Best use of 3 x IBC's

[samward]

Hi All,

I have been reading this forum for a while and have decided to setup my own system at home. To that end, I have recently acquired 3 x 1000L IBC's (with an option on getting a fourth).

However after reading back and forth I am unsure what configuration / system would make the best use of these. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how I can maximize there use??


Cheers
Sam

[SolTun]

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/co...ticle/180.html

[Aquarius]

its entirely up to you. the 3 ibc set up is 1st ibc = fish tank, 2nd ibc = 1 grow bed and 1 sump and 3rd ibc = 2 grow beds. a 4th ibc would be good for 2 more growbeds.

[MattySEQ]

Check out murrays DIY video that uses 3 ibcs

[samward]

Ok. So I got the fourth IBC as one of the first three had a cracked top. So I now have 3.5 IBC's (so to speak). These are all 1000L containers.

I have been looking at different system designs and would like to know what people think of the following:

1 x IBC for the fish tank
4 x 1/2 IBC grow bed
1 x IBC for the sump

One question I have is how big a sump do I need / want. Based on the list above, I have close to 1000L for the sump. I wonder is this is actually too much. and whether I should perhaps halve one of the whole IBC's and use 1/2 for the sump, 1/2 for another grow bed ??

I do remember reading somewhere that it was suggested that you should target a 1:1 ratio for grow bed to fish tank volume. With 4 or may 5 grow beds, i'm going to end up with a 1.5:1 ratio (but may this is not a problem).

I the information already provided and any further advice / suggestions people can provide.

Cheers
Sam

[samward]

For some reason I got a lot of strange looks from people both while driving back, as well as when the gear was sitting on the driveway.....

[RupertofOZ]

Some people just don't understand Sam...

[lefty]

run constant flood
1 IBC for fishtank
chop the rest for growbeds
no sump needed if you can have your growbeds higher than the fishtank

[Aquarius]

Sam, my best advice to you would be watch Murray's DVD. dont use 1 IBC for the sump and 1 IBC for fish tank. too much volume of water for the grow beds. try 1 ibc fish tank. half ibc for sump ( maybe the one with the cracked top.) and the other 2 cut down to 4 grow beds @ 300mm high with cage. you want about a 1:1 ratio so 1000l of water to about 1000l of media. and you can always go 2:1 1000l of water to 2000l of media. i have seen ibc systems with 6 grow beds and 1 ibc fish tank and a 500l sump.
A simple set up would be pump in the sump, sump pumps to fish tank,fish tank gravity feeds to sump. Sump also feeds grow beds, and grow beds gravity feed to sump, using fill and drain technique on a timer. IMO auto siphons are a waste of time and you must run your pump 24/7. which ads up

[samward]

Sam, my best advice to you would be watch Murray's DVD. dont use 1 IBC for the sump and 1 IBC for fish tank. too much volume of water for the grow beds. try 1 ibc fish tank. half ibc for sump ( maybe the one with the cracked top.) and the other 2 cut down to 4 grow beds @ 300mm high with cage. you want about a 1:1 ratio so 1000l of water to about 1000l of media. and you can always go 2:1 1000l of water to 2000l of media. i have seen ibc systems with 6 grow beds and 1 ibc fish tank and a 500l sump.
A simple set up would be pump in the sump, sump pumps to fish tank,fish tank gravity feeds to sump. Sump also feeds grow beds, and grow beds gravity feed to sump, using fill and drain technique on a timer. IMO auto siphons are a waste of time and you must run your pump 24/7. which ads up

The things I am struggling with at the moment is how to size the sump. The pump I have does not have a float switch. So the sump needs to be able to hold the water from the grow beds, plus enough water to keep the pump submerged.

Any suggestions on how to size this??

Cheers
Sam