Hello from Raleigh, NC

[davidstcldfl]

1. Would two 55 gal drums be enough for the sump tank and FT?

A drum for your sump would be fine. Just make sure it is clean/safe for the fish.
-advantage...it's sides would be stronger, in regards to being buried
-disadvantage....the depth...now you'll have more 'head' for the pump to deal with.
The sump needs to hold more water then the GB's combined.

Fish tank....you 'could' use a 55 gal drum. The height would seem awkward to me. Plus, now your air pump needs to be able to pump deeper

I would need to buy a new pump since mine is not submersible.

Is it the kind that has a suction side and a discharge side....like a swimming pool pump has....? Run the suction line to the bottom of the sump.

.

Would 330gph, 150" lift, .06hp, 1/2" output pond pump be enough?

It looks like it 'might' work. If you put a drum in the ground, plan on keeping your FT as low as possible. Keep the 'head' as short as you can.
When buying a pump, figure how much water you want to move. Figure out what the 'head'/height you need. Add a little to that for resistance of flow in the pipe. Now, you need to find a 'performance curve chart' and see if the pump will meet your needs.
Here's an example...
http://www.aquaticeco.com/images/static ... es/MD2.gif

Also, look to see the wattage of the pump. In the long run, it would be better to spend a little more, on a more efficient pump.

3. Can I use flexible plastic tubing instead of PVC in some places? Should there be anything special about it?

If you use clear tube, and have water going through it....it will turn green. After your system gets established....all your pipe will have algae growing in them. It's best to slightly oversize the pipe .

It's 3/4" PVC with holes drilled in it and a 90 degree elbow and then a 2-3" piece of PVC to the max water height of the GB.

Most people do not let the top of the gravel get wet. It 'will' start to grow algae

[davidstcldfl]

[

My goldfish can handle abuse. When i put them into their new system they went from 80 to 65 and survived that too. I think i should rent these super fish as cycle guerrillas and sytem testers.

You have to make, some 'camo' outfits for them.....

Maybe gigaguy, bought fish that were already sick....?

[gigaguy]

Is it the kind that has a suction side and a discharge side....like a swimming pool pump has....? Run the suction line to the bottom of the sump.

Yes. Maybe Ill give this a try first. If not when looking for the pump to calculate would it be something like.

100gal FT
330 gph pump (could recycle the tank 3 times in one hour, so it can run for about 20 min/hr)
if the outlet connection on the pump is 1/2" with a 150" lift, then that equals 1" with 75" lift, or vice versa to go smaller, correct?
So I just need to figure out how long it takes to fill my GB's.

Is there a big difference between using a sump pump vs. pond pump? I noticed some sump pumps dont have a "lift" specification.


Thanks, I couldnt find any recommendations on this forum or google regarding pumps.

[badflash]

Get pump curves with any punp and see if the flow matches your needs. I used a home depot sump pump for a while, but being very inefficient, it added too much heat to the water in summer. Pump efficiency is pretty important in the summer.

[jackalope]

When looking at the pump specs, keep in mind that the 330 GPH is probably with no lift .... I've noticed that the Home Depot/Lowes pond pumps give out these fabulous GPH's, but when you look at the paperwork (badflash calls it the pump curves), you sometimes find out that at the 10 or 12 foot lift, the GPH is something less, like maybe 30 GPH As davidstcldfl was pointing out, with more height comes more head pressure!

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Gigaguy.......Any updates ?

[gigaguy]

Hi Gigaguy.......Any updates ?

Unfortunately not yet. I am working on getting my large outside dirt garden planted. I will let you guys know.