Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Most people don't leave plants in for more than a season though so water flow would be altered every time you pulled an established plant out at the end of the season and planted new ones. And worms in the beds would be munching away at old roots too.

Accumulation of gunk would eventually build up though you are right, but if you were cleaning your beds you probably wouldn't want that goop to drain to your sump anyway, more than likely you'd be draining it to somewhere outside of the system wouldn't you? I haven't done it yet as my system is still young, but that's what I imagine I'd be doing.


Ah yep, I was picturing a full sump tank, but you wouldn't have to fill it to the top, the GB would just have to be higher than the water level in the sump, yeah?

Could she get away with just a blue barrel as a sump or would it be too risky to have something so small, even with a continually flowing system?

Could the sump be long and shallow rather than deep?

I HATE digging and having just moved 7 cubic meters of mulch - I don't think my knees and backs would survive me trying to bury something the size of an IBC.

Not to mention that in our area if you dig much deeper than 45cm you hit horrible white clay which is an absolute b-tard to dig....

I'm hoping maybe I could use a series of barrels lying on their side as the sump.... Run them under the elevated Growbeds frame so they would be hidden as well...

Thoughts?

Yes it could, and you don't have to bury it entirely like a meter deep but if you can stand to dig it in a little then every bit helps. Always better to go ibc's than barrels, the more volume in the system the better.

"Quote:
Could the sump be long and shallow rather than deep?
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Yes it could, and you don't have to bury it entirely like a meter deep but if you can stand to dig it in a little then every bit helps. Always better to go ibc's than barrels, the more volume in the system the better."
I believe there is a trade off for deep over shallow in that temperatures vary more in the shallow tanks.

Ok - what if I sliced two IBCs in half and sat the halves half under the grow beds to act as the sump? Just like Tristins IBC setup in The IBC of Aquaponics?

This would give us ample sump volume while also negating any need to build a frame to support the Growbeds.


The STs wouldn't have to be exactly the same size right? We could stagger the sizes so that the GB closest to the FTs was sitting highest etc to help with our gravity drain... Giving us a terraced rice field effect!

Though the metal frames will be entirely exposed to the elements.... Should I treat them somehow to improve longevity?

My hubby has access to plenty of plastic pallets so we could potentially put a cut down plastic pallet under each sump tank so that they are not sitting in direct contact with wet ground.

Do I need a bilge/dirty water pump that features a float for this sort of setup?

Just keep in mind that the greater the surface area / volume ratio, the more the temperature will vary diurnally. IE the more you divide a certain volume of water up into smaller bits, the more surface area you will have, meaning a higher temperature range each day. It is best to minimise that range as much as possible. A sphere is best, then a cube, but long and shallow is far from ideal.
Having the sumps in good thermal contact with shaded ground is good, it helps regulate the temperature.

See viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25974

Gunagulla - I'm planning on placing the sump tanks under the grow beds and also cladding them to prevent algae growth and make it look better... Then the whole thing will be additionally shaded by a greenhouse type shadecloth cover.

Do you think this will be enough to mitigate the extra surface area?

Ok time for some maths...How deep do the Growbeds need to be? Is 22cm with a fill level of 20cm sufficient?

If I have 4 Growbeds that fill to 20cm deep the volume of water after putting gravel in is approx 112 liters per growbed. X 4 that equates to 448 liters.

I'm reasonably tall so If I cut an IBC down to 62cm as a sump pit it is the perfect height for me to sit a grow bed on top and garden comfortably. (The plants will be at just above kitchen counter height.

An IBC that measures 120cm X 106cm X 62cm deep will hold 789litres if I fill it to the 52cm mark.

Surely 789 liters is more than enough? It's almost twice the water holding capacity of my grow beds at 448 liters total...

Thoughts?

PS-> Thank you so much for being so helpful! I would be totally lost if it wasn't for this forum!

It will help, but I think you still need to keep them good contact with shaded earth (damp soil is a much better conductor), with a bit of burying if possible. A few days of high 30s-40C will really heat your water up a lot, especially if the nights are warm. Keeping as much of the surface of the GBs as possible out of the sun with your shadecloth cover will help significantly too.


Yes, that should be good for sump volume, water 2cm below top of gravel should be ok, if not too much sun on it, but you may get a bit of algae growing. I've got some algae on the deep end of some of my GBs- water comes to the surface due to GBs sinking in soft ground, huge weight of plants- such as the banana tree.

I'm not planning to plant anything near as big as a banana tree so we should be ok.

Trying to think of cheap and efficient ways to clad the STs.

My husband works near a place that gives away these black plastic pallets.

They're fairly easy to cut with an angle grinder.

I could cut a few of these to size and then bolt them together to surround the STs and they could also form part of the support for the grow beds.

I reckon between these and the metal IBC cages - the grow beds should have enough support to see them through Armageddon!

They are hollow too - so to increase insulation for the STs I could also stuff the gaps with something. Even earth... Then grow strawberries in the tops lol!

(Ignore the cut out on this particular pallet ... It was going under our duck pond so I cut out a section so I could install a bottom drain in the duck pond.)

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I am going away from regular AP.. it seems many are also going that way..
Ie.. separating the fish and the plants... Chatting with RobBob who is also convinced it's better to sepparate..
It is still. AP, in the strict sense that the fish create the nutrients, but we remove them and take them to the plants and we are able to supplement with whatever to suit the plants without affecting the fish chemistry..
I just picked up Root Pouches.. I think this is also a better way to go..
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If you want some seriously good cladding/insulation (foil/PE-Foam/Foil), there is a place at Mascot selling. Re-purposed stuff cheap .. the best money can buy..
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Not that much.. the water to flood that depth will be about 30% of the media volume... 200mm... 200L Media.. 60L water
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Sydney Chick.. DO read your PMs... top line MESSAGES..
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