Aquaponics - New pump and powerhead



My old pump looks like this. Yes those opposing wire loops I added are in fact the new front bearing. This is the pump thats been running for the last 45 days in the small blue barrel test system.





I took delivery of the new pump and powerhead. This is for the second, larger aquaponics system. The pump is the big box and the powerhead is the small ball shaped thing on the top left.

The pump will shift 5000 litres per hour at zero head. That is to say if all you were using it for as a stirrer it would shift 5000 lph but if you want it to move water uphill, the amount of water it can move tapers off depending on how high you are trying to move it.

For some crazy reason not all pumps tell you how much they can pump at any given height. This one only tells you that it can pump to a maximum head of 5 metres. That means you will get 1 drop per hour at 5 metres . From what I'v read and seen, at 2.5 metres you can expect a bit less than half of its maximum output. So I'm hoping this one will pump around 2500 litres per hour at 2 meters head. It might turn out to be a bit more than 2 metres so I made sure there was plenty of excess. I hope. All I need is 1000 litres per hour so It shouldnt matter.

The pump is 150 watts but will only run for a few minutes every hour. The powerhead on the other hand will run all the time in the fish tank, but is only 12 watts even though it also moves 5000 litres per hour. The powerhead cant lift water at all and is there only for its ability to stir water to aid oxygenation. The powerhead's other function is to create a slight whirl pool which will make solid fish waste gravitate to the center. Once there it will be picked up by the overflow outlet. and piped to the pre-filter.




4 comments:

  1. A very comprehensive article, that really covers pool safety. It's a cliche i know, but you really can't put a price on peace of mind. Touching further on swimming pool pumps, maintenance of them is of the utmost importance, and can often be overlooked. If your pool pump is not kept in the utmost condition, then the health risks, can increase. That's why it's always best to invest in a high quality pump.

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  3. Drain Sytems? I get a hot milf advert!, Very interesting article, however I see the tiny power head in my aquarium lifting water (and solids) up via a tube that reaches from near the bottom, it lifts the water above and across the surface and through a filter/return. I think this could be useful in a AP setup like mine.

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