Duration 15:50

Aquaponic Compost Heater update, water temp's for Jade & Silver perch. AP Update July 2015

by Rob Bob's Aquaponics & Backyard Farm

32 879 watched

486

Published 25 Jul 2015

Have been tinkering with a compost heater to help bump the temperature in the aquaponic system over the past few weeks. Haven't had great results but thought I'd share where I'm up to so far. Have also included a bit of info about ideal temperature ranges for the Jade & Silver perch as it might help some decide which would be best to run in their system. Here's a few links that might help folks who are interested in looking into compost heaters further. Chris's Compost heater, /watch/AANj4VoSXCPSj 2 clips on Jean Pain's work, Part 1 /watch/gaNRJNwvRHJvR Part 2 /watch/sIO0AN7jCGzj0 http://permaculturenews.org/2011/12/15/the-jean-pain-way/ Darren Dohetys compost heater, /watch/AAy5h4r-udg-5 Subscribing to us at Bits Out the Back is as easy as clicking below /user/bnbob01 You can also find Bits Out the Back on Facebook, Instagram & G+ where we post mini updates on the aquaponics/aquaculture, chooks, worms, wicking bed gardens & other small tidbits. www.facebook.com/Bitsouttheback & on Instagram at bits_out_the_back Have a great one everyone.

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Comments - 100

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@meehan3029 years ago That' s a great system for coping with compost in cold weather. Thanks for sharing that with use. 1
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@naturallivingdesigns23839 years ago Great design and idea mate! Your veggies are looking awesome. I' m interested in seeing what your ginger harvest will look like. 1
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@TheAbledGardener9 years ago Rob, great idea on the hot water system, i hope it worked out as much as you wanted it to. It sounds like you only wanted it to heat up a few degrees. . ...Expand 1
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@UncannySense9 years ago After pondering i think i might have a couple of observations. Firstly i think there is an insufficient amount of compostable biomass ratio for the amount . ...Expand 2
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@SouthpawDavey9 years ago Nice one mate. I have seen the vids on the hot water. I am sure you will get it running.
our tomatoes have started to ripen nice; 1
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@trig9 years ago Wotcha, perhaps you need to get more air into the centre mass of the compost. Most piles are added to a bit at a time so each layer gets achance to start . ...Expand 2
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@eddaddio8 years ago Have you considered running water through a black box solar heater somewhere in the pump system? It' s efficient and can be done cheaply with hose in . ...Expand
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@bradley37049 years ago Something that you might want to consider for yoursunnier daysis putting solar to use. Just take your black hose flat coiledto a pi of plywood painted black. Surround with a black painted plywood box with the top opening slanting towards your sun and cover with clear glazing. Kind of like a solar cooker. On a sunny day will get too hot for your system but can be regulated by propping open the glazing and valving off the water flow. Even on a cold day, if you have sun, your temps will go well over 100 degrees fahrenheit. Cheers. ...Expand 2
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@DntBrnDPig5 years ago Do you still use this method to heat your aquaponics in the winter? I' m getting ready to build a system for my aquaponic greenhouse. I plan on pre-mixing . ...Expand 1
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@Praxxus557129 years ago That is the oddest contraption i' ve seen in awhile. Never saw a compost heater for aquaponics but have seen one for heating a coop. 6
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@painphil10 months ago Hi rob, try putting a sparge pipe down the middle of your compost heater and feed air in with a air pump.
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@joeschmoe99559 years ago Have you considered solar heating? There' s a lot of clips on youtube where people use downspouts, beer cans etc to heat the air, and it could be modified to heat water without too much effort or expense. 2
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@SetitesTechAdventures9 years ago I' d love to see how it cooks if you pre-toss everything instead of layering. 1
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@honeybacres9 years ago Even though the compost system doesnt raise the temperature a whole lot i wonder how much it helps buffer any temperature loss that you might otherwise may you can supplement this with some type of solar type set up with black hose on a roof of some sort?. ...Expand 1
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@Suhgurim9 years ago Have you thought of using an old solar hot water system (salvage the panels) to heat your water. 3
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@yackfzay62249 years ago Good info on using baking soda to treat plants of fungus. 1
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@grotlek9 years ago Hiya rob,
great idea, i hadn' t thought of using compost heat to actually do anything useful before. I think if i made a system like this i' d a couple of thoughts (you seem to not mind my suggestions - but tell me if you' d prefer and i' ll shut up from making them) first you' re losing so much heat from that sump tank, which is effectively a giant radiator with air running over the top cooling it even more. Have you considered packing it withand giving it a polystyrene lid? The greater the temperature difference between the water and the air, the more heat you lose from radiation (heat transfer is proportional to both surface area and temperature difference between the two surfaces (the outside of the sump tank + the area of water on top is a huge surface area - you' ll lose a lot more heat from this than from the pipe, and the air flow means you get a continuous temperature difference rather than one that lessens over time as you heat the air above) insulating and reducing air flow would fix both these issues. And secondly, why do you have the outlet from the compost heater going into the sump tank rather than into the fish tank? If you did this, then you wouldn' t lose water flow back into the fish tank because the two feeds would be additive - and the heat would be going directly to the place it' s really needed.
edited to add: how thick is your hose and is it plastic or rubber? If it' s rubber rather than plastic, and/or if it' s thick, the pipe itself would be a good insulator which would also restrict the amount of heat getting transferred - that' s why heating coils in house water systems are metal. ...Expand
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@jeffmitts53639 years ago Hey rob
impressive as always. I love alternate energy and back strategies. I was working on a deal to buy an old funtionalsteam boiler and engine i didn' t realize your temps dipped below freezing. 31c and humid here today.
where can i get okinawa spinach seed? Spinach is my favorite green but never tried that variety. My australian spinach is going gang busters here.
have you ever grown rat tail radishes? Give them a go sometime, if not. Grow like weeds and zero maintenance involved.
take care mate
jeff. ...Expand 1
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@McDowallManor9 years ago The inlet definitely should be at the bottom and the outlet at the top. Hot water rises, cold falls. Slow the inlet. Make it heat before it rises. Having my damn aquaponics bed is getting hammered at the moment. I think it' s the bush turkey digging around because the dirt beds (with lots of wooden spikes) are doing okay. ...Expand 2
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@smeghed10259 years ago The compost heater might work better if it were larger or better insulated. People do science demos where they compost tiny handfuls of materials inside . ...Expand 2
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@Michael-ji6ug9 years ago It shouldn' t actually matter that your water inlet is at the top of your compost pile. Yes, you will have less efficient heat extraction, but you are . ...Expand 3
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@gerowyn19 years ago Hey rob just ti to give you something to compare to we live in eagleby in logan an our system is running at between 9 in the mornings to 11 in the afternoon with turning the beds off at night. We think 18 is brilliant. 1
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@Shavenhamster9 years ago What if you used flexible copper pipe to make a coil instead of irrigation piping as copper conducts heat better. Many people make such coils to cool the wort in home brewing. 1
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@ScalpingSATs219 years ago With a stick or handle, make three holes down the middle of the pile and add coffee grounds. Then water it in good and your temps should come up fairly quickly. 1
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@galanofgaia28819 years ago So if you were to just swap the direction of the water flow to your compost heater you would be able to take advantage of the thermo siphon action were heat rises it will assist in the flow too. 1
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@nathangardenfawkes29109 years ago Urban farming on steroids! Love ya work mr rob: d. 1
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@Agamimg3608 years ago Hay boss a idea i wanted to share with you to get your thoughts. I have 2 50 gallon each barrels that i made compost tumblers out of and as i do it a bit so what do you think.
it is easier to clean out between batches and has a smaller footprint in my greenhouse. Oh did i mention they are inside the airlock entryway of my greenhouse, so we' re getting some heat from them just were they are.
this idea is simply to move some of that potential to a more needed place.
it' s always great to see your videos, i always need to remind myself your from down under as they say and our seasons are flipped.
but with our new greenhouse we will be snubbing our noses at the weather from now on we hope anyway. And playing in the greens all year round.
our greenhouse is a bit different than most as i am handicapped and will one day be in a wheeled chair. So we had to put in hardened floors and use vertical tech. Every were we could. But that also gives us a larger than foot print possibilities for volume of plants and there by crops. You and some others here on youtube have been our insperation for this build and we hope we have it right. Sorry about my spelling or lack there of. See you around. ...Expand
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@Blacklab4122949 years ago Your temps are in the right area if you' re relying on bacteria to generate your heat. Your bacteria will start killing itself off if you' re biomass also it might help if you keep your biomasswet by some form of drip irrigation- that might not be the correct way of describing it. I have used a spinners that raindrip makes to keep mine wet. You don' t want it too wet, but just moist, and you do want to turn it over every three week or so (to aerate it) you might need to work that into your design.
you might also want to think of using pallets nailed together to make the outside of your compost bin. That way it lets the air into your biomass a lot better.
if you decide that you want to make it bigger then a two pallet by two pallet square, then you might want to add 4 inch drain pipe with holes down the side of the pipe across the bottom- two feet apart. This would help in allowing air to permeate your biomass, otherwise you have to turn over your compost pile a lot more often.
also i would keep the heat exchanger hose at least 12 inches away from the side wall(s) you might be losing heat by the hose being too close to the sides of your bin. The downside of having to turn over your compost pile is that it take time to get back to the temp it was before you turned it, but that might not be a problem if the biomass (temp) is dying out because of lack of air.
if you want to push things, i would try a can of unpasteurized beer as a starter, with a 1/2 cup of liquid joy dish soap (do not use antibacterial dish soap- the idea behind the unpasteurised beer is to use it as a starter culture. The anti-bacterial soap would kill your starter. The reason for the dish soap is it is a wetting agent. But keep the dish soap way from any fish you have, it will kill them.
if you really want to get over 212 deg f (100 deg c) then use 20-20-20 fertilizer. The nitrogen will combine with the biomass and really raise the temp. Bad news it will kill off your bacteria, and you have to watch how moist it is insides- meaning it will need a lot more water. If you have a lot of chip tree bark in your biomass, the good news is that it will soak up the nitrogen. Otherwise when you add the compost to your garden, un-nitrogen compost with a lot of tree chips in it will soak what nitrogen is in your soil/plating medium. ...Expand 1
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@ronyerke92506 years ago In the sub tropical zone that you' re in, why aren' t you using a solar water heater? Or are you, and you just wanted to give a compost heater a try? 2
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@onebigkahuna699 years ago Have you thought of running a timer? Maybe let it flow for a minute and have it stop for five minutes or so? Just a thought. 1
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@catfunksfabulousfinds5 years ago You have to water the material as you add each layer to get it to work & heat up, or it will take forever. 1
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@phxtonash9 years ago I wouldn' t want a flow rate any faster than you have. For such a small compost pile. 1
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@markallen2009 years ago What if you only used it at night or late night? You may be robbing heat all the time rather than just when you need it. 1
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@jakattah9 years ago Not sure if you read the Jean Pain's method but he had piles that were a minimum of 4 cubic metres. Yours looks more like 1 cubic metre. .. 1
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@stevencox759 years ago What if you made a miracle box style water heater? 1
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@GospelBearer5 years ago Why can' t you just switch the hose connections? 1
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@DusttNZ9 years ago I' m sad there was no after video outtake/funny: 1
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@chuckfarlie61339 years ago Lion head' s soup? Do tell, do share. . 1
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@phxtonash9 years ago I don' t think it matters top or bottom witch way the water is being pumped. 1
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@Pete909 years ago I dont know if some one suggested this concept but is another idea with a little mods could be made better an more efficient in an glass enclosure .. ...Expand
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@eddaddio8 years ago Have you considered running water through a black box solar heater somewhere in the pump system? It' s efficient and can be done cheaply with hose in . ...Expand