Recommended diameter of water pipes ?

[Bob Vento]

Which is the most commonly uses diameter for the PVC pipe, joints and valves being used in Aquaponic gardening today?

I have a bunch of 1/2" stuff, but I think that would be too small of a diameter for my system. I looked for some discussion here and did not see any right off.

[TCLynx]

The size plumbing is going to be related to flow rates needed and balanced between cost.  Generally larger pipe is better but within reason as it could get silly to hook up 3" pipe from the pump in a 10 gallon aquarium system if you know what I mean.

So, your supply plumbing is going to be somewhat based on your pump and flow rate but up sizing plumbing can help a bit to a point.

Then the gravity drain plumbing generally needs to be bigger still than the pressure plumbing.

For instance you can get much more flow through a 1/2" pipe under pressure than will go through it under gravity drain so your little pump filling a fish tank or grow bed with 1/2" pipe would overflow the container if it only had a 1/2" drain or stand pipe.  So for a little micro system I might have 1/2" pipe feeding but then I want at least 1" pipe for the drain. to make sure it can keep up or I might need to plumb a bypass to slow the flow in to make sure the drain can keep up.

For my larger systems It is pretty common to have 1" to 1 1/2" pipe feeding into a tank and then a 3" pipe for my SLO drain from a big tank.  Most of my stand pipe drains are 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" and they might feed into a shared 3" drain with a few beds sharing the larger drain line.

Uniseals can make putting larger drains into tanks more cost effective since they don't cost as much as large bulkhead fittings and uniseals can plumb into a round tank and don't require a special flat spot to work.

[Bob Vento]

Since I am planning on a IBC Tote System and my FT will be approx. 200-225 gallons, and I want to move at least 250 GPH ... It seems I should use 1/2" pipe feeding my grow bed and at lease a 1" pipe to drain the bed. I plan on using the flood and drain method.

Do you think this is enough or should I go bigger with the pipe?

TCLynx said:

The size plumbing is going to be related to flow rates needed and balanced between cost.  Generally larger pipe is better but within reason as it could get silly to hook up 3" pipe from the pump in a 10 gallon aquarium system if you know what I mean.

So, your supply plumbing is going to be somewhat based on your pump and flow rate but up sizing plumbing can help a bit to a point.

Then the gravity drain plumbing generally needs to be bigger still than the pressure plumbing.

For instance you can get much more flow through a 1/2" pipe under pressure than will go through it under gravity drain so your little pump filling a fish tank or grow bed with 1/2" pipe would overflow the container if it only had a 1/2" drain or stand pipe.  So for a little micro system I might have 1/2" pipe feeding but then I want at least 1" pipe for the drain. to make sure it can keep up or I might need to plumb a bypass to slow the flow in to make sure the drain can keep up.

For my larger systems It is pretty common to have 1" to 1 1/2" pipe feeding into a tank and then a 3" pipe for my SLO drain from a big tank.  Most of my stand pipe drains are 1 1/4" or 1 1/2" and they might feed into a shared 3" drain with a few beds sharing the larger drain line.

Uniseals can make putting larger drains into tanks more cost effective since they don't cost as much as large bulkhead fittings and uniseals can plumb into a round tank and don't require a special flat spot to work.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

This might not be any help to Bob, but someone else may be interested in this...

http://www.aquaticeco.com/pages/full_width/87/Friction-Loss-in-PVC-...

[Bob Vento]

This is awesome information Vlad ... thanks. YES I can use this info.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

[Rob Nash]

keep in mind, the pipe will lose about a half an inch over a year, due to bio film.

ie. - 1-1/2" will only run equivilent to a 1".

i try to go up one pipe size from what ever the pump is.  ie.- 1/2" at the pump, i go with 3/4"      ...on a 3/4" i use 1", and so on.

Also, i like to use 1" flex hose from the hydro shop on my 3/4" plumbing  ...the 3/4" pvc slips into the 1" flex, no glue, easy to clean etc.

this pic shows a 300 gallon tank with an 800gph pump that has 3/4" pvc going into the 1" flex then back to a 3/4" thru a uniseal, to the beds and then 2" returns, thru uniseals - keeps the plumbing on the ground.

[RupertofOZ]

Yep, I wouldn't go any smaller than 1" personally...

[TCLynx]

I only use 1/2" for tiny aquarium systems or single tower feeds.

I generally use 1" from my pumps for the medium size systems unless I'm really upsizing to get the most out of a small pump and then I might go 1 1/4-1 1/2" from the pump to the indexing valve.

For a single IBC system I would probably do 3/4" or 1" pipe from the pump to the bed (be sure to plumb in the bypass to send extra flow back into the fish tank and adjust the flow to the grow bed that way instead of a valve at the bed which would restrict the pump.)  the I would do probably a 1 1/4" stand pipe drain or size a siphon appropriate to the flow.  Be sure to add an overflow if you go with a siphon.

For the larger systems I do 1 1/2" from the pump.

[matthew ferrell]

Rob that's a really good idea on the flex hose.  I might use that one.

[Bob Vento]

Thank you all for your comments and suggestions. That's why I love this forum because you experienced folks save us newbies a lot of time, money and grief by steering us in the proper direction.

I will use 1" pipe from the pump for my IBC system and a 1 1/4" pipe stand drain for my bell siphon.  I will also use a bypass, with valve, back to the FT to control flow to the GB. Planning on using pea gravel for the GB since it is much more economical than hydroton and easier on the hands than lava rock.

Would you suggest a submersible or stand alone application for my pump?
(Submersibles seems less complicated but I am not sure if it is the most efficient.)

Can I get by without a sump tank and just flood and drain right back into my FT?

Thanks again for all of your help.

[Rob Nash]

i like submersibles from the hydro shop. cheap and efficient.

with a media system, i dont think a sump is needed at all. if you have the correct amount of grow beds to water, you wont displace too much water from the FT to be a problem.   ie. -the 300 gallon pictured above drops 4-5 inches when filling the the two 32sft growbeds.

[matthew ferrell]

You can do a simple set up where your pump is in the fish tank, and the drain cycle returns right back to there.  Let me give you a few reasons I moved away from this.

1.  I am clumsy.  As  a result I somehow dislodge my plumbing on several occasions over the years, and drain my fish tank.  i assure you my fish were not happy about this.
2. Fish are not the brightest-  On several occasion, especially when small fish were in the tank, I found eyeballs in my grow bed.  Even the best screens will become dislodged from time to time, and the fish will think that new hole is the bee's knee.  Only to find out a short will later that they are way bigger than the impeller hole.

So the sump gets you two things, and maybe more.  You can drain the sump and the fish will still have water.  The sump tank will also exclude fish from the pump.  Lastly the sump increases water volume which makes your system to easier to manage, because more water is always better.