New system: Need design help - Aquaponic Gardening2024-03-29T13:37:40Zhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/forum/topics/new-system-need-design-help?commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A422310&x=1&feed=yes&xn_auth=noWow - it looks like you have…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2012-12-11:4778851:Comment:4223102012-12-11T19:43:25.118ZDanielhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/DanielsPromise
<p>Wow - it looks like you have thought about this extensively. My two cents:</p>
<p>- Obviously to use only one pump, the primary consideration is that the pump needs to be located in the lowest area of the system and be pumping to the highest area of the system. The remainder of the system has to be planned to allow gravity to feed each of the remaining parts of the system. In your case, this would appear to me to require the pump to be in your pond, and feed directly to the highest part of…</p>
<p>Wow - it looks like you have thought about this extensively. My two cents:</p>
<p>- Obviously to use only one pump, the primary consideration is that the pump needs to be located in the lowest area of the system and be pumping to the highest area of the system. The remainder of the system has to be planned to allow gravity to feed each of the remaining parts of the system. In your case, this would appear to me to require the pump to be in your pond, and feed directly to the highest part of the grow beds in your greenhouse. Also if you are using only one pump, and still want a waterfall, ALL the growbeds in the greenhouse have to be located higher than the top of the waterfall.</p>
<p>- I'm not an engineer, but the pipe run from the pond to your greenhouse looks quite long and would seem to me to require a very large pump. Keep in mind that gravity is not going to keep a water flow as fast as your pump is likely to be pushing the water, so pipes going back need to be larger than the one connected to the pump. My 1" pipe going into my fish tank (from the sump tank) overflows though a 3" pipe draining into my grow beds though four different 1" pipes (some with purposely reduced flow). If my pump is off, the 3" pipe eventually empties, but if the pump is on, the 3" pipe fills at least halfway up before the water flow equalizes. All this explanation to point out that a gravity feed back into the system through a pipe run that long is likely to need a very big pipe (a scientific term relating to the diameter of the pipe). Perhaps an engineer on this forum can correct my personal hypothesis on this.</p>
<p>- You might consider putting one of the rain barrels on a platform above the grow beds and above the waterfall height, and pump from the pond into the rain barrel. The rain barrel could then provide the water pressure to gravity feed the remainder of the system. (Though you still have to plan each remaining part in succession, making sure each is low enough to get gravity feed from the prior section.)</p>