Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Am redesigning my system to go from indoor to outdoor, and incorporating a IBC tote as my fish tank. My indoor system ran successfully for three years with a pump inside a 8 ft fishtank. Even though I always used aquarium filter where my water inlet to beds were, after three years still plugged up my beds with solids.
Being I am moving it, I wanted to redesign it as a CHOP so that fish solids dont pass through my pump, and hopefully make it easier to remove.
Question, if I have a big enough height difference between fishtank and grow beds, can I flow through radial swirl filter, (5 gallon bucket) before going to my two beds? In theory, it sounds like it should work, but wondering if anyone else tried it, and has advice?

Yes you can use a Radial Flow Filter between them just using gravity flow. There are a lot of examples of this on Youtube. Here's a good one that Rob Bob did a few years ago https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RVzNcU8EnwU. I believe CHIFT PIST is the same as CHOP and you'll find more information searching for CHIFT PIST on this forum.

In my current system I have a 750 litre fish tank [ with 20 trout ]
Going to a radial filter then a bio filter then to 1/2 ibc grow bed and have no clogging isues

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If it/s free pick it up
If it isent broke dont fix it

In my large system I have a 135litre drum swirl filter between FT (currently ~100 trout, but had over 250 a couple of months ago, and will have 450 shortly) and GBs.

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My small AP system: http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=16345
Larger 2nd system: http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=24153
Solar powered Gunagulla Organic Garden
Fruit +Loomberah Wx
http://gunagulla.com

This system uses a solids lift overflow (SLO) from a 275gal IBC and flows to a RFF (30 gallon?), then to the growbeds which drain to the sump. You can see all in the photo if you look closely.

I don't recommend something as small as a 5 gallon bucket for an RFF unless it's a very small FT. You want to have some dwell time in the filter so the flow is slow enough to be effective, and you don't have to clean it every day.

If you are using an IBC and pumping at least 150 gallons per hour, I think you want at least a 15 gallon RFF - just my opinion, not based on any scientific facts.

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800 gal sys 2016
IBC system 1/2015
simple flood & drain
5 growbeds

9 kW Solar Electric 2011

"Aquaponics...solar-powered nanotechnology that produces fresh vegetables and meat, while purifying water..." - Rick Op, Houston Texas.

I have two 146 gallon grow beds. I was thinking of using two SLO solids lifting outlets from FT, each one going through a 5 gallon bucket, and going to its own grow bed. I used 1 5 gallon bucket for both beds before, and it did not catch everything, like you say, not enough retention time.
Anyone else try using two outlets coming from 300 gallon tote bin?
I hate having to buy a bigger solids filter, but will if the two outlet idea is a bad one??
I included a pic of my old set up with 1 5 gallon bucket.