Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi I was wondering if a AP system had its fish tank at ground level would it need a sump tank? Are there any advantages to having a sump besides that, or disadvantages of having a “pond style” fish tank

It is just a different setup tis all.
...and removes the need for multiple pumps.

I really like CHIFT PIST since it can be set up so that the pump gets to suck nice clean water in a sump tank that comes after the grow beds.

That said, my original system design did have an in ground fish tank and fluctuating water levels in the tank. Pump pulled water from the fish tank and sent it up to the grow beds which gravity drain back to the in ground fish tank. It works but the pump trap needed cleaning very often (like every three days.) Since I turned that old in ground tank into my sump tank and built a new above ground fish tank to make my system CHIFT PIST, I only clean the pump trap once a week or so.

My system has a pond style fish tank and no sump and grow bed higher than the tank. I simply made sure it has enough water capacity when the grow bed is pumped full that the water level is where it should be for the number of fish I want to raise. The disadvantage to a pond style is that its tempting to have to many fish with all that extra water.

Sumps had advantages as well. The more water you have in a system the more stable the temperature is and the more time you have to react to changes taking place. My systems as it started was a 1 pump system CHIFT to grow bed to sump.

I also have a CHIFT system indoors, I tend to do what ever it takes to avoid extra pumps. Simpler is better in my opinion.