Flow or the water

[Houliham]

Can the fish water flow don to the grow beds and then get pumped back up to the fish tank?

[badflash]

Sure, just a lot more complicated. You need level switches to cycle the pumps on & off. Loss of power floods the plants.

[jackalope]

Hi Houliham,

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[davidstcldfl]

Hi Houliham, welcome to the forum....

Badflash and I, must be reading your question differently...?

A good percentage of systems are CHIFT PIST ...constant height in fish tank, pump in sump tank.
The fish tank is highest, the growbeds at a lower level, the sump being the lowest point.
The water is actually 'overflowing' into the growbeds. The water drains from the beds to the sump. The water is then pumped back to the fish tank.

If the power goes out....the water just stops moving.
As long as your re-turn line doesn't start a siphon...use a check valve or simply, dont have it underwater in the fish tank....let the water spray into the tank to help with the O2.

The 'slo-drain' stands for 'solids lifting overflow'....the solids being fish pooh...
Hope this helps.

[Houliham]

Very helpful! Thanks. Most of the systems I've seen on YouTube have the fish tank at the bottom. Should I make sure the fish are doing well before I put plants in?

[JCO]

With all due respect to David, it would work much better if you reversed the sequence above and put the sump at the top. That way the solids would have a chance to settle and the water could flow by gravity to the grow beds keeping as much of the solids out of the beds as possible. It would also keep your grow beds from overflowing and your F/T from going dry in case of power failure. You could put a valve at the bottom of the sump to remove the solids periodically. That's the ideal situation for an Aquaponics set up if you can possibly set it up that way.

[Big Al]

i agree with david we run chift pist in our system with red worms in our gravel beds to clean up the sludge so far so good. Big Al

[davidstcldfl]

It would also keep your grow beds from overflowing and your F/T from going dry in case of power failure.

JCO,with all due respect for you too... ....I'm sorry, my drawing is pretty crude. I should of 'noted' that there is a 'tee' ( on top of the slo-drain) inside the fish tank. The top of the tee is 'open'.
The water can 'only' leave the fish tank....as more water is being pumped into the fish tank. Following the rule of...'water seeks it's own level'.
If the power goes out....all the water stops flowing.( CHIFT.... Constant Height In Fish Tank)

keeping as much of the solids out of the beds as possible

You 'want' the pooh to go into the (media) growbeds. As BigAl pointed out....throw some worms in the growbeds, they eat the pooh and any roots that may have gotten left behind. People do toss in some tid bits to keep the worms happy. Adding bananna peels is pretty popular..adds some potasium

If your ratio of grow beds to fish tank is 'at least' 1:1, or best 2:1.....and the growbeds are at least 12 inchs deep, the media 3/4 inch and has red worms....they'll work great. Of course, you need to have a proper fish density.
I've read from several people on other forums ( that I tend to trust what they say)....have this type of set up, where the beds have gone years 'without' being cleaned. They've shown pictures as they are cleaning them...and it's a 'Why did I bother ?'

One other thing I noticed on the drawing.....normally the drain on the media growbed, would come out the bottom.

[JCO]

David, not to start any kind of contest as to who knows how an Aquaponics system should be set up because a person can do it any way they please as far as I am concerned, however solids do not belong in grow beds if it can be prevented. Some people do it, but that is not the optimum fashion of setting up a system. If you do allow it and put worms in it, pretty soon you will be growing your plants in worm dirt filled with worms, not a clean grow medium where the water flows freely to the grow bed and back to the F/T.

Worms or no worms, if you allow solids in the grow beds you are going to have to clean it out sooner or later or it will clog the system and stall the flow. The basics of Aquaponics is Fish, Fish Water, grow media and filtration and there is nothing in that equation that says anything about worms or fish crap in the grow beds. The grow bed is not a sump and should never be use as such if at all possible to avoid.

As for people who use your method, ask them how much sludge is in the bottom of the grow beds or in the media over a period of time. You can not deny that worms do create a waste matter when they eat and their waste does not come out as clean water therefore, no matter how much fish matter they consume, there will be solid waste from the worms that will accumulate and sooner or later it will have to be cleaned out or your grow beds will actually be turned into wicking beds not Aquaponic grow beds.

Now that I have said my piece, people of the world....do it your way and enjoy life while you can.....todays mistakes are tomorrow's heart aches....beleive me I know from experience.

[badflash]

I'm experienced with fish, but just getting my first AP system cycled and on line now. Been a student for a number of years. There are lots of ways to skin the cat. What ever works for you, works for you.

The model I'm working on moves water from about 2' off the bottom of the fish tank (pool) and into the growbeds using flood & drain. Weekly I will vacuum the fish tank, de-water and feed the solids to the worms. This is a very simple setup. Pool, growbeds, bell siphon. Worm disposal unit. The pump that cycles the system has a take-off to a python vacuum.

Solids are removed via the python, sent to a bead filter for separation, and the water returned to the fish tank. Fish poo is easily removed from the bead filter and de-watered by settling. Clear water is poured off, and the rest given to the worms.

For those that put worms in the beds, the theory goes that the worms break down the solids and make them soluble so that the plants can use them. I can't say if that works or not, but I believe Dufflight has some experience in that area.