Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have my build to the point where the first grow bed is filled with material and water is running through it.

Instead of using PVC pipes as the through fittings I used standard sink drains. The initial beds are plastic feed trough inserts sized 10' x 2' x 10". (Cheap)

So far I seem to keep the water level about an inch below the top of the clay media by using a tube about 7" tall in the first drain, filling and covering with media, and just covering the other two with the media. (No tube at all)

This method means that I don't have three tubes sticking up using my grow space. Has anyone else done something similar that can share their experience?

Metal = bad. You do not want metal in your system where water is present. The water will leach stuff from the metal that is bad for your fish.