Water pump is one important item in my aquaponics set. In my setup I will try my best to use a single pump to feed all the growbeds in the system.
Water pump must be reliable and of sufficient capacity to undertake all the irrigation requirement on my set. With last redo of my aquaponics set, I have a total of 5 growbeds, four of which the gutter type and one traditional growbed.
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Currently I am using a 2000 litre per hour pump which suffice to irrigate all growbeds. However the margin of excess is very little and if any deterioration of pump output due to clog etc will affect the water flow into the growbeds and could cause siphon malfunction.
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This Astro 2000 pump is the smallest I can find with ceramic shaft. You can check my video on the importance of ceramic shaft on a pump : Here
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This pump is rated at 26.6 watt, it's such a small pump and has work flawlessly with my 4 gutters set up without any hick-ups. With addition of extra growbed it still able to support, but I am not that comfortable with its excess margin.
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Its bigger brother the Astro 3000 fit the bill nicely, at few ringgit extra it's wise to go for the bigger pump that should be better build due to its size.
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How the two looks like.
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Physically it is bigger and build more sturdy, with grab handle and platform suckers feet. Fittings for water feed is similar and it can take same size PVC tubing as the Astro 2000 nicely.
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Being bigger in size also means it must be bigger in power, so the penalty I have to pay is its wattage has increase by about 16 watt to 40 watts for this pump.
The cost of power for this pump per month is 40 watt x 24 hours x 30 days = 28.8 kw and @ 0.40 sen per kilowatt, I have to pay RM 11.52 per month of electricity for my aquaponics set in this post.
Comparison electricity cost estimation below for 1 pump running 24/7
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In the tank and supplying all my growbeds irrigation needs.
Water pump must be reliable and of sufficient capacity to undertake all the irrigation requirement on my set. With last redo of my aquaponics set, I have a total of 5 growbeds, four of which the gutter type and one traditional growbed.
Currently I am using a 2000 litre per hour pump which suffice to irrigate all growbeds. However the margin of excess is very little and if any deterioration of pump output due to clog etc will affect the water flow into the growbeds and could cause siphon malfunction.
This Astro 2000 pump is the smallest I can find with ceramic shaft. You can check my video on the importance of ceramic shaft on a pump : Here
This pump is rated at 26.6 watt, it's such a small pump and has work flawlessly with my 4 gutters set up without any hick-ups. With addition of extra growbed it still able to support, but I am not that comfortable with its excess margin.
Its bigger brother the Astro 3000 fit the bill nicely, at few ringgit extra it's wise to go for the bigger pump that should be better build due to its size.
How the two looks like.
Physically it is bigger and build more sturdy, with grab handle and platform suckers feet. Fittings for water feed is similar and it can take same size PVC tubing as the Astro 2000 nicely.
Being bigger in size also means it must be bigger in power, so the penalty I have to pay is its wattage has increase by about 16 watt to 40 watts for this pump.
The cost of power for this pump per month is 40 watt x 24 hours x 30 days = 28.8 kw and @ 0.40 sen per kilowatt, I have to pay RM 11.52 per month of electricity for my aquaponics set in this post.
Comparison electricity cost estimation below for 1 pump running 24/7
- Astro 2000 - RM 7.66/month
- Astro 3000 - RM11.52/month
In the tank and supplying all my growbeds irrigation needs.