Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello,

I'm new here (as of today 7/2/2019) but I've been reading and researching this website (and many other sources) for about 2 years. I'm now ready to set up my first few systems and I'm soon going to post a bunch of questions. Here is my first one . . .

I have the opportunity to get a 125 gallon aquarium with a stand and I already have a 75 gallon aquarium.

I'd like to use the 125 aquarium stand to hold the plant grow beds, then on a lower level I'd like to have the 125 aquarium for fish (on cinder blocks or a wood frame) then below that (on the floor), I'd like to have the 75 gallon tank as a sump.

Now here is the question . . . If I have the 75 gallon sump tank on the floor, can I place the pump in there, run the water to the grow beds on top, then have the grow beds drain into the 125 gallon fish tank, and have the aquarium drain into the 75 gallon sump tank?

I feel like I often see the sump tank draining into the fish tank, not the fish tank draining into the sump tank.
Please let me know what you think.

Sorry for the double post, but what I wrote above was kinda wordy. Here is the simple question:

Can a Grow Bed on top, empty into a Fish Tank, then have the Fish Tank (middle) empty into a Sump Tank on the bottom?

The pump will be in the Sump Tank on the bottom and it will bring the water back to the Grow Bed on top.

Yep... commonly termed CHIFT PIST constant height in fish tank pump in sump tank,plenty of examples around..

In every CHIFT PIST design I've ever seen, they go in the order of:

Sump pumps up to Fish Tank, Fish Tank drains into Grow Beds, Grow Beds drain into Sump.

I'm looking to have my system setup like this:

Sump pumps up to Grow Beds, Grow Beds drain into Fish Tank, Fish Tank Drains into Sump.

Will that work? Or is there a reason the CHIFT PIST deign always seems to go in the same order?

Only difference between the two, is in your design the sump might collect more solid waste and the pump will operate in dirty water.

And that would cause less food for worms in the grow bed, and possibly clog the pump I'm thinking?

Shoot, I was hoping it would be fine the other way, as it would look better, but the design isn't made yet, so I could just switch the position of the Grow Bed with the Fish Tank. It'll still work and be beautiful.

Oh yeah, whoops... Umm why bother with the sump, just pump fish tank to grow bed and let it drain back to fish tank.

>>Sump pumps up to Grow Beds, Grow Beds drain into Fish Tank, Fish Tank Drains into Sump.

That's how my small system has operated since 2013. It works fine.

I'd like to keep the level of the fish tank stable. From what I understand, a sump is the way to do that.




Please tell more about this!

Is there anything different to attend to? Like cleaning out the sump or the pump more often?

There's a link to it in my sig. - plenty of photos. I've only cleaned out the sump a couple of times in 6 years, I don't think I've ever had to clean out the pump.

Thanks for the replies!

The 125 gallon aquarium I was hoping to get, was sold before I could get to it. So unfortunately, that system design won't happen.

However, I'm working on a 50 gallon indoor setup and I bought two 160 gallon stock tanks to make a garage system (or two) later on!