SLO flow rate out to grow beds is slow

Hello everyone. I am hoping to get some input/ideas from you on the out-flow from my fish tank back to the grow beds. The way my system is set up, my fish tank is elevated a bit above the grow beds, but once the plumbing was all put together, the out-flow is only a few inches above it. The flow rate of water seems slow, just a trickle, and I only have one of my two beds set up for now. Is elevation (meaning raising the tank even higher) my only option for a faster flow rate? It can be done, but it will be a huge pain in the butt (it's a 300 gallon tank that I'd have to drain and then alter my plumbing to make up the added height difference).

What does everyone else do for their systems? I have a sump tank for the out-flow from the grow bed, then pump that up to the fish tank. The flow from the pump will be much faster putting water back into the fish tank than I'm getting flowing out of the fish tank to the grow beds.

Thanks for any advice you all have for me!

Nancie Baker wrote:Is elevation (meaning raising the tank even higher) my only option for a faster flow rate?

Elevation shouldn't have any impact on the flow rate. Is this really a SLO (Solids Lifting Overflow)?
The only thing that should impact the flow rate is the GPH of the pump putting water into the FT. If it's going in at 50 GPH lets say, and only 5GPH is coming out, where is the rest of the water going? Are you sure it isn't clogged?

Can you post a pic of the setup?

I will work on a photo soon. It's not a clog - I haven't yet put the plants or fish in (still in all the testing phase). I had not had the water pumping in to the tank (yet) at the same time; I just had a garden hose filling the fish tank for the first time and noted that the output, when it finally reached the appropriate height, was pretty slow. I thought, perhaps, it would have to speed up if the inflow of water from the sump tank was faster...I will work on that test, now, too.

Thank you!

Just to reiterate, the water will come out of the FT at the same rate it is flowing in, although it can take a few minutes to get up to speed. The only other place that water can go is out the top of the FT.

Unexpected company way-laid my plans to work on this today, but I will get on it tomorrow. Thanks for the help. I think I understand my issue and should have it figured out easily enough. The FT was filling from a garden hose without much flow behind it; once I use the pump from the sump tank, I expect my outflow from the FT will improve.

You can raise the water level in your fish tanks or increase the size of your tubing. Either of those would speed up the flow rate. If your fittings are smaller inner diameter than your tubing, that could be what's slowing things down too.

Thanks Jeremiah. After I circulated water through the whole system and not just testing one part at a time (with a simple garden hose), the outflow improved. Once I get a timer that meets my cycling requirements, then I can get the fish and finally have everything running as it's meant to!