Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I probably will turn the Sump and FT sideways to reduce pumping distance, thought of that after I started drawing lol. I think irrigation bars all the way around the GB's wouldn't be a bad idea to balance the fish solids throughout. And the media I plan to use is called growstone apparently it's made out of recycled glass.

My bell siphon setup the stand pipe is 1/2" the bell is 2" is that too big of a difference? The fitting on top of the stand pipe is a 1/2"- 1 1/4" tapered like a funnel. I feel that would be ideal for starting the siphon with little water flow, but then again I'm a rookie.
On that note give me all the feedback you can give. Thanks in advance my friends



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I cant comment on the siphons, however you system looks ok to me. Depending on your pump, you might not need to reduce you pumping head. Remember that the head will only be from the water level in your sump to the highest piece of piping, not from the bottom of your sump to the top of your fish tank.

You could easily have your head less than a meter. Your grow beds do not need to be all that much lower than the level of water in your fish tank.

+1 on rsevs

probably wouldn't bother with a siphon unless you want it to flood and drain while the pump is running

Check out my system. link in signature. Its very similar to your proposed system.

The siphon is just fine. Though, I probably would go with a 1" outlet to match 1/2" inlets on the grow beds. As far as distribution piping, make sure to cut slits as opposed to drilling round holes. One of my pipes was so clogged, that when I cleaned it out, I had about five composting worms living in it. Converting to slits has been my winter project.

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What would you recommend a timer?


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When you said cut slits instead of drill holes your talking about the bell right? And I'm assuming that the 1" outlet would provide for a better pull?


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No, I am talking about on the distribution pipes into the grow beds. You want to make it easy for solids to pass through. But it holds equally true on media guards. If you are going to use PVC for them, you want to cut slits too. The idea is to have more gap than PVC, while still keeping the media out. Personally I prefer the hardware netting that you can pick up at home despot. You just roll it into a cylinder, and zip tie it together. It makes a great media guard.

Oh I see. So the slits just make more outlets essentially? So when they get clogged with roots it will still be able to drain?


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Well in the case of the inlets, it takes longer for fish crap to clog it, and it is easier to clean out. In the case of the media guard, the media itself is the prime clogger. Especially if your media is round.

lol did you actually include a dead fish in your diagram or am I seeing things?

I don't see a media guard in your diagram. It needs to be taller than your growing media.

Haha I'm glad you caught that.


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Yeah I forgot to draw that probably going to go with Ron's suggested guard


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