Fish Pee and Sunshine

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It seems I've been remiss in outlining my system plan in much detail, but let me assure the reader that there is indeed a plan, and that it is more or less on course.

Design

My intent is to build a modified CHOP2 system with total water volume about 300 gal. The top third of the fish tank (1) will gravity drain to a 1 gal vortex filter where I will collect solid wastes (occasionally ported off as fertilizer for garden and houseplants). The vortex filter will drain to the sump (3), which can also be used as a fingerling nursery. The pump (4) will distribute nutrient water to the grow bed (5) and feed tank (6). The grow bed will drain back to the sump via a standard bell siphon. The feed tank will act as a pump buffer and drain back to the fish tank. It will be used to grow and periodically distribute duck weed and perhaps freshwater shrimp by an as-yet-undetermined overflow mechanism (water pendulum?).

Rationale

The advantage of the CHOP (Constant Height One Pump) design is the relative dependability of the water volume in the fish tank. However, the classic CHOP2 design has a theoretical loss of filtering efficiency due to the mixing of grow bed and fish tank water in the sump. My additions of the vortex filter and feed tank will hopefully mitigate this somewhat. The feed tank will also provide a small buffer of fresh water in the event of pump failure.

Schedule

While eager to reap the rewards of my anticipated system, I am taking it slow. Our first summer here has been busy with gardening, entertaining guests, and vacation. I intend to start putting hardware together in September/October and add fish by February/March. So, I am getting close to moving stuff into the basement as the first step.