Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have a grow tower that I made (similar to the 'Zipgrow' design but homemade), and in order to provide water to the top I need to get water from the fish tank (55 gallons) pumped up 8+ feet to run through a tube over the top. What's the best pump to do this with but still maintain a solid flow rate throughout the system with the water coming from a 55 gallon tank?

Can't tell you for sure but you need a pump that is capable of pumping to that head height - head height being from the top of the water the pump is in to the highest point the pump is pumping to. Most pumps have a chart or graph that tells you what they will deliver at any given head height.

You can probably get a rough idea by looking at how much you'll need to pump to the top of the tower and how much you need going elsewhere. You can regulate the amount of flow going in each direction using ball valves and you can use any excess to aerate the tank. Plumbing elbows and fixtures reduce the head capacity so you'll want to figure for having some extra capacity to compensate for these.

This is a tough nut to crack. I use Jebao pumps as they have a good head capability. But I found I needed triple the pump size to get a trickle at high head, and still have decent flow at the GBs.

I have a MD - 55r pump I use to pump water up on the roof of my house through black pipe to heat my plunge pool , very pleased with it , really good head for the dollars .


https://www.clicktobuy.com.au/md55r-mag ... p-125.html

NOT SUBMERSIBLE so will need to be outside the tank .

Might be something similar in your voltage , or use a transformer

Technical Specifications:

Rated power: 90W


Voltage: 220-240V

Frequency: 50Hz
Delivery height: max 5.8m
Capacity: max 3600 Litre/hr
Inlet and Outlet (mm): 26 X 26

Rating: Continuous

Overall Dimension (cm): 28X14X15

some of the air-lift based methods will allow you to pump assist water up to vertical tower heads/heights.

basically rather than a classic airlift pump in sump/fish tank you have an initial large diameter pipe/drum that gets a reasonable 1m or so depth of water, and then you airlift to 1.8m or so.

This works if you have capacity on your grow bed pump.
eg. you can pump up to a 44 Gal drum and have the overflow going to grow beds like normal and airlift to the towers or a header tank/trough for the towers.

That would enable you to get the required height without excessive watts.

search "airlift pumps" on youtube - quite a few videos cover it and quite a few of the videos are 'good information'.
The trick is to get at least 1m of water depth to start off with, that is where the pump assisted lift comes from.

Excuse the thread revival... hope it isn't too old yet..

I like that link for the mag drive... Just a pity no local shops seem to have anything!
Any other ideas? I'm in similar boat as OP, got lots of bits but no pump.
I'm going to try an idea with an inverted sprinkler, like murrays gropockets. Curious to see if they work as well as his videos, but cant stomach coughing up the entry cost for the real deal.... $80 for pockets and sprinkler

Let alone the cost for zipgrows! Lots of want but not lots of money

Howdy.
My pump has no trouble with a head height of eight feet. You may recall that my fish tank is sunken and the level of my sump water top is usually 1 foot 30cm below the level of the FT or more. Water goes up and over the French doors to our house to reach the GBs on the far side of the greenhouse. The water also goes at the same height to our now off-line strawberry towers. This pump is going on two years old: Laguna PowerJet 1350 Fountain/Waterfall Pump Kit for Ponds Up to 2000-Gallon

I hope this helps
Brian

Seems the only way is for a larger pond pump hey..
I have also heard good things about the laguna pumps - thank you i will keep them in mind