up for the course. I like what you're trying to do here.
Hey brooklyn another great vid
Man your on point thanks for all you do my brother 💯
Thanks for the support Jsaw!
Hi there,
very good day to you Michael
i have excruciatingly gobsmacked by your drill in this subject, thank you very much.
as a matter of fact, i would like to know if there are devices to measure the TAN amount in the grow bed subsequently we will be able to feedback or adjust the system day in day out?.
Hey Brooklyn. Is it possible to feed herbs and things like moranga to the fish long term and their flesh absorbs the medicinal compounds which can make their meat a superfood by default? My thinking is in line with the same way antibiotics, pesticides, and steroids as well as heavy metals have been found in most fish and meats.
sadly it doesn't work that way in the reverse, however, you would get a healthier fish which will benefit if you consume it.
Those compounds are trace elements that reside in the plant, in most cases, there is a synergy with other compounds those compounds sometimes seem inert but together their true benefits are derived. it's like average singers in a choir when their voices blend its magic.
the process of digestion will make the absorbable compounds available for the fish and very little will remain to be transferred to us (in regards to the fish being a superfood that is) in some cases fish don't digest plant material to well, like soya.
I say go for it, feed them moringa, duckweed also the raw leaves, nothing bad can come of it. you may even get more fertile fish.
How often do u have to clean a biofilter?
Also Brooklyn you have excellent videos but you need to hashtag them for more exposure. Use #aquaponics #biologicalfiltration #fishproduction #aquaponiclearning
#gettingstartedwithaquaponics #fishandveggies #organicgrowing #tilapia
I have a question: if you are planning on expanding your setup over time, wouldn't it be cheaper to size the biological filter you will eventually need right away?
I miss you, where are you?
I’ll be back sometime next year. I’ve got some things to handle but I’ll be back!
Can you please do a video on air flow rates for fish tanks, MBBR and DWC. Especially when fish tanks are stocked at 60kg/m3.
15:05 you're not going to get more nitrifying bacteria if you have an excess amount of bio filtration....
But I thought the amount of bacteria was directly related to the surface area & that all components of the system outside the tanks/ponds also produced some form of biological filtration in a limited capacity due to bacterial growth. I'm speaking outside of the filtration unit(s); like your PVC, beds, rafts, hydroton.. even lines that provide drip irrigation for those vertical towers. Aren't they all home to nitrifying bacteria? That being said, wouldn't the extra surface area provided by the "excess" biological filtration create more places for that bacteria to live?
So is it safe to say that even with an excess of surface area, that the amount of bacteria present & thriving is also related to how much ammonia & ammonium is produced? In other words, if we remove our fish, crustaceans, amphibians or whatever else is producing our nitrogen, would this bacteria starve & die off?
Yes, if you remove the fish or anything else that is producing ammonia then the nitrifying bacteria will die off due to a lack of energy source.
(Surface area + Ammonia + Oxygen) all in a favourable temp. & pH
think of a big house. the big house has allot of space to keep many peaple inside but the peaple inside would not stay there or survive if they had nothing to eat. if you can only provide feed for 2 peaple than your house will only have 2 peaple living there even tho you still have many free rooms to occupie. just that there is no food around to grow that famely biger in size. potentially though you could have a very big famely living there if you had enough food to give evryone.
now imagin the tax of a biger house and the power to light it or heat it(if its cold there) it would cost you more to have a bigger house and have only 2 peaple living in there would not be considered efficient. its the same principle with a big biofilter
Good Morning Brooklyn
I think im having a problem with ny AP system,im seeing a sought of slimmy root like growth on underside of raft .Wish i could send u a photo of it
sounds like biomass build up if is the same as in your pipes? check your filters, is light getting into your raft?
Hi Brooklyn, great video. I have a question on cycling my biological system. I have your book and have designed and building a media system. It will have 10 300 litre grow beds, two FT, six tabby tanks (in sump) and about 30kg of fish (Wilson Leonard) with clarifier and mineralisation tank.
I thought I’d cycle the media whilst constructing the FT, and have been adding ammonia for about 5 days. All my clay balls are from a friends previous aquaponics system, have been kept dry for 12 to 18 months. Water temp is about 12C, TAN up around 4ppm, nitrites rose to 0.25ppm. But my nitrates have risen already to around 120ppm, perhaps more, yes I need to add plants.
Just wondering if the media will be full of spores and could cycle faster, or if the increasing nitrates is normal. Still not converting TAN yet.
Love your videos. Learning a ton. Can you do a video on all these equations that you explain that is needed For aquaponics or do I have to buy a program for the school of aquaponics? Thanks
Lol dude you're such a character.
95% Extra? Try 2000% extra as that is 20 times what you actually need (0.05 vs 0.95) 95% more then 0.05 would be 0.975 by my math. I recently had an argument with my supervisor about this exact topic, he swears that having too much BSA causes ammonia spikes by starving the bacteria. In practice I did add more media to the system at work and it did significantly lower our chronically high ammonia, TAN reading dropped from 8.0ppm to 0.25ppm over the course of about three weeks.
Thanks for the input!
Hi Brooklyn!
Thanks for yet another informative video. You got the point thru very well 👍
I do have a question about it though.
I wonder if you flipped the gram numbers. As 29,4g is about a 20th part of 605g, shouldn't the calculation be 605 devided by 29,4 and not 29,4 devided by 605 and the correct answer should be 0,2057m3 ?
605/29.4= 20.6 m3 which would be incorrect. Divide the TAN by the VTR to get the media volume in this case. Thanks for watching and supporting!
It's so hot what are you growing now?
aquaponics god whoooo
Wooooo!!!!
Dimensional Analysis!
Hey Brooklyn,
.... 0.05M = 1.9 INCHES, not feet. .5 Meters is 1.6 feet.
(from your appreciative Squid)
Hey Richard, I wrote 0.05 m3(cubic meters) - not 0.05 meters. Thanks for chiming in!
@@TheSchoolofAquaponics You also wrote 1.8ft Cubed. 2"x2"x2" is 2" cubed. Unless there is a new math.
Enjoy your day!
Read the book
This argument confused me. There is something in the nature of a cubic foot that confuses me..
so
12inches x12inches x 12inches
is considered 1 cubic foot
so thats actually 1'728 cubic inches!!
its ‘NOT’ 12cubic inches!!!
so now 100cm x 100cm x100cm
is considered 1cubic meter
thats actually 1,000,000 cubic centimetres!
‘NOT’ 100cubic cm!!!
the numbers basically get super inflated because of the cubing
1meter = 3.28084 feet
but 1cubic meter = 35.315 cubic feet
thats because in one meter there is about 3.281 feet that fit inside it
so you have to do
1cubic meter =
3.281ft x 3.281ft x 3.281ft
which = 35.319837041 ‘cubic feet’
so 1m^3 = 35.3ft^3
hence
0.05m^3 is = 35.3ft^3 x 0.05 =1.765
aquaponics god had wrote down 1.8 which is very close, so he’s Right!
though i also thought he had mad a mistake before.
google states its:
0.05 cubic metre = 1.766 cubic feet
which is practically what i calculated.
there is just a lack of understanding about what a cubic foot actually is, which i myself also had this misunderstanding since i was actually going to agree with Richard before i looked deeper into this issue.
i 1st thought that this square(below) could be considered 5square cm
but actually it would be incorrect. its definitely 5cm in length and 5cm in with but not 5square cm in area.
_ _ _ _ _
| _ | _ | _ | _ | _ |
| _ | _ | _ | _ | _ |
| _ | _ | _ | _ | _ |
| _ | _ | _ | _ | _ |
| _ | _ | _ | _ | _ |
(just imagine the little squares are actually 1cm^2 cm in size)
this square is
actually 0.0025 square meter
so 25 square cm
the “square cm” ‘unit’ is practically just counting the amount of squares in that area. so along a length of 5cm and a with of 5 cm we get an area of 25squares that are 1cm in length and 1cm in with.
1square meter has 10 thousand of those smalle cm squares composing it and 1cubed meter has 1MILLION of those size “Cubes” not squares!!
this next square is actually considered 5square cm.
_ _
| _ | _ |
| _ | _ |
actually i cant draw it as a square because adding the 5th square cm would look like this.
_ _ _
| _ | _ | _ |
| _ | _ |
so the one from before was 4square cm
0.05 square meter actually has 500 of dose little squares
so 0.05 square meter is 500 square centimeters which i before thought that 0.05 square meter was equale to 5square cm because like i normally think in the normal meter 0.05meters is = to 5cm
but if you doing squared or cubed it wont have the same proportions. it will instead be heavily stretched