Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have a solids filter on my setup that is made from a plastic 55g drum. It sits flat and there is a tube that goes to the center near the bottom to drain off the solids. The problem is that the solids are not getting cleaned out when I open the valve. Does anyone have a good idea of how I could make a funnel or such to cause the solids to settle to the center where the drain can suck them up and out? see photo.

I would like to keep the system flat on the ground but I am tempted to tilt it and have it just drain from one side.

if you get the water to cerculate gently it will concentrate the solids in the centre

that might work. I will have to think about how to do it.

Just stick a 90 degree elbow on the inlet pipe that directs the water toward the outside wall of the drum at an angle of around 75 degrees instead of shooting it straight down. Don't glue it, just push it on, then you can adjust it.

Thanks I just got back from doing exactly that. I guess it was a good idea. I just afraid that there may be too much flow and the solids wont settle. Only time will tell. Thanks for the ideas.

Take a look at this thread that I started that sets using a industrial design.
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6419

this is a well tested and widely used cyclone filter design. NASA was even testing these models for cleaning moon dust from the air (moon dust is < 3µm so it can do damage to the lungs).
http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/leagilewg2008/pdf/4073.pdf

The important thing about solids capturing is not that they collect in the middle of the cyclone but rather that we can direct solids to fall through the "boundary flow", or the water closest to the walls of the system into a collection tank. The system requires a cone shape and even has equations that will tell you how to build it to filter particles of a given size within a give.

These systems are used in industry and water treatment plants as the initial filter that gets he big stuff out. We can chain several of these filters from one to another to increase the efficiency.

We again find the same solutions in nature. Take a look at our lungs and how we filter the air. Our noses don't use hairs to clean the air. Instead a cyclone in the back of our throats deposit the dust onto a mucus layer that covers the bronchial tubes. This layer is continuously moved upward (eventually swallowed or whatever), but the physics is similar too these industrial filters. It's called inertial filtration and it's very efficient and low maintenance in our case.

I have been able to make one of these filters in a very easy DIY way that I hope to post soon.

I have a 55 gallon 'swirl' filter and had the same problems. Having to use a hose to suck out the solids got old or just was not getting done on a regular basis. The solution is to get some flat plastic and make a cone to sit in the bottom and direct all solids into the exit pipe. I have a program that lets you punch the numbers and it will print out a pattern on many sheets of paper that can be cut out and taped together. Then you just lay the pattern on the plastic and spray paint a tad around the edge to mark the plastic. After that just cut it out and connects the edges and you have a cone. Rivet in place and you are finished. If your want the program for making cone patterns then msg me.

I made cones out of concrete in the bottoms of my blue barrel swirl and biofilters, and have a long elbow with a short piece of pipe with crenelations sawed into it, setting at the bottom of the cone, and the elbow pushed onto the horizontal outlet pipe, but not glued.......

as described at the bottom of this page:
http://www.koipondcentral.com/articles/filtration.htm

That why I like the 200ltr olive drums, just take the top off and stir with a stick as you drain the solids out.