I currently have this system running in my basement, without the solids tank, with about 48 goldfish and rosehead minnows. I have one chard in there as a test plant and it’s currently growing insane, I also added some worms into the media bed.
All of the supply lines are 3/4″ PVC and the return lines are 1″ PVC. The pumps are 800gph although the flow through the filter is obviously less due to head pressure. I have the media bed pump slowed down with a gate valve.
I am having an issue where the fish tank water level is way higher than the outlet pipe and when the media bed drains it will enter the top overflow on the angled tee often sucking fish along with it.
I come from a saltwater aquarium background where we assume 1″ PVC can handle 900gph, is 1″ PVC too small for this application? It is my assumption that the fish tank is not draining quick enough so the water level rises from its neutral state. I do have a GPM meter that I plan on installing right before the filter which is the only part of the system that runs continuously.
I am thinking the solids lifting pickup that I designed might be more restrictive than assumed. I did check the cross-sectional area of the pickup and made sure it was greater than 1″ PVC but this might not be enough.
The main reason I am asking is because I am about to break the entire system down to add the solids tank and I would like to fix or improve it while I have the opportunity.
Thanks in advance for any help! submitted by /u/l-DRock-l
[link] [comments]
http://dlvr.it/TQ2vWX