More Big system changes

By TCLynx, on December 22nd, 2010

With the addition of the new Big CHIFT PIST fish tank, I decided to remove the waterfall tank and add a new grow bed in it’s place.

removed waterfall tank

Frame for new bed

This change to the aquaponics system will give a place to filter the excess water flow from the new fish tank and provide more filtration for the system overall. The new bed will hold about 200 gallons of gravel.

Liner installed

This bed will also give me a location to plant some bananas and papaya where they will hopefully not get too tall for the greenhouse.

gravel and bananas

I am hoping to flood and drain this bed by loop siphon into the sump tank right next to it.

New Bed Plumbing

Grow bed full

Later on I will find that this bed didn’t work so well for Aquaponics. First, it’s another lumber/liner bed which isn’t such a good idea (I hadn’t yet learned that lesson when I built this one though.) Also loop siphons are not as good for large grow beds with minimal fall to the sump tank. And finally, in Aquaponics, even a dwarf banana might become a beast and I wound up having to chop it down to put up the greenhouse plastic the next winter. This was my first somewhat deeper grow bed though and I do still like the idea of deep grow beds. They offer extra filtration and support of big plants.

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