Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Be careful with the shoulder moving the gravel. Have any "long shot" pictures to show the overall view of the pool and growbeds?

i've got almost 4 weeks off over the next 2 months (but i just had to cancel my vacation for next week) so i'll be working up some drawings of the space, the only thing that's set is the location of the pool..
i'm pretty convinced that i'll need to figure out a sump but it will have to be pretty low to the ground..

Can you make a large shallower sump instead of the traditional smaller diameter deep ones that are buried? I don't know what your area is like in regards to groundwater, digging in the basement or outside but alot of people have had issues with the sump tanks popping up out of the ground after a rain.

yeah, i can't dig at all in the basement, or penetrate a wall to put it outside..so it will probably have to be a few shallow sumps.. maybe the cutoffs from my gb's.. i was thinking of using 2 totes cut in half for gb's, but... well.. i'll just have to get some drawings done

Could also consider TC's gravel-filled sump technique. Constant flood seems to work OK so why not pool to gravel filled half-IBCs contantly flooded with a clear area for the pump?

ha... i was playing around and started something like that but the pump i bought (for my birthday this year in hopes of expanding) was just to powerful..drained the sump faster than the pool overflow could fill it..i was experimenting with a couple 55 gallon drums and a 110 gallon stock tank..
btw, 110 gallon stock tanks are going for under $70 at farm and tractor stores - less than the 100 gal stock tank

finally downloaded sketchup, and while my results are rudimentary, i'm still in the early stages here.. so.. here's the layout - the barrels in the lower right quadrant with the 55 gallon tanks are where the yp and bg are now.. the pool is where it's shown in a recessed corner, and the 55 gallon tank in the upper right is up and running... the 55 gallon tank on the far left is sitting in about that area but not running.. the IBC's are outside waiting to be cut down.. the area where the IBC's are has no ductwork, so from floor to ceiling it's 6' (1828mm)
it's a pretty tight area;

the "unheated area" will be where i keep my table saw and all my tools/junk (it's accumilating quite a bit) i've got a workbench between the two round colums, but the legs are in pretty rough shape
i'm a little stumped on how i'm going to plumb it..nothing is going to happen super quick except cutting down the totes, i might just cut the bottles in half for now, and dissassemble the frames to get them inside before it snows..

nice score on the IBC's! Where did you find those? I found a guy in Mentor who has 55gal barrels that were used to store juice for $20 if you need any.

i got the IBC from a guy in Ravenna, 40 bucks each, he has quite a few 275's..
i got my first barrels from the guy in mentor for $15 each last year
how you doin fuzzytubes?

im doin good. system is running well and feeding me salads weekly. I dont get over to check on it too often, but it seems to be running on its own at this point. Got 15 gold fish in there now. One bed only has warm t5's over it and the growth isnt as good as the bed with cool t8's, so ill be swapping out bulbs soon. Finally got some yummy beans from my bean plants.

nice!
just saw some totes in mentor for $50, previously held dye for mulch..
i cut up 3 of my totes, but i still haven't decided how i'm going to plumb this thing

Snow/rain tomorrow night. But, what can you expect for the middle of November?

yup, and a few days off starting tomorrow, so hopefully i'll make some progress!

You managed to get that 8 ft round tank down there, so you should be able to fit the half IBC's through to the basement, right?