Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have mentioned in my posts before that if you get the flows right, solids don't build up in the manifold. In any case, the addition of an end cap to facilitate periodic cleaning will be helpful (and is helpful in any case). I used to open up my manifold weekly for cleaning, then it became monthly, then hardly ever because solids don't accumulate if there is a reasonable flow through the manifold.


I had a 3000lph pump delivering to two GBs; the risers were 25mm (1") with and the manifold was 90mm (3.5") with no problems. A slightly narrower manifold would still perform just as well in terms of equal water volume delivery, and you could have a slightly higher velocity which will help alleviate your solids concerns.

The overall system volume is going to be about 600 gallons. It looks like I'm going to have about a 3' head which would put me right around 1500GPH (5550 LPH) with constant flood / flow. If I convert it to flood and drain, then I could potentially have a 6-7' head which would drop the flow down to 1000GPH (3700 LPH). I would have to divert back some of the flow on the constant flood if I run with this pump, I think.

I would think with those flows you would need more than 3" on the CDM. I was thinking 4" or 5". Which system did you do this for? I think I need to take a closer look.