Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So I was impatient and added my clay beads without washing very well and it got nasty in the tank(no fish yet). So to get rid of the dust floating around I made this sponge filter that all pipes drain into before it rains down in the sump. I was gonna get rid of it but I kinda like the rain. Is the rain effect better aeration or just extra crap in the sump? What do you folks think?

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IMHO.. you can NEVER have too much O2, so if you are happy with the noise, keep it..
EVEN if you have an air pump, you never know the day it fails, and you will still have the waterfall..

I am a big believer in real filtration.. mechanical filtration...
Most here don't believe, but then they have likely never tried it and go on normal opinion..
As I reported a few times, I have a cartridge filter, and a few days ago, I cleaned it after about four months of usage..
Bottom line.. there was near nothing to remove, and I put this down to the filter acting as an aerobic filter, progressively mineralising the Bio matter, and leaving true non-organic matter..
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Btw.. at least your filter cannot fail... it will just overflow ..
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My system is in the house so I am trying to limit the risk of water on the floor. haha again haha.

I did a bunch of research and I am under the impression that grow beds don't break down the solids. I do not want to have to clean out poop from the grow beds every year. This filter collects any stragglers from the swirl filter as well as the over flow from my fish tank and the previously mentioned red clay dust.

please draw diagrams of where this fits in system............

I hope you didn't want anything fancy. haha

cheers