Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I hope to get some advice for a system I am helping tp build at the Cobre Valley Indoor Farms. The IBC fish tank is going to be on the second story of a old mining mercantile building, while the grow beds will be on the first floor, The problem here arises when the power to the pump goes out, what kind of check valve will keep all the water from siphoning out of the fish tank on the second story? it will have to be one that will work with no power,

Wouldn't a SLO work?
http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vie ... php?t=9844

Spot on bridgie, a slo (solids lifting overflow) would work fine. You would also need a sump in this situation and perhaps a check valve in the pump discharge. The biggest issue would be the head the pump needs to move.

Drill a small hole in the supply line leaving the FT before the first elbow well enough above the water level so that if/when power is interrupted, the hole sucks air and stops any siphoning. I have the end of the line from my sump tank returning water to my FT set up to stir the junk on the bottom when the pump is running. Without the small hole my FT would get siphoned. Really low tech and works good. And I know when my pump is/isn't running.

Thanks for the reply's, gives me some stuff to think on, the small hole makes a lot of sense to me,

Using a tee as the first elbow on the slo does exactly the same thing and more.

we are going with a auto always open check valve wired into the same circuit as the pump, that way as long as there is electricity to the pump, the valve is open, anytime the pump losses power the valve will snap shut. has to be that way because the pump will be on the first floor, below the grow beds, piped into the bottom of the fish tanks on the second floor, this project is a lot of fun, and a great learning experience.,

Why plumb the pump to the bottom of the fish tank?

That is way it was plumbed before I got on board, The IBC was already mounted upstairs with PVC pipe coming up through the floor from the pump into the bottom bung of the IBC, The pump is a 1-1/2 horse , with a bypass plumbed into the system, because the whole flow of water will not be able to pass through the grow beds in the vertical configuration that is being built right now, the grow beds will be 4'X4' - 5 per rack, 5 of those in a row, along the walls of this grow room will be grow racks 1'X4' again 5 per rack, 6 along each wall, all lit with LED grow lights, I will post some photos of the grow room soon.

Here are photos of the IBC upstairs and of the grow room.

this is a photo of the IBC upstairs, it is 400 gallons surrounded by foam blocks for insulation, it is still very cold in Miami,

The grow room

Any reason why the system is split over 2 stories? Costs a lot to pump high heads when there seems to be lots of space near the fish tank.

The grow room used to be a meat cooler, as well as the next two rooms, so they are well insulated making it easier to controll temps, the grow room is hydroponic right now, but making it aquaponic takes all the chemicals out of the process as well as adding fish to the output of the garden, the building used to be a mercantile for the local mines, so the upper floors can handle the weight of the fish tanks (there will be many added in the future) and being large open spaces will nice to work in, leaving the ground floors of the building to the gardens. Everyone is welcome to come see the progress. More info can be found at the face book page for Gila County Indoor Garden .

Hi Kipp

Sounds like its going to evolve into a fairly large system

Think about getting Round Fish Tanks , Fish do much better in them

If you need insulation look for a business that's sprays foam insulation in sheds like wineries ect , turn your tanks upside down and spray them as thick as you want .

Soon as we seen the split level set up we think of power costs , in Australia it would cost a lot of $$$$ to run a 1.5 hp pump 24 hrs a day .

So we tend to avoid any unnecessary pumping height .

Keep the photos coming
Cheers