Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

this is how I imagined my set up in my head when i started this whole thing.

In reading more My design could a little more efficient in the materials department by having the ft drain into the grow beds, but I want a little more adjust-ability and be able to have a high turn over in the FT without necessarily putting all of that volume through the grow beds.

Am I way off base here?

Hang on.. the more water turnover through the growbeds, the better (within common sense limits). You want as much flow as possible going through your growbeds, filtering the water for the fish and adding oxygen to the fish tank.

You are using too big a pump if you need to do it any other way (in which case reduce the size of the pump and save $ on power bills)

I don't see why you need a sump in your scenario unless you are planning to incorporate a SLO (Solids Lift Overflow) in the fish tank. I'd recommend to do a search on the forum for this but search funtion is not working at the moment

Also are you actually planning to have one growbed above the other?

You can but I wouldn't.

1st you will need a bigger pump and will use more electricity.
2nd one of the reasons sumps are a good idea is that you don't expose the solids from the FT to the violence of being chopped up by the pump.

All other factors being equal your water will be cleaner and your fish healthier if the water goes from the FT and then with the solids to the GBs and only then having been filtered back to the sump. The reason you want the SLO (solids lifting overflow) to have above a minimum velocity is to ensure that there is enough current to pick the solids up and transport them to the GBs.

There are plenty of systems where this is not done, for example systems where the pump is in the FT, and while these system can yield great results keeping the solids away form the pump is best practice.

Jono: nope, beds are not on top of each other this is an aerial view.

Ok that makes a lot of sense. I'm still operating from the aquarium frame of mind where we try to keep solids out of the biological media so as to avoid clogging it up. I'm still thinking of the grow bed media as biological filtration media . And I was even kicking around the idea of using filter socks at the ends of the drain.

So a SLO and tee off to each grow bed? How do I equalize the flow going to the beds? I'm thinking ball valves, but wouldn't they be prone to clogging up with solids?

I've changed my layout some, this new layout will make better use of my solar aspect, the cage to the right represents the 2nd grow bed the tub behind the 2 beds represents a full size 275 gallon IBC Fish tank.

Ive centered it between the two beds to help facilitate draining into the grow beds. Ive put it behind the grow beds to help shade the fish from the hot western sunlight.

I have found 19mm+ diameter ball valves unlikely to clog.

If you notice flow slowing through one tap in particular over time (eg due to biofilm buildup), you can simply give it a purge out either by turning off all other taps temporarily to increase pressure or by giving it a blast with the hose

Internally ribbed flexible pipe on the other hand.. boy that sure can clog up

I'd highly recommend watching this video where Nate explains two different ways to plumb the sump/SLO configuration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9nP9O26mBg

Method 1 uses low pressure water coming from the SLO T-eed off to each GB and flow controlled with large ball valves

Method 2 involves running water to FT and GB's seperately from the sump tank under pressure, which reduces costs (eg 25mm ball valves and fittings could be used instead of 50mm ones), using ONE PUMP only

Personally I prefer method 2, depending on what I'm trying to acheive (eg maintaining fish tank temps overnight in cold climate), but one disadvantage to it is potentially less fish poop sent to GB's (it could settle more in the sump instead, depending on how well you design it)

Thanks for the video Jono. Isn't method 2 what I was proposing with my sketch? Or am I missing something?

Aka chop1 or chop2. Chop1 is the go


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Thanks for the terminology vk.

I see this is a pretty highly debated topic.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=9013

I think that helps me make my decision.

I'd like to periodically harvest my solids for use as fertilizer in my perennial food trees and shrubs. I think a chop 2 with the fish tank draining into a RFF and then to the sump will be my best way of accomplishing that.

My system is "CHOP 1"
Pump in sump, pumping to fishtank (clean water) gravity fed into my Radial Flow Filter and then to the grow beds, back into the sump.

This is my personal opinion but the CHOP 2 design is an abomination.

If you want to remove solids there is nothing wrong with that but a better way to plum the system is to run from the pump to the FT to the RFF to the GBs to the Sump.

RFFs are good at removing large solids. If the solids get chopped by the pump then they will be smaller and you will have less control over their removal. Similarly there is no point having an RFF after GBs because all the big solids will have been trapped by the GB.

Having the RFF before the GBs may mean that you remove more more solids than you wanted to but there is nothing stopping you from adding them to the GBs if you want to.

Setting the system up this way you can also add DWC or NFT between the GBs and the sump.

If you are removing the solids then you are limiting your plant productivity. The soluble wastes from the fish are mostly nitrogen based and it is in the solids that the majority of phosphorus, potassium and other trace elements reside. In systems where solids are removed they need to focus on leafy green production or significantly supplement to replace the nutrients that have been removed that are essential for fruit production.

Ahhh ok so there is a benefit to havin solids in the grow bed, the plants need it. I was under the impression that everything the plants need is in the water itself. So it does make a lot more sense to have the fish tank drain into the beds for that reason. So why bother with RFF at all? Is it just to make the system neater?

I was nervous about the fish tank going into the grow beds because I want to be able to isolate the flows if need be. But I suppose I could just have a secondary overflow from the RFF (placed higher) that drains into the sump as a back up.

This forum is so awesome. A big thank you to you guys for slapping so much knowledge on me.

RFF only takes out the chunks but the fines make it into the growbeds

Plus u get some fish poo juice for the dirt gardens

By the way vk awesome set up!