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View Full Version : Working on my first system [HELP]



Syrphid
10-02-2016, 09:19 PM
Noobie here. Just putting together a small set-up to experiment with, and I have a few questions that desperately need to be answered.

Just picked up a 15 gallon tank, wondering if this 4 gallon bin (top of tank) is going to provide enough water pressure required to drain correctly using the flood and drain technique with a bell siphon.
To keep a vacuum inside my horizontal drain pipe, how long should my pvc be between my vertical drain and my fish tank considering how small my build is?
When purchasing a pump, how many gallons per hour should I be looking for? (Will be hiding the pump under gravel)

http://www.diyaquaponics.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=5002&stc=1

jvision
10-12-2016, 05:05 PM
I've never done an F+D system so small, but I found with my system with 3/4" drains I needed about a 6" drop to get it to work properly... I generally have 12"+ on my drains, tho. For pump size, you generally want to turn over your tank volume 4x/hr, so 60GPH would be your aim. That being said, most aquarium water pumps do not run full flow with ANY head, so if you want to achieve 60GPH, you should probably aim for something that can push around 100GPH