One Pump vs. Two Pump Aquaponic Systems

In this video, Dr. Nate Storey of Bright Agrotech discusses the differences between 1-pump vs. 2-pump sump-based aquaponics systems. [Read more: brightagrotech.com/one-pump-vs...]

[@Bigelowbrook]

We run a 2 pump system and it's not for everyone. Our sump tank has two pumps in it so that there's a backup. I can guarantee 100% that a sump pump will eventually fail and you need pretty big nads to not put in a second pump or at least an alarm or cutoff system! I probably would have gone with CHOP, but to bury such a large sump tank is far too expensive to do here in our rock (boulder) filled ground. Also, Nate has a good plan with the towers because he doesn't have media beds to deal with the flood and drain issues, which requires a larger sump tank to make up the differences in the water levels. Thanks Nate, and as always, your artistic skills are impeccable! ;-)

[@MrCanofpeas]

You could consider a float switch on the pump,, set at the fish tank min water level. So if for whatever reason water doesn't come back to the tank, when the min level is hit pump goes off. If your sump has a float switch then just set the float switch/pump elevation at the min water level.

[@ZipGrowInc]

Thanks Rob. I'm glad someone appreciates my rough, impressionistic sketches. And you're absolutely right having a second or backup pump is a necessity. In our case we've just gotten very good and fast at pump switchouts and rewireing things. We're like the NASCAR pit crew of pump rewiring and replacement. :)

[@fruithero]

I'm planning a aquaponic system on my patio in the middle of the city and these video's are just great! They are all very informative and they help a lot with getting familiar with aquaponics. Thanks a lot!

[@ZipGrowInc]

So happy to hear you're learning lots, fruithero - Let us know if you have any other questions. Growing food is absolutely possible in the city with the right equipment, know-how and resourcefulness!

[@dregele]

great videos in your channel! love them... as we live offgrid just solarpowerd i decided a one pump(30w/h) gravity ibc system. fishtank is highest point with constant hight of water. the sumptank is burried beds are on workhight. the reason for not using a pressurepump was the energy(electricity) use. even if the pump fails fish still have their 1000l to be happy... i adore your idea of the split system. next project is your growtowers.... as beeing more than 30years a gardener i heard my spine singing when i saw them... what a great idea!

[@ZipGrowInc]

Thanks so much, +gerd n.! We're glad to hear the videos have been helpful to you and can't wait to see some photos or videos of your ZipGrow garden someday! We'd love to have you in the ZipGrower community.

[@WayneMeador]

This was very informative Nate, thank you for sharing!

[@ZipGrowInc]

You bet, Wayne!

[@oryzasativa3184]

great video. I wonder why gravity feed is not your priority. do you have experience about high maintenance in gravity feed? tnks

[@neftoclefto]

Awesome Video!

[@TheRealJoga]

You are the man! thank you for addressing these I really appreciate it!

[@ZipGrowInc]

Our pleasure! Thanks for watching Yosef!

[@shababhsiddique]

wow really useful insight, i never thought of this problem in this way.

[@71160000]

You can use a syphon to move water from the plant tank to the fish tank. With overflow boxes you won't overdrain either tank. In my system I have three pumps. One runs a spray bar in a six hundred gallon talapia sump. The other two pumps each fill a hydrobed. They run by timer that kicks them on independently three times a day. I don't necessarily think running water through the hydro beds continuously is good for many plants or very efficient in electric usuage.

[@adamrichardson1705]

If you want a great aquaponics system then I recommend you use this one: AquaSystem.xyz

[@ADUAquascaping]

You can also do a hydrodynamic reflection gravity design that uses no pump and no sump. Great video either way.

[@ricardogarcia-rivera1535]

good idea. but where do you put your filters? and from where does the fish tank overflow or drainage go? One needs to push that water thru the filters for adequate solid waste removal

[@econocrat]

What would be the recommended approach for an overflow drain when dealing with a glass aquarium? (I don't want to drill a hole in the aquarium)

[@masteringaquaponics4129]

Use a diamond embedded hole saw and use lubricant to slowly cut the hole as a tiler would do. Steady the saw through a wood block with the same sized hole in it. Alternatively raising the height of the tank by building a collar will allow a pipe to be added to a more machinable material. So find an extrusion of about 10cm height and stiff so about 5mm thick which can be set in place with a marine sealant around the top of the tank. Mitre the ends like a picture frame. The head pressure up there will be minimal. Be sure that the material can withstand torsional forces. Add bracing across the tank if needed and reinforce the area were any external connections will be supported from.

[@TheRealJoga]

Whats up Nate!!.. Ok so here I go.. 75 Gal stock tank.. Pump in tank.. 3/4 pvc to TWO swirl filters- air line in swirl filter.. Fish tank inputs water to SF at bottom. Check valve stops water from dropping back in to fish tank incase power shuts off. Water rises thru Lava rock and pond pads/luffas then over flows to grow bed. Bell siphon sends water back to fish tank. In grow bed is lava rock and hydroton. Water is crystal clear!.. However I do want to make sure I am getting enough waste to the plants and there is a balance of nutrients for the plants. Were doing Hemp! So its a MUST that this be perfect! $$$$$$$ lol.. Much love my friend! Questions: Is the air line in the SF needed? I assumed it would keep the bacteria more aerobic? Do I "NEED" a sump tank? Why do people not want the pump in the fish tank? How do you maintain a "cool" temp if you are outside? WHy do people mix raft with ebb n flow and which one is better? What are the best nutrients to put in? IF I didn't have the air stone in Swirl Filter what would happen to the system? or would it not make a difference? I didn't have any trouble for the first 4 months I did it that way but then again I didn't test the water @_@.. If you have time thanks my friend! Keep on keepin on.

[@ZipGrowInc]

1. you may not need the air line to the SF- you want to make sure you don't impact the action of the filter and most of your bacterial activity is in your grow beds 2. No you don't need a sump tank, but it would be a "safety" to make sure you don't drain your fish tank if something went wrong with a grow bed or a SF 3. This is tough- you can put your fish tank in the ground, shade your fish tank (and maybe even your grow beds in the hottest part of the summer), put fans on your fish tank, or easiest, use a chiller to cool your water to a set point 4. For small scale or large statured or vining crops, ebb and flow media beds are usually better, for small statured and large scale crops- especially in the tropics, raft is better 5. Check out the videos we've done on supplements and pH adjustment- there's a ton of info in those 6. wouldn't make a difference if you got rid of the air- stick it in the fish tank instead! Good luck!

[@MrLiquidxIce]

I have a concert floor so a underground slump is a no no So can someone help me find a same height on the floor aquaponics system i plan to run a 300gal fish tank I would to run a bigger tank 500gals but i dont think i should but so much weight on a concert floor (in he basement )

[@B8rad88]

So why do you need a sump if the bed is above the tank?

[@inspireawakening]

Hi Nate, I am about to create a system and I'd like to use the fish tank as a feature in our garden and dig out a pond at ground level. I was thinking of using a sump tank also but this system requires the sump to be lower than the fish and digging out a hole that big and pumbling in a sump below ground level is not appealing. I am wondering if I should just make sure my fish pond is big enough to operate as a sump and that way I only need one pump or go to two pumps? Any other suggestions?

[@ZipGrowInc]

If you're doing an in-ground fish tank, you don't need a sump- your fish tank is your sump. So you should be good to go with a 1 pump system!

[@RAWSET]

Good videos thanks. I've done a slight alternative.I Have a chop2 system but with lengthy and high head plumbing my main pump couldn't deliver enough pressure to supply it all. Also when you adjust the flow in just one tap it alters all the flow/pressure to everywhere else and you can chase your tail tuning it all. I went to two pumps in the sump tank. One feeds to the fish tank with SLO gravity back to sump. One feeds the grow beds and drains to the sump. Nothing can empty or overflow. Its the same system instead of splitting the plumbing from one pump which was too troublesome I could never maintain the tuning. This 2 pump way is totally reliable I haven't had to retune in months. If the FT pump dies aerators will keep fish alive. if the grow beds pump dies the sump tank fish will survive from continued circulation. It pays to spend time nutting this stuff out thinking of worst case scenario's.

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hi Rawset, It can definitely be a balancing act with these systems sometimes, but it sound like you've got it figured out pretty well!

[@m3rcyk1ller]

Nate I have a question about this topic. How about divinding the greenhouse in 2. Having northern part and southern part have its own pump, sump tank and fish tanks. That would give some interesting options like having different additives, having 2 standalone systems (kinda backup system) or the ability to expand greenhouse over a period of time. Whats your toughts about it?

[@ZipGrowInc]

That could be a nice approach, m3rcyk1ller - the nice thing about these types of systems is that you can set them up however works best for your approach, your markets and your resources! Good luck!

[@peterrei280]

My system is chop 2, not bad but the problem is sump capacity too low, I istalled a bridge siphon to link sump to another tank but this solution take up the floor of my green house

[@shamiulhaque2662]

Fantastic, thanks a lot buddy.

[@ZipGrowInc]

My pleasure.

[@richardwoonlandbanc7233]

If a sump pump failed , how we can stop fish tank water from dry up. If the fish yank water is loacted higher level then the water bed. We need a higher fish tank level to gain gravity to push water to the lower level water bed..tq

[@ZipGrowInc]

Redundancy is key in a situation like this. We normally have a second pump installed in our sump boxes attached to a float switch so that it only turns on if the water level rises higher than it would normally be. This protects against drying out in the event of a pump failure.

[@nicfromlizardlick]

My question is " do you need to have your pump on a timer in a chop system and if so how do you go about it"?

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hi Frank, No you don't need a timer, but if you're doing media bed production, it can be a useful way to do headache free ebb and flow!

[@johnlosch4512]

I am using the CHOP system with the pump at the sump tank. My grow beds use gravity to return water to sump tank, as does my fish tank which drains underground from the bottom of the fish tank to the sump tank. My worry is that if the power goes out, gravity will still empty the water from both the grow beds and the fish tank with the water pouring out of the sump tank. My main concern is the 1000 gallon fish tank. Can you help me solve this dilemma before it actually happens? Thanks.

[@johnlosch4512]

+John Losch nevermind about this. I have solved the issue

[@ZipGrowInc]

+John Losch Oh, great - good to hear. Sorry we didn't get back sooner!

[@mrWildNout]

my question is "can the water circulating into the fish tank flush constantly back out into the sump, or does it need to flood and overflow kind of how a siphon may work in the grow beds?"

[@ZipGrowInc]

It should flush back constantly to the sump. Good luck.

[@beardjuice]

why not have the fish in the sump tank?

[@rkulberg]

I am a bit confused, you can still have this same arrangement where the plant and fish tank are at the same level with the sump below, and 100% of all the sump tank water goes into the above fish tank. If you use a gravity feed tube in the fish tank that is connected to the plant bed, when the water enters the fish tank, the water will flow up the gravity tube into the plant bed, The water will then flow out of the plant bed once it reaches the exit stand pipe, back into the sump. If the sump pump shuts off, no problem, I do many of these type systems Rachel, AquaponicFoodForThought.

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hi Rachel, You're absolutely right, but you still need to operate either siphons(if the elements are at similar levels) or are dependent on gravity and differences in water pressure between the two elements. I've found that for scaling reasons and design reasons it's just easier (in the long term) to operate both subsystems under pressure.

[@MrRentcor]

why do you even need a sump?

[@richardwoonlandbanc7233]

Use only 1 sump pump at the waterbed .tq

[@ZipGrowInc]

Thanks for your comments!

[@Deathbows2me]

You forgot hydraulic pressure... you can have one pump with the fist system. pump the water to the top of the fish tank from the sump.. take a straight pipe from the bottom of the fish tank to the plants tank. than drain from the top in the plants tank. boom.

[@richardwadd]

Cant beat CHOP, well down here anyway where we have the most expensive electricity in the world

[@jimswieringa7094]

I HAVE 7 FISH TANKS 200 GAL TANKS, 7 GROW BEDS AND 20 FLOATING BEDS WITH 2 SUMP TANKS HOOKED TOGETHER.SIX OF MY FISH TANKS ARE CONNECTED TOGETHER AND I USE GRAVITY TO FILL GROW BEDS. WITH BELL SIPHONS IN EACH GROW BED THAT FEED THE WATER FROM GROW BEDS BACK TO FIRST SUMP TO SECOND SUP TANK THAT HAS PUMP. THE PUMP FEEDS ALL FISH TANKS WITH CLEAN WATER .ALL FISH TANKS AND GROW BEDS AND FLOATING BEDS ARE SAME LEVEL. BOTH SUMP TANKS ARE SET INTO GROUND SO THAT GROW BEDS WILL EMPTY INTO THEM BY GRAVITY.THE GROW BED FILL PIPES COME OUT THE SIDE OF THE FISH BEDS RUN UNDER THE GROUND TO GROW BEDS AND GRAVITY TAKES CARE OF THE REST.IF PUMP GOES OUT ONLY SUMP BEDS FILL UP AND NO WATER IS LOST FISH BEDS ARE 3/4 FULL ALWAYS. THANKS JIMS

[@davidyoung719]

Why not put your tank in the ground and use one pump? I have been running a single pump system with just a fish tank no sump with no issues.. An my pump is 8 inches off the bottom of the tank so if something happens my fish still have some water with a air stone

[@MrCanofpeas]

Ditto David. I'll check out your site ,, looks like some good subjects and people I recognize like MHPgardener

[@davidyoung719]

Barry Remainder I'mjust now getting setup to upload videos myself so look for some from me over the next few weeks...

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hi David, That's actually a really great design for a lot of systems. In fact, I still run a lot of systems that use this design. What I've found though, is that when it comes time to add more growbeds or towers or fish tanks, operating a fish tank as a sump makes this process difficult. You're right though, for smaller, simpler systems that design works really well.

[@davidyoungg]

Bright Agrotech How does being a bigger system effect one pump system? If you pump is proper size for the head pressure then you wouldnt have an issue doing so.... Just think a well pump is 150-800 ft down an pumps water at 40/60 psi.... I'm running a true 1500 gph pump that has 1.5 inch inlet and outlet.. I have been adding beds an adding onto the greenhouse... I'm pumping 6ft up and 25ft across an soon to be pumping 50ft across plus adding 4 floating raft system 20 ft long that this pump will be supplying water to...

[@MrCanofpeas]

I must be all screwed up. I buried my fish tanks so the water level is one foot above grade. My pump is below grade also set at the same elevation as the bottom of the tanks. Pump sends water to my grow beds and gravity flows back to the fish tanks. The tanks are plumbed together so the pump takes water from both tanks. Since the tanks are low profile I have grow beds on top of the tanks also. Boom Sump-less system.

[@ZipGrowInc]

Hi Barry, you're not screwed up at all. You're basically operating your fish tank as a sump, with is a really excellent design for many systems. You've also done it in a way that should you choose (down the road) you can convert your fish tank to a sump and scale your system really really easily. As I told David Young (above) there's nothing wrong with fish tanks as sump tanks, especially when you do it the way you did.

[@ThaDiscoFreak]

LOL Yes sure in theory, but in the real world u cant always put main tank lower! SO FOR THAT ANSWER No you dont need to run 2 pumps Just a V-pump running off the main pump! JOB DONE

[@safetyleednkom8274]

With due respect i dont like the idea

[@mrmetrontech77]

This doesn't make sense. There is not filtration, no solid filtration