Let’s have a look at the aquaponics sump tank
Hello Sustainable growers! In this video we will talk about “Aquaponics sump tank”. A flood and drain aquaponics setup is composed of minimum 4 parts. Which are: the fish tank, the grow bed, the pump and a flushing system such as the bell siphon. Today we will see that we can add another “buffer” tank to the system. We call this third tank the “sump tank”. The sump tank can be used for different reasons:
constant water level fish tank
First it allows to work with a constant water level fish tank. It can be very handy if you design an ornamental Aquaponics setup exposed to the public.
Free design
Secondly it allows you to position your fish tank and your growbed at any level. In classic backyard grow-bed aquaponics, we simply position the growbed on top of the fish tank. Therefore, the water goes by gravity from the growbed to the fish tank. When we use a sump tank we position our sump tank at the lowest point. Hence, the fish tank can be above or at the same level as the growbed.
Positioning of the technical equipment
Another interesting point is that we will place the technical equipment such as the sump pump into the sump tank therefore we don’t disturb the fish when we clean the pump and we can use this tank to add minerals or other elements such as chelated iron into the water.
Add an overflow to your aquaponics sump tank
Depending where your sump tank is situated, an important thing to have into the sump tank is an overflow. Especially if it’s an indoor aquaponics system such as in this video. You simply want to make sure that any excess water will not drop on the floor. It must go directly into the evacuation pipe (generally 5cm below the top of the sump tank).
Sizing the sump tank
When it comes to sump tank size I like to take some security. I work with a sump tank that is approximately 1.5 times the size of the grow-bed. Indeed, you want your sump tank to be able to hold all the volume of water that will be flushed from your growbed at once when the bell siphon flushes. On top of it, you want to make sure that, when the growbed is full, the sump tank water level allows the sump pump to stay completely underwater.
The sump water pump size remain the same as in a classic aquaponics system without sump tank. Similarly, the sump pump must be powerful enough to raise the water at an appropriate water flow up to the high point of the system.
Adding filtration in the sump
You can also add a sump filter into your sump tank. Mechanical filtration and biological filtration are very welcome into your sump tank. It is generally very easy to add few moss layers into the tank. It stops any large particle to come in contact with the sump pump. And therefore you extend the sump water pump life.
Sump tank position
The position of the sump tank is generally the lowest of the system. One option is to put it into the ground. In this case, the water temperature variation will be limited. If you take this option, think of a water evacuation. Alternatively you will have to use the sump pump when you want to empty the tank.
Welcome here! If you are new, you will probably be interested to discover Jonathan’s six steps to build and manage an Aquaponics system. Click here to access for free! Thanks and good reading 🙂
