Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

DD, http://www.masla.com/reef/csm.html

There are 2 aspects of this design I really like.

1, the outflow being horizontal in the FT, proving some resistance for them to swim against. My understanding is that this breeds healthier fish and more closely resembles natural rivers or tidal bodies.

2, I like the air break tube acting as a part-time venturi nozzle injecting loads of DO.

That is one of the links I came across while googling about siphons. You could get a horizontal outlet with the pipe or loop siphons too, just put a larger pipe on the end of the siphon outlet, so that it can break, with maybe a 45 degree elbow to flatten it out. My current siphons have PVC pipes extending them to the FT, and they end up under water but still aerate because the pipe isn't under a vacuum or completely full. You can use a loop or pipe siphon in a header tank to get a big flood of water introduced. It should also be possible to add venturis if the regular flow isn't enough, but once you get the siphons going they do introduce a lot of air.

All true. It's not that much of a departure from the regular auto-siphons. When you get right down to it, it's just a piped version of a loop-style.

That sounds more like break dancing than AP.

I'll have the hippest system in town

(and only!)

OK, got a new growbed and siphon. Having some weird siphon issues relating to the air tube. Something about the positioning, whether it has water or doesn't. I don't understand it fully yet. More reading to do...

Pipe siphon is out, loop is back in. I just couldn't get the air line to work correctly, and the tubing was just so much easier. Silicone is curing, and should be able to start cycling on Tuesday!

Two problems I can see...

1. The air lines are way too long. You need them as short as possible.
2. You need one tube at the very top of the siphon, which loops to just below the max fill line. Once the water in the GB increases above this point it sucks the water instead of air and starts the siphon.

Tim, you're probably right. I went back to the loop though

Woohoo! Silicone cured, no leaks! Siphon cycle is 6 min fill, 1 min drain. So I should be getting 8.5 tank cycles per hour. I think I'm going to pick up maybe 5 tiny goldfish today.

BTW 'cycling' has two componants:
1 is the number of times water goes thru the system
2 is the balance of water quality V ammo,no2 no3 etc
Need to be sure which you are talking about when mentioning either.

I was referring to the number of times the volume of water is pushed through the biofilter.

Although now that I think about it, since the fill only takes about 1/4 of the FT volume, the total volume of the tank is drained and filled about 2-3x per hour

Measured it, and it's more like 1/6 of FT volume. So I'm getting about 1.5 tank changes per hour. I guess I'll need to add more growbeds.

"no leaks" was a bit hasty. Should have let it cure for another day, but right now there's just one very small leak when the GB fills up to the siphon level. I can't get worked up enough about it right now.

I also scored free styrofoam today! Gotta love craigslist. So I constructing a bracing box for the tank, and insulated all sides. See pic.

I went to check on the system when I got home last night. Water all over the floor, about 1/3 tank volume. I am now caring about the leaking . Silicone'd it up, and will wait the 48 hours as recommended on the packaging.

I've abandoned silicone with my black tubs, just couldn't get the silicon to stick. I've ended up buying fittings designed to go in water tanks that screw together around a rubber seal.