Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Oh yea. These two IBCs had originally been used for Radiasurf. I looked up information on this product and it appeared to me that this product is an organic agra product.

Yea! The building inspector approved our post holes. Now we can start framing the greenhouse and getting a better layout of the AP system.

Well I took the time last night to fiddle around a learn a little about Sketchup.

Here is my humble attempt at drawing up the layout.

Couple questions:
My FT is going to be about 750 liters or so (I cut about 1/4 of the IBC off). What size does the sump have to be? I was going to use another cut down IBC the same size.
Can you see a better way to utilize the space I have available to maximize the fish and plants?

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is your pump always on? the sump should be big enough that it doesn't completely drain before water is flowing back into it..and water should flow into it faster than it drains..

I am planning on doing a flood and drain system with the 15 on 45 off. Thank you for the advice. What I take it to mean is that I need to calculate the total volume of water in the GBs and plumbing and then add little extra to come up with the basic sump size.

exactly!
remember the pump needs to have a few inches of water in the sump before it's sucking air (and breaking the pump)

Question: What is the minimum depth for a FT?
What is a reasonable depth for a FT?

Our fish would likely be, perch or talapia

Thanks in advance

You need to find the total volume of media you are going to have in the GBs and then find out how much water that media holds. If you have, say, 1000L of media which holds 40% water, then your flood and drain system will need to pump 400L (plus some extra in the piping etc) to simultaneously flood the GBs. If you've got a 750L FT, then taking out 400L will only leave 350L in the FT for the fish and the pump (so long as the FT was full at the start of the cycle) In an IBC, this equates to about 30cm (or 1foot) of water which MIGHT be OK for short periods.

How many GBs do you have? How much media do they hold? How much water does the media hold? Answering these questions will help you establish whether you even need a sump and help you decide if the space is being used efficiently.


Scott

Bunson:

Thanks for the reply.

I will have a CHIFT PIST system. As you mention, i will have to calculate the total GB water capacity in order to plan my sump.

However, I am just wondering if a Fish tank that will have a constant height should have a minimum depth. Maybe I am asking a question that doesn't really have an answer.

How about this, can the Fish tank have a depth of 60 cm?

Now I am not talking total volume of the FT.

We have much of the structure of the greenhouse completed. Here is a pic

After much thought, I believe we are going to abandon the idea of putting IBCs in this greenhouse. It is only 7' x 11'6". I think we are going to go with two pond liner in the ground for the FT and Sump.

I am also think that the FT and Sump will go down the middle and I will put a walk way over it. That way we can maximize space and keep the fish in the cool ground.

There is a common perception that fish should have about 10L each in the FT, and 60cm of depth is adequate.

As you're limited on space, I'd not be confirming the need for a sump until you actually figure you need one. Adding sumps add complexity; you could have a simple FT lower than GB setup and if the FT is sufficiently large, pump directly from the FT to GB which drain back down into the FT.

That's a common... and potentially dangerous... misconception...

Sorry, I didn't soapbox the stock density versus filtration, just made a statement that for the right stock density the "common" perception is that there should be 10L of water in the FT for each fish.

The right "stock density" is purely related to filtration capacity... the 1 fish per 10L of FT... is a complete misconception...

Personally...I would not stock, regardless of filtration.... anything more than 1 fish per 30L of FT....

Stick a 500gm fish in a 10L bucket.... and tell me that it's a good idea...