Not sure whether it’s the joy of finally finding a house for us to settle in for the next decade-or-so, or whether it’s the delight at finding a garden that, due to its orientation and terracing, is perfect for a garden split between agricultural and familial duties. Or is it just that spring is in the air? a glorious spring at that!
Whatever it is, my mind is embracing the possiblities of our new situation. A situation that lends itself to a no-holds barred aquaponics system. Gone is my initial timidity. Stuff it, let’s go straight to a BIG system. One that’ll feed the family, and then some.
To maximise its potential, we’re going for a system that is referred to as CHIFT PIST (Constant Height In Fish Tank, Pump in Sump Tank) or CHOP (Constant Height – One Pump). Essentially what this means is that the fish can remain serene, and undisturbed in their tank, with a large sump tank handling all of the variation in water height as water is pumped through to the growbeds. Here’s how it works:
- The system starts with the sump and fish tank full of water, and the growbeds empty.
- A timer turns the pump on – the pump is located in or near the sump.
- The pump transfers water from the sump to the fishtank.
- The fishtank overflows, passing water to the growbeds by gravity.
- The growbeds fill with water, while some starts to flow slowly out of the growbeds to the sump.
- With the growbeds full, the timer stops the pump, and the fishtank stops overflowing.
- The water from the growbeds drains under gravity into the sump.
So it only needs one pump, a timer, some careful pipework and a sump large enough to handle all of the water from the growbeds.
Following my last post on Greenhouses and Polytunnels we’re going for a HUGE polytunnel. Would love a greenhouse, but for the size that we’re after it’s not in our budget. Here’s our proposed system:
It’s a bit of a monster! Here are the details:
- The fish tank (rear right) is 6’x4′ and 4′ deep – 2700 litres
- There are three rows of growbeds : Ten that are 4’x2’x12″, and three that are 7’x4’x18″ (although these will only be filled to a depth of 12″).
- Total growbed volume – 4300 litres.
- Growbed:Fishtank ratio is 1.5:1
- The sump is made up of three interlinked tanks,7’x4’x18″.
- Total sump volume is 3050 litres.
- Sump:Growbed ratio is 0.7:1
So those are the tech specs, what does it mean for food? This system should provide more than enough fish and non-root veges for a family of four – that’s my estimate, based on other systems I’ve seen. That’s our target – at least from year 2!
September 5, 2009 at 8:03 am
[…] We started off with the first plans for our large Aquaponics system […]
September 5, 2009 at 10:44 am
[…] We started off with the first plans for our large Aquaponics system […]
February 12, 2012 at 11:18 pm
Hi
How big is your polytunnel? I’ve just ordered one that’s 15×12 feet, and have got one IBC to make my first tank and grow bed…. Very excited!
January 8, 2013 at 10:57 am
Ours is 14×28′ – have fun with your new system!