Aquaponics on the horizon

[Dennis]

Hello all. I'm getting everything ready for my aquaponics system now and am very excited. Such a cool project!! If you're willing, I'd appreciate some feedback on my system.
 

The aquarium is 252 liter (65 gallon). 

I will have two grow beds above that. 70cmX45X24

I think I'll also have a mini-strawberry tower. 

I'm growing indoors and if the water environment looks right after cycling, I intend to raise Koi. 

I want to have worms as well.

Do you think 24cm is deep enough for worms?

I plan on using a submersible water pump on a timer 15on/45off. 

It looks like I'll get a 800L/hour pump, meaning, I'll move 200 of the 252 liters every hour. The tank won't be filled to the brim either, so I reckon it will be 200 out of 230 every hour = 87%. I know the rule of thumb is 100% of the tank volume each hour...Do y'all think that will work out?

Also, about the pump on a timer...what kind of flux will that give in the water levels of the aquarium and how will the fish react to that?

And I'm shooting for a pH of 7.0.
Does that sound about right? 

Any tips, tricks, and advice are more than welcome. Have a great day! 

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

You may have an issue in the beginning establishing your bacteria if your only running you pump 15 min/ hour. At least until the cycling is complete run it full time. If my calculation is right you only have about 150 liters of growbed which should match you aquarium so your grow bed is undersized. Because of that you will want to stock just a few fish with that volume only feeding about 10-20g a day in fish food. I have 100 liter growbed with just a few goldfish and plenty of plant growth.

[Dennis]

Ok, Thanks Jonathan. For a 252 liter aquarium, what is the optimal amount of grow bed? Is it a 1:1 ratio?

[TCLynx]

Also, keep in mind that an 800 liter per hour pump will only move 800 liters per hour at 0 head.  As soon as you expect that pump to lift the water up to a grow bed or strawberry tower, it won't pump so much water so you need to oversize your pump a bit more or you might want to run the pump continuous and use a siphon to flood and drain the grow bed while you let the pump run all the time.

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Yeah, the standard is 1:1. However that is at higher stocking densities which means more PH swings. Start with a low density, and you will likely not need to add more fish to have amazing plants. 1 pound of fish for every 10- gallons will keep things humming at a 1:1 ratio

Dennis said:

Ok, Thanks Jonathan. For a 252 liter aquarium, what is the optimal amount of grow bed? Is it a 1:1 ratio?