Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I know this is a crazy question but here it goes. Is there a maximum size grow bed allowed? Say I have 600 cu ft of FT. Instead of having 19 - 4x8 grow beds could I do one 600 cu ft GB built into the ground? Have it pump 1800 gallons (it would have to be a massive pump) in 15 minutes and have HUGE pipes gravity flowing back using actuators to open automatically every 15 min for 5 min to the FT (seems far fetched).

This situation seems impossible but what are the limits then of grow bed size?

I am trying to set up a system that has a huge FT and it was preferred I put GB's into the ground up on a hill (easier to dig 600 cu ft of GB than to build frames for so many GBs). If I do too many GBs then the piping underground would be ridiculous and impossible to clean when the time comes. So in my question about Max grow bed size I am hoping to come to a conclusion whether its possible to put that volume GB into the ground.

Thanks,
Ryan

Think it will come down to how many standpipe/ drains you have in the one large GB and the 'drag' of the media that slows down water drainage. That would still end up with lots of pipes, so I think the question is not how big can the grow bed be, but what is the max area that one standpipe can service? Maybe DWC would be better?

You have top consider that you need to access the GB to tend to plants as well, which will be another limitation on max width.

Water fluctuations in the fish tank is one concern but if the system is scaled correctly that shouldnt be a problem. You could add 2 or 3 (50mm) standpipes (one at each end and one in the middle), have all 3 dropping into a 90mm common drain line.

Thanks guys,

I never considered DWC because its not talked about as much as the other techniques. I think that may work out really well for this system. I am going to dive into as much info as I can on that. Thanks for the feedback!

I'm figuring out similar strategies myself.

I've been planning on making a hybrid system with a large grow bed to act as a bio filter and diversify my grow methods. After the grow bed, water would run though a DWC and back to the fish tank.
With a system this scale though, grow beds can get expensive.