Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey ya'll. I have 2 newbie questions. How long should it take a 3'w x 6'L x 1' deep grow bed take to fill ideally? How long should it take to drain ideally?
Thanks.

However long you want. As a rule of thumb, just make sure you put your entire fish tank water volume through the growbeds every hour. If you are going to run timed flood and drain (as opposed to siphons) it is okay to run the pump "on" cycle longer than it takes to fill the bed (after all, this is how constant flood systems work).

Actual speeds will depend on the pump and pipe size you choose.

Thanks Doc.

I'm hijacking this thread -

I also want to know in a CHIFT PIST system, when I'm beginning with fishless cycling, is it okay to run the pump 15 mins on then a longer time off (i.e. 105 mins)?

The pump is filling the growbed easily and its overflowing for some time.

Cycling will probably be quicker if you leave it on longer.

Is it a huge overkill of a pump? 105 minutes is a long time to leave the pump off IMHO

excellent ! thanks tojo. I'll put it back to 15/45

Well its a 350w 6000ltr hr pump.

At the moment It drains the sump pretty quickly so I have a return to sump pipe T'eed off.