Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Welcome "Knowmore" ... nice little setup... you might want to drop the flood level in your growbed down a little... just so that it's barely or not visible...

Thanks Rupert!

I haven't worked on the levels yet. Still figuring out the F&D. Been trying out an auto loop siphon - see drawing below. The problem I am facing is that the siphon is not stopping. It starts pretty good at the top end of the loop shown on the right. But when it comes to the end - the outflow starts becoming a trickle. It so ends up that the inflow from the pump and the outflow becomes equal and the siphon never stops. I tried reducing the inflow using a ball valve. It doesn't work at any setting of the valve. All that happens is that the level at which the o/f becomes equal to i/f keeps changing.

Any suggestions?

Check the pipe from the drain to the loop, it should slope upward (opposite of what looks right ) so the air can flow into the loop to break the syphon. its possibly better to drain through the end or side of the bed so the air can flow straight into the loop - its hard to convince it to go down around that first elbow.

Do a search on the forum for "autosiphons". There has been many discussions about them in the past, and look for Les's info all about siphons, there was a whole thread where he tested out different siphons... Also try searching for syphons as well as siphons.

Thanks John,

In fact I did try another flexible pipe loop from the right side of the bed i.e punched a hole in the right side wall and fixed a flexible hose, looped to the rquired drain height - same result!! I did this rigid one from the bottom of the bed since I thought it might help in generating more pressure due to gravity.

Will try to slope it upwards and check. Thanks again.

EB,
Spent all of yesterday reading up on all the possible threads I could find. Couldn't find any solution to my specific problem. I think I will just chuck the auto loop because I think the overall height of the bed (just 6") is far too less for me to experiment with various heights. I will try and build a bell siphon instead. You think a 3/4" stand pipe with a 1.5" bell will do the trick? Or can I work with a 1/2" and 1" combination since the grow bed is pretty small.
Thanks for your support.
KM

Here are my loop siphons... been basically working fine (with a touch of maintainence) for nearly two years...

Thanks.
Yes. Saw them while trawling the forum for siphons. Very neat.
In fact just built another single barrel system with two tubs as growbeds (wholly and solely inspired by padikkson's channel on youtube.) and the loop siphon on that is working flawlessly. Have 10 Indian carp about 4 inches each. Put it on cycling. Planning to transplant some plants on Saturday. Will post pictures after that.

John,
Here are some more pictures of the one from the side. Still doesn't work! What do you think is going wrong?
KM

I think you are probably right about the depth of the growbed being to low for the syphon to work properly - you could just make one last try with a smaller diameter pipe and see if that helps but I cant see any reason for that loop not to work

John,
Yes. Will do.

Just an update on my system! I gave up trying to get the auto loop siphon to work and am running a continuous trickle thru the GB. Direct seeded some spinach about 8 days ago and have 32 of 'em poking their heads right up! Yipee! Here are some pix.
Now I think the system warrants its own thread! What say?

I'm a bit worried about your fish. That looks like a galvanized tub. The zinc in the galvanized coating tends to leach into the water and can slowly build up to toxic level for your fish. Especially if the pH is not really high. You might want to think about lining or coating that tub with something fish safe or just replace it.

Yes, TC. Thanks for the head up.I think I will just wait for the spinach and cilantro to run their course and change the tub to PVC. Will get a taller one this time and try that auto loop siphon again!

So far the fish seem to be quite healthy. Any case they are just a coupla goldies and tetras. I will be sorry if I lose the Shark though! just love that guy!

Hi,
I think that the depth of your gb could have something to do with your problem but you need to have a slightly larger flow out than you have in otherwise the gb won't empty.You can use a tap in the inflow to regulate it or just raise the outlet a little to slow it up.You can see a picture of mine on my thread. My gb is 38cm or about 15 inches high.