Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Starting to put my second system together.

Chift Pist with Solids lifting overflow (SLO) and continuous flood (since my sump tank is small)

625 Gal Behlen stock tank for fish tank (outside)
150 Gal Rubbermaid stock tank for sump tank (in greenhouse)

4 - 50 gal Rubbermaid stock tanks for outdoor growbeds
190 gal of totes for greenhouse growbeds

Here are some pics of the destruction so far. The cement blocks were dug from where the FT is located. I intend to fill in part way around the FT and then use the blocks to cover the outside up to the top but this could change.

This is the basic idea for the greenhouse layout although I may not put the two smaller tanks in because of height restrictions in the greenhouse. The smaller tanks would be liner within a wood frame and the large tank is the 150 gallon rubbermaid sump tank.

Having a bit of trouble getting used to the file posting . Both these posts were the second time around - first time didn't notice the file size and this time hadn't tried posting skp files before. Makes for much shorter comments.

Thanks go to those that helped with figuring out the constant flow part of this earlier.

Here is the image I wanted to upload.

Thats a good size fish tank....

It's pretty big, 8ft across by 2ft deep but I like it

Ordered uniseals for the totes yesterday.

Shoveled around the base yesterday. Hoping to get high enough to finish it off with the blocks I found so I won't have to buy any extras to hide the tank.

I'm thinking 2" SLO from the big tank then transition to 1" at the growbeds. 1-1/2" out of the growbeds to the sump. I need to look at pump size and pipe size on this. I might need a second 2" SLO anyone have any thoughts on this? What size pump do you think I would need and would the 2" SLO be enough to carry the outflow? I thought about using a larger pipe with a uniseal but no one carries these locally and I wanted to get on with this.

Great start. Going to get the most out of that greenhouse with that plan. I will keep watching this thread for ideas.

Thanks Rob. With a greenhouse this small you've got to pack in as much as you can .

Here's an update showing the tank with the blocks dry stacked in place. I will have to pick a spot for the SLO and get this drilled and setup before filling the tank. I'm hoping that the blocks will stay put well enough when I fill the tank that I won't have to mess with them. I'm prepared for the worst since I expect the tank to bulge.

Nice work Scotty...

Thanks Rupert. Had to make it look good .

In most of the SLO systems I've looked at the pipe is leaving the Fish Tank and staying at or near the grow bed level most of the way until the water goes into the growbed. The area I'm laying out doesn't really work very well for that type of layout and I'd prefer to put the pipes along or in the ground until they reach the growbed. I'm concerned about sediment settling in the pipes if I do it this way. What do you think, will this be a problem?

The water in my SLO moves with a bit of force. I think it will carry any sediment and solids along with it.

If you can, go bigger than 2". You will be surprised how much water will flow.

Mine is 90mm (3") and before I put in the blue barrel for extra filtration the SLO couldn't keep up with my pump which is rated for 4500 litres per hour with 0 head. It has a head of just over 1 metre so only moving around 3000 litres per hour.

Thanks for the info arbe. I knew I should have ordered some bigger uniseals. I'm probably going to lay the system out with the pipes resting on the ground (not in it) until they get to the growbeds. I've got a buried sprinkler system that was installed long before I moved in. I'm not sure where all the lines for the sprinkler system go and I'm not inclined to find out the hard way.

This is the pump I was thinking about using - http://www.pondworld.com/lagunamax-flo1500pump.aspx

There is around 3 ft of head height so I would be pumping around 1386 gallons per hour. Not sure I really need or want this much. The next model down looks like it won't pump the volume of the tank at the head height I have.

If the pipes go for any decent length on the ground, put in a T with a plug occasionally to allow cleaning. Also a good place to have an emergency outlet to empty the system during emergency water changes. Bonus points if the emergency outlet can get routed to a dirt garden or orchard.