Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello, I'm a newbie to this forum and this is my first post.

My 11 year old son and I set up an IBC system in our garage. The grow bed has roughy 12" of expanded clay and we started cycling the system two days ago.

So far so good, although I'm wondering if the grow bed is draining a little too quickly as the media in the middle of the bed (upper middle, near the surface of the media) doesn't seem to be getting enough water. It's a little moist but definitely not wet.

How high should the water level be in the grow bed before it drains back into the tank? I have a continuous drain, so maybe I could make it drain a little more slowly? Or, I could alter the pvc pipes in the bed so that one lays across the middle rather than just the outside circumference?

Does anyone have any thoughts?

I'm grateful I found this forum and look forward to digging through the discussions!

Jean Valjean

Pictures would help us understand your water level question. To be candid, moist is all you need.