Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Please any solid good advice on my planned system will be greatly appreciated, will be my first system so only using info that I gathered as guide line.

CHOP : FT-SLO-GB-(standpipe)-SUMP-PUMP

FT - 2500L
GB – 4915L
SUMP – 2175L

FT – Standard vertical water tank that will be cut open on top, depends on which manufacture
Diameter 1.4–1.45m x Height for overflow will be somewhere between 1.6-1.7 meter (2500L).
Standard connections on tank 40mm.

SLO – Planning to use a 50mm center based. Any advice on pickup of SLO will be appreciated.

GB – Boxes accessible from both sides, made from 25mm thick pine planks lined with plastic.
Inner dimensions of boxes with a height of 325mm, grow material only up to 300mm so will use
300mm for calculations.
2 x (2.5m x 1.45m x 300mm) = 2175L
3 x (2.1m x 1.45m x 300mm) = 2740L
Total 4915L at 40% for sump size = 1966L

Standpipe – 40mm any advice here on where to place them compared to water inlet will be
appreciated as well as water inlet itself?

SUMP – Option A - Made from board covered with fiberglass, will be shallow to fit in under
GB (325mm)will use 300mm for calculation) so thinking of (not included here) small deeper
say 1 m deep square box or drum connected to main sump in ground which will be deeper
connected with a 110mm free flow pipe.
1 x (5m x 1.45m x 300mm) = 2175L
Option B – Probably better one but ground are extremely hard by my place so will be very
difficult to lower it down to fit under GB. 1 x (2.1m x 1.45m x 800mm) = 2436L

PUMP – Looking at 15min on 45 min off so to circulate FT total volume every hour I will be using a
pump between say 8000L-1200L per hour depending on what’s available and power
consumption when I start the project. Size of pipe will be depending on pump.

Plumbing – Any advice here will be appreciated.
Water inlet to GB valve to control speed but 90 deg down bend or maybe pipe with
holes? Not sure yet what will be best here.

Hope Paint file are attached for not professional sketches of bases for SLO and basic setup as well.

Jaco,

It looks like you've given this a good bit of thought! A very nice layout. I'm planning a similar design but slightly smaller (1100 liter FT) and with DWC plus media-based growbeds slightly higher to make draining to the sump a little easier. However your under-the-bed sump has me rethinking mine a little -- I've got very little space to work with and that does save valuable real estate. To me the FT-SLO-GB-SUMP-PUMP approach makes so much sense that I think I'd only consider different it were not possible to do it that way due to physical constraints. There is no risk of pumping or siphoning dry the FT, and no extra holes below the waterline.

With the SLO pickup, I think it has a lot to do with water flow through your lift tube... Too slow and fewer solids make it to the outflow. Somewhere there are some scientific metrics on this to dictate SLO flow and particle size and lift, but there is no need for glue on a SLO tube, right? Leave yourself the ability to easily experiment and see what works best for you. I like the SLO(B) design better than (A) because of less risk of blockage. SLO(C) as well as the wide bottom designs could reduce the intake velocity and pick up "suckability". Okay, water flowing out of the SLO must equal water pumped back into your FT, so it seems 2 main considerations for SLO design are what diameter of lift tube do you use to get the water lift velocity to carry your solids to the top and the size and placement of intake holes to focus the "suckability" or spread it around. The overall water flow volume you can already calculate base upon pump ability so it is how is that directed and focused that makes all the difference...

I always thought a design like this might have some merit, both for stability and center suckability:



But until I start experimenting more, I'm planning for the more standard center lift tube with counter swirl spray bars above like this:



Here is Pentair's solids removal system:

Pentair Eco-Trap Waste Solids Removal System



Really looking forward to seeing your system come together. Please keep us posted on progress!

--
Sam

Thanks for the response. Agree with the more standard center lift tube with counter swirl spray bars above. Good idea with SLO no glue and maybe make adapter so can only exchange ends for trying diffrent ends to see what works best.
Were also thinking of with the low sump to only make the end of the pump deeper say to 800-1000 mm deep my ground extremely hard need jackhammer.
All the best with your system and will post as my system comes along.