Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Where is the FT going? Next to GBs?

I would make the IBC in the ground a sump tank and add another tank as your fish tank.

Put the Ball valve to control the flow off the pump line... (the FT cant empty more than what is pumped in... and if you restrict the FT drain it can/will clog and overflow)

Do I want the solids to flow into the grow bed?

While designing in my head my thought was to have both the tank and the beds drain into the sump, and also tee off of the feed line separately to fish tank and grow bed.

Well, now we are going to get into the specifics of what your goal is...

So, if you are using low fish density (Full IBC Fish Tank w/ 10-15 - 1lb ea fish) you shouldn't need additional filtration and take it right to the grow bed. But it will be easy to install a RFF or additional bio filters (MBF) later once the fish get larger. [as long as you leave your grow beds low]

As for the tees, that is perfect. The more tees the better in my book, helps with fine tuning.

Ok checked the glossary, nothing on RFF, and MBF. Wanna throw me a bone?

I'll be using a full ibc as a fish tank. I'm planning on putting it next to the grow beds where that overgrown raised garden bed currently is.

Might be a couple weeks before I can get one.
I was thinking id toss a few Goldie's in the sump tank to help get te system going. IF my fish less cycle completes before I can get the ibc.

Got the 1st bed leveled and the drain hole cut. Does anyone run a back up overflow in case of bell siphon failure? I usually like to operate from the two is one, one is none mindset. Should I drill for it right next to each other?

Sorry about that RFF = radial flow filter MBF = moving bed filter.

As for the overflow on the GB. If I were doing it... It would be placed at the top ridge above where the normal water flow would go. [one less area for a leak under normal function]

Something like this.

thanks CJ i like that idea.

Here is a rough in on my second bed.

So now I am rounding back to the spirit of my original question on the in ground sumps. Is the sump currently deep enough?

the ground has a slight slope from the beds to the sumps, the bed nearest the sump was made nearly level by using a 2x6, and would have been leveled if the 2x6 was a little thicker.

Looks good to me. I typically try to shoot for a min distance of 6". But it looks like you have 13-15" so you should be just fine.

Looking good. The sump is probably fine at the depth it is.
Rather than contemplating adding a RFF or MBF just plan to add more GBs. You don't seem constrained for space and you don't get much veg out of just two GBs to feed a family.

Depending on how you configure things this may mean that you need increase the size of your sump. This could be avoided by making some of the GBs constant flow constant flood (CFCF, (2CF?)). Alternatively you can use an indexing valve.

What size plumbing should I be using? Is 2inch for the drains overkill?

It depends on your flow.

Are you only going to be turning the tank over once per hr?

If yes then as a drain from the GBs should be fine but may be too big for your SLO.

You want the velocity of the drain from the FT to the GBs to be as small as possible but greater than:


U>sqrt(9.81*D)*0.58

U=Q/A

A=D*D*3.1416/4

Where:
U = Velocity (m/s)
D = Internal diameter of pipe (m)
Q= Flow (m3/s)
A = Cross sectional area of pipe (m2)

Plan ahead, go a RFF (just my opinion, others will differ).








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