Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We are thinking of upgrading our fish tank part of our AP system and would like any comments or ideas that would make it work to its maximum efficiency and fish output.
So some back ground info first, we have a greenhouse beside our barn, they are around 8' apart and we thought about putting the fish tank in the barn and piping the water to our sump in the green house that would feed our GB's.
This will allow us to add more GB's in the green house.
The barn is insulated and this would be easier to control the heat loss in the winter for the Tilapia we are raising.
I will be leaving the sump in the GH to feed the GB on a timer that floods it every 2 hours, and keeping the fish tank separate from that other than the time I would turn the pump on that will be in the fish tank to remove the waste and send it to the sump for the plants.
This will eliminate having extra pumps returning water to the fish tank.All I will be doing is removing the waste from time to time.
I thought about digging the tank bottom down in a cone shape to allow the waste to collect on the bottom, then place a pump in the bottom so I can remove it all at once.
We will have air pumps feeding the fish tank as well as water circulating in the system to help airete the water.

Is there any concerns about this design?

Should I pump the water back to the FT all the time?

I don't think the diagram is to scale. But if you are relying of gravity for sump return you should have your growbeds above the top of the water level in the sump...you could get away with having them the same height, since u pump from the sump, but its not commonly done.

You'll have to make sure that your "water purging" cycle is enough to 1) eliminate ammonia spikes from the solid waste, 2) guard against nitrate build up.

Are you sending water back to the FT from the growbed during purge. Or toppig up from external and running to waste?

If you are returning water to the FT from growbed, I fear your 2hr pump cycle might not be enough to sufficiently filter the water. It will depend on how long you plan to run the pump compare to down time.

Dr Luke ,
Sorry for the slow response , the drawing isn't to scale, just a concept drawing.
I was planning on filling the fish tank up with fresh water instead of returning water back from the GB because it would require more pumps to do so. I could pump it back to the FT if needed though.
But having said this, this is why I am asking for input on the design. It may not be right. I am concerned about having to do more water changes in the fish tank unless I install some type of filter in the tank.
The underlying reason for this FT move to the barn is so we can install more constant flow pipes in the GH, we currently have 2-4"x 30' pipes filled with strawberries, lettuce , and herbs and want to expand to maybe 5 or 6 more pipes but the currant FT setup is in the way.
The picture shows the currant pipes and we would be adding the new ones to the left side of the GH which would return back to the sump in the corner.
Thanks for anymore responses from anybody.
Jason