Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,

Thought I'd better start a system thread before going ahead and building something.

Thinking of something like this;


At least the set up would be the same, not the pipwork.

So I am thinking a CHIFT PIST system, SLO would deliver to GB's which are slightly lower than FT water level, auto siphoning into ST and pump returning to FT. I have a 7500LPH pump, I know way overkill for this but I am planning on having a manifold with two pipes returning to FT, one would be the water return with a valve to control F&D times and the other would be a sort of relief for the pump, this would have a venturi fitted to have constant aeration.

Media is expanded clay, bell siphons control auto siphoning, previously mentioned venturi provides aeration.

Thinking 25-30 Silver Perch.

AC/DC backup air pump for blackouts.

Any obvious issues with this design so far?

Simple and easy.

Should work no problems. Having a larger pump is good for further expansions.

I am keeping it so simple that the beds are to be raised by old pallets lol

The clay too up a lot of my funding so gotta improvise on other aspects now

From the FT (SLO) lower the delivery line to the GBS below the level of the GBs, then use a large diameter pipe with small diameter risers to deliver the water vertically into the GBs ala common distribution manifold. This will simplify the plumbing and balancing the volume of water delivered to each GB.

Carefully designed, your inline venturi between the ST and the FT will alleviate the need for re-circulation, however, I still think you'd end up saving money in the long run by getting a smaller pump (even a 2500-3000lph) would give enough "excess" pressure and flow to allow the installation of a air injecting venturi. The relative running cost difference will probably be "significant" in favour of the smaller pump? You might even find it cheaper still to purchase and run an even smaller pump on a timer, and your air pump? The plumbing gets simpler avoiding the need for siphon drains.

Using solenoid and other driven valves introduces another level of complexity, something else to go wrong. KISS.

You don't have to use expanded clay, there are plenty of other far cheaper options.

Gravel, Scoria, bottle cap lids...

I hastily bought the pump.. But have discarded the box and don't think i can return it. Good point on ongoing costs. I do have another submersible pump that is being used periodically elsewhere, i might pull it out and check the rating, think its about 3000lph by memory

Yeah i have a stuffed back and wanted the kids to be able to plant out easy enough. The ease of maintenance and general handling of the clay made the choice easy. I dread the thought of lifting rocks

Can anyone tell me the standard sump calculation? Is it just gb x amount of gb's? So 3 x 250l growbeds would need a 750l sump? I think I'm missing something...

I found a heap of 20mm pipe on Gumtree. Is 20mm irrigation pipe ok to use as SLO, FT return from ST and piping to the Gb's? Does the common distribution manifold need to be quite large in order to work effectively? And if it does, does it need to be large diameter the whole way through, no reducers?

Sorry for all the q's and if they have been answered before please just point me in the right direction.

I haven't been able to stop planning this build! But I'm not too handy so having trouble with some of the specifics

Bigger pipe for slo and feeding GB. Sump bigger better to allow pump to be submerged and also fluctuations (siphon) and evap in summer. I've got a costing sheet for this system - about 350-400$

Ahh cool, just what I wanted to know. I'll leave the 20mm then.

I was planning on having the Gb's lower than the FT but that may not be possible if the sump required should be bigger than 750l. No chance I'm digging it in, i have dug around my backyard before (removing trees for the shed) and it's hard pack gravel :/

Costing sheet hey...

Look at my thread below in my sig 'wrc school build' - use half Ibcs connected so you don't have to dig

Duh of course lol

This is why i joined the fourm

Ok... I have realised that I have jumped in to this too quickly without proper research.

I have a pump that is too big, an IBC that has the top cut out of it so can only use it for 1 gb or a fish tank/sump

A bunch of fittings that are a different grade to the pipe i have so they don't connect.

I'm going to slow it down a bit and read a lot

Start with a piece of paper and a pencil. If you draw a detailed plan, you'll find the end result will be an efficient system which works with minimal cost and maintenance, and the there will be less waste (saves $$$). It would be very hard to include too much detail!

Hey guys,

With the advice of the fourm members I have sat down with the wife and designed a system, we went over everything and tried to keep it as simple as possible but leave the opportunity for expansion.

We are going a 1000lt IBC FT, 2 x IBC ~300mm GB, IBC sump to suit running CHIFT PIST with a 3000lt Pump, GB's will have a 32mm? irrigation grid and a venturi for the return from sump.

I am having a 90mm SLO going to a 90mm CDM, constant flood (to start) gravity drain to sump tank below GB's, standpipe 1in below top of media.

The thing I am having a hard time getting around is the pipework... if I have 90mm main pipe for the CDM how can I configure take off for the irrigation grid? Should I just plumb directly into the 90mm with some 32mm uniseals? And just use 32mm for the irrigation grid? Is 32mm too big?

SLO will be 90mm and will gravity feed to the GB's.

Anyone see any problems with this config? It's not much different to my original idea but simplified a bit with the constant flood.