Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

BYAP team,

Working on my first system and would like to spark discussion on pump requirements.

AP system to consist of 1 x 1000L IBC FT, 3 x 350L IBC GBs and roughly 1 x 600L ST configured for CHOP 2. working 24/7
Not really expecting to expand much beyond these three main components. GB, ST will be in Greenhouse with FT in adjacent shed.

Max head height to FT is approx 1.5m.

Initially I was thinking of a 3000L/H pump from BYAP etc for around the $100 mark but now I am pretty keen on the Laguna MaxFlo 5000L/H for mid $200s.

Using the above info, do you think the BYAP pump will be under powered and/or do you think the Laguna will be pumping too much?

With no experience in this, my un-informed thoughts lead me to think the Laguna will be pumping more than I can handle whilst the 3000L/H may come up short.

Please discuss

Regards


Rich

With those components go for Chift Pist style of system not chop2.

3000l pump would do it, but you should probably go with a larger one as you'll end up expanding and wishing you had a bigger pump.

Not going to expand! We all say this at one time or another. But it always grows. Because it is never big enough. Better to be prepared for expansion. Especially since the wattages are probably not that far off from one another. I also second Charlie's remark Chift Pist is the way to go.

Umm that would be "agree with Earthbounds' comment" Ff
I agree also re Chift pist and prepare for the inevitable expansion.
I've also found that the power ratings for the smaller pumps are quite high per lph compared to the larger ones. Go for quality too. Have a look thru this thread; viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1409&hilit=Good+pumps+bad+pumps

Cool, I'm one post in and already my design has a big change coming thanks to the advice of CHIFT P over CHOP2.

I read a good thread from last year between Blizzard and you guys and amongst the barbs I got the message that CHOP2 isn't the be and end all for my BY endeavour.

Back to pump power/capacity....

I've also had a good read of the good ones, bad ones thread and but didn't really see any talk of what happens if a pump is a little too strong or powerfull if used in a gravity based system.

I'm guessing that if set up correctly at the FT, it will flow out as fast as it comes in from the sump. So if it is coming in at a great rate from a 5000L/H pump it must be streaming into the GBs just as quick and turning over there quite regularly.

Is there any chance though that the sump could drain out quicker than the GB can return the water?

To recap, I'm going with 3 x 350L (empty) GBs, approx 600L sump and about 1.5M head to FT

Someone will set me straight, water shouldn't be boiling over at GB or FT but I'm just looking for reassurances that the Laguna Maxflo 5000L/H isn't too much for this type of design.

If need be, are there ways to slow it all down without impacting too much on the pump motor?

Cheers

Rich

Had too many discussions going on at the same time. Skeg your right. I should double check next time.

Ricebelly,

There are two main ways to deal with having too much pump at the moment. 1st and most common, is to tee off the pump out feed and redirect one side back to the sump. Utilizing ball valves to "tune" in the flow to each. 2nd is to have an overflow drain on your FT. That way all the water cycles through the FT then some goes to the GBs the rest goes back to the ST.

Sounds good.

anymore for anymore?

I also vote to tee off with a ball valve. I just set up my first system and could not get the bell siphons to work properly. After unsuccessfully attempting many different adjustments to the pipes, drain holes, etc., it turns out that the answer was really all about adjusting the outflow from the pump via the ball valve. Plus the tee'd water diverted back into the sump adds a nice amount of oxygen to your water. Good luck!

Is there someone here that is able to upload a photo of the tee'd off pump outlet back to the sump?

Cheers

Rich

Just think of it as two pump deliveries, one goes to the FT and the other goes to the sump, however you plumb it is up to you.

Ricebelly, here's one example. I personally didn't add the spray bar like in this video, my tee'd off pipe just drops the water back down into my FT from a higher distance. Lots of bubbles. But like stated by Charlie, how you rig it is up to you. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=S-UN6LrTyqU

cheers, thanks for the tips.

I ordered the Maxflo 5000L/H today. Looking forward to the next chapter - plumbing!