A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Too many acronims

OK so today im glueing pipes together for a CHIFT PIST system with a SLO. Then i remembered something about a CHOP1 and a CHOP2 system. So i stopped and came to the computer. I want to have the best system or hybrid system possible. I cant remember what CHOP1 and CHOP2 is. Someone please help me out with the difference. OK now im going back out to the barn to finish my APWCTAATW, Air Powered Water Circulators That Also Aerate's The Water.

Im not trying to be a smart a$$. Please help with the acronims

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Permalink Reply by Robert Rowe on September 11, 2012 at 5:07pm

@Tony - I am with you.

Back in the day, the polite rule was, if you are going to use an acronym, in the first instance, you spell it out with the aconym in parenthesis, all after use the acronym.

Hey folks,jus sayin. I am the pot calling the kettle black.

Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on September 11, 2012 at 7:55pm

Thanks Robert, Now I know i'm im not alone. I'm building a system that is primarily a CHIFT PIST (constant height in fish tank pump in sump tank) With a SLO (solids lifting overflow). Out of 5 tanks.

One of my fish tanks is convertable to a sump tank to keep it all contained in the fish room of my barn. I piped it this way make sure my system wouldn't fail if the line going to my greenhouse froze in the winter.

I can see the advantage of regulating the flow from the sump to the fish tank or back to the growbeds, If the nitrates start climbing then open up to the growbeds more. But im not sure what that acronim is.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on September 11, 2012 at 9:22pm

CHOP stands for Constant Height One Pump and is essentially the same thing as CHIFT PIST Constant Height In fish Tank Pump In sump Tank but uses less words/letters.

Generally the CHOP or CHIFT PIST has fish tank highest and they drain to grow beds which drain to sump where pump lifts water back to fish tank.

CHOP Mark 2 is the version where you pump from the sump up to everything all at once and everything all drains back to the sump tank. This allows for more flexibility in layout since everything only needs to be higher than the sump and not necessarily high enough to drain back to a grow bed that then drains to the sump. Drawback is since the fish tank drains back to the sump, you don't get a "clean water sump" to allow pumping direct to growing methods that require really clean water and you need a slightly stronger pump to handle pumping to everything in parallel instead of things flowing in series.

have I explained it or only confused you further?

Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on September 12, 2012 at 4:25am

TCLynx, As always Thanks for the info. My SLO is about 3' higher than my growbeds. I am gravity flowing from the FT to the GB to the ST and pumping back to the FT, with a re-circulation line from the ST back to the GB, to help control nitrates.

I have 5 IBC's in an insulated room in my barn, The water will be pumped from the ST to a 10 gallon aquarium filled with pea gravel and heavily aerated, which will then overflow to the IBC. Each IBC has a 10 gallon aquarium on the inlet. I also have 4 - 29 gallon aquariums that will get water from the sump and overflow to the IBC's. These will be used for my breeding pairs.

My greenhouse is about 180' away from my fish room, I haven't got them piped together as of yet but will hopefully get the trench done before winter. I have piped one of my IBC's to be converted to a sump tank in the event of my drain line freezing.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on September 12, 2012 at 5:59am

180 feet is far, be sure to use big pipe and arrange an inspection point or clean out or three.

Definitely make sure you put a grate on the drain so fish can't go spelunking down your pipes. I lost a goldfish that way not too long ago.

Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on September 12, 2012 at 12:36pm

The pump will put up about 20# pressure. It has a 1" outlet. My plan is to use a 2" return line with a clean out at the greenhouse and just outside the fish room.

I found (at Lowes) a really nice glue in drain that fits the inside of a 2" pipe. It has 1/4"X1/4" square holes that should keep my fish in the tank. I am thinking of putting an IBC just outside the fish room to grow some duck weed in. If a small fish goes for a swim then it should end up in the duck weed tank instead of the growbeds. I was also thinking of putting in a swirl filter to drop out some solids. It would also have to be outside,Or just clean the solids out of the duckweed tank. I'm not sure which is the best option.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on September 12, 2012 at 8:33pm

If your pump is a strong one with a 1" fitting, I would say that perhaps a 2" drain line for gravity flow return may not be big enough to keep up with that pump, especially if it is running such a long distance with some ups and downs and elbows etc.

How many gallons per minute will the pump be delivering to your fish tanks? Then you will want to look into if your drain line with the long distance and amount of fall from the water height down to where it will be draining will move more than that many gallons per minute through a 2" pipe.

Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on September 12, 2012 at 10:38pm

The pump puts out 1300 GPH. The IBC inlets are valved. I can vary the flow by re-cycling it through the grow beds.

I put some clear PVC on the 2" combined outlet, so i can see if it starts to get overwelmed.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on September 13, 2012 at 5:13am

Is that nominal 1300 gph? or is 1300 gph how much you expect the pump to deliver back to the fish room through the 180 + foot of 1" pipe and at the height of the fish tanks?

Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on September 13, 2012 at 9:45am

The pump has a 1" threaded outlet that i'm going to couple to a 2" line returning to the fish room, Once inside the fish room the line will narrow down to 1 1/4 pipe that has 10 pipes that go to my 5-10 gallon aquariums filled with gravel and also my 4-29 gallon breeder tanks. These 10 pipes are 1/2" PVC with valves to adjust the flow to each tank that overflow to the IBC's.

So the 180' pipe will be 2" and the top of the fish tanks are about 4' above the water level in the sump.

The fish room overflow is also 2" going back to the growbeds, This line will split into 2 lines going to 2 flood and drain beds that are 4' wide and 38' long. These 2 beds will drain to a 4' wide by 38' long deep water raft, That will drain to the sump.

I'll go take some pics.

Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on September 13, 2012 at 9:55am

This is a pic of the 1 1/4 line from the sump, It is 2" from the sump to the fish room. This pics shows the inlet to the 10 gallon aquarium (in the back) and the inlet to the 29 gallon breeder tank (right). The hole in the wood is where they will both overflow to. Overflows are yet to be built. This is for 1 IBC. The other 4 are piped the same.

Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on September 13, 2012 at 10:01am

This is a pic of the 2" combined outlet that will gravity flow to the growbeds. The 2" valve is where i can block the flow going to the growbeds and convert this IBC to a sump (incase the line to the growbeds freezes). Also in this pic is one of the air powered water circulators that connects to the bottom valve.