Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

That souds like the most logical solution.

You'll get the benefit of greater temperature stability too

What are you growing with NFT that will be so tall? Usually NFT is for leafy greens and the like. It seems like you could have a 400l sump with a 1000l FT and the NFT tubes about 16" off the ground. For a larger system just multiply the FT, sump, filters and tubes.

I grow corn in my raised beds, that's about the tallest I get. A bit of a pain, but still manageable.

Hello!
PIFT is commonly used to shorten "Pump In Fish Tank". It is a simple setup. You basically have your pond, with the grow beds above, and you pump into them. They drain back to the tank.

I think your idea can work, but i agree that you need a large volume pond, that is able to handle water fluctuations if all water in the NFT pipes were to drain into for whatever reason.

Or if you decide to include a media bed, as Skeg mentioned, that might flood and drain, so you would figure out that water volume as well.

The few commercial systems that I have seen do use a few media beds to give added surface area for bacteria but the bulk is DWC. Your sponge filters will do this too, but a media bed might be less maintenance.

And, I think DST stands for dstjohn99.

Keep us updated on your progress.