Cichlid Aquaponic Project

Hello there,

I have been interested in aquaponic systems for some time having kept fish for years and having grown vegetables and fruits in hydro for roughly the same time it seemed logical to combine the two.

Attached is a design for a large ish Malawi cichlid tank, sump and DWC (deep water culture) hydro recirculating system. The idea being the fish get fed, the Ammonia/Nitrite is removed in the sump and the nirtates feed the (probably lettuce to begin with) plants with the clean water being returned to the fish.

I have a lot of experience keeping very large (University research level) numbers of fish but plumbing I am much less confident with.


Not shown on the diagram is the size of the outflow pipe hole = 50mm

So, if I may, I would like draw on the great resources found within this site.

What I need to know is...

1) Is there anything inherently flawed with the design
2)Where should the pump go that returns water to the fish tank - I have placed in the hydro tank, bottom left of the diagram.
3)Just what size pump do I need? I have one that rates at 2000 litres per hour - enough?

Thanks very much in advance

i think you need to find out the standard flow rate of the water out pipe from the main tank and get a pump which matches that, otherwise you will either be left with a sump high and dry or a flooded house.

Blubble37 said:

i think you need to find out the standard flow rate of the water out pipe from the main tank and get a pump which matches that, otherwise you will either be left with a sump high and dry or a flooded house.

Click to expand...

How do you find out the standard flow rate of the water out pipe?


Thanks for your reply,

you do it somehow by filling the aquarium with water (preferrably outside as it could get quite messy) putting the enterance to the pipe at the bottom of the tank (like a siphon) and time how long it takes to get to where the siphon stops because it sucks in air. you then get however many litres of water it drained per however long it took. You then X the time by whatever untill you get 60 seconds and then X the litres by the same number.

then you get a pump which is slightly under that flow rate to avoid flooding. Also get a cap to put over the downpipe to stop your finned friends from falling in!

Hope this helps



Blubble 37