Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

OK Les..

U done VERY good! "Awesome!"

KUDOS to ya ... and please carry on ...

U have the means to post all there is to know about autosiphons, and I admire you for trying to get it all located in one place ...

KEWL!



But .. if you look back at the two autosiphon threads that were created here . some of us are doing this thing on a micro scale ... buckets rather than ponds ...

The principle is the same .. but there have been several configurations ... a load of hard work ... that need some sort of documentation .. and ... much as I would love to do it .. I can't ... BAH! ..

Term 4 at school .... year 11 and 12 exams ...

OK ..

if you look back at two autosiphon threads and can link .. to the following ...

The gooseneck ,

The Tube in tube ...

The barrel siphon ...


so many pics and a few videos ..

would be nice ...

Most of these seem to work 100% with no fancy air bleed systemns ...

But we are talking small trays and buckets ...

There are pics and video links ...

I would love to see you do the thread as a consolidated "bible" on auto siphons ...

So maybe look at the two autosiphon thread and make appropriate links where you need to ...

I hope this helps ..

U are doing a brilliant job my friend!

Excellent!

i did post this photo of the auto siphon based on EllKayBee design before the forum went down, but sadly when the forum recovers the post was gone. so now here is it again.

there are two drawings, one with tube by the side and the other tube on the cover. This time i'm posting it on photobucket, just in case the forum ate my attachment again.

i've also attached the sketchup file just in case you guys want to use it





p/s LKB are those drawings correct?

Brilliant, very helpful to see such excellent drawings!

Easy, I remember answering it too, will have a good look at it and post tomorrow

BTW, just want to know does any of your auto siphon system produce horrible suction sound towards the end when the siphon is breaking. My current experimental produce a sound like "water being suck into hole". It's quite audible, anyway to silence it?

I want to thank you for the effort and time you put into helping us understand it. It helped me add two more grow beds to my system for my son to handle. Was a great project. I'll post up soon. Just getting past the shock of being back;)

great to be back!!!!!!!! hey easyihzy yeh the suction keeps lots a noise but if you could live wid it thats a little more DO in the water.

Easy - yeh that's how the air tubes work - reference the noise factor, the water cascading back into my fish tank is louder than the air suction decibel level but I wouldn't recommend putting the system outside the bedroom window

Johnnie7au, you mentioned the "pipe in pipe" idea, can you give a link (can't find it )

Well, I have a sketch here ....

This works well if you use one of them tall white buckets, some standard black retic tube, say 10 inches tall, covered with a small bit of white pipe with a cap over the top.

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/alb ... pic_id=191

I will put up a link to video on a web site that shows the use of an m&m's canister in a shallow tub. Gimme a little while.

i think tube in tube is similar to EllKayBee pipe within pipe idea, just that his look neater and looks more systematic.

EllKayBee, what will happened if there's no tube or if tube get stuck?

Easy, talking about the air tube?

No air tube - when the siphon drains the GB, the seal does not allways break (air is not sucked into the pipes and the siphon remains primed) as water flows into the GB water will keep siphoning out and the GB will not flood again.

Air tube gets blocked - depends if fully or partly blocked, if fully same as no tube, if sufficient air can be drawn in the siphon seal will be broken.

2 points:
1) I haven't had the air tube blocked at all
2) the siphon pipe with air tube can be easily pulled out and inspected

Here are some pics:

Pic1 looking down the 150mm pipe with siphon pipe in position, getting a bit veggie over grown. ( the holes on the end cap are filled with silastic)

Pic2 pipe removed for "maintenance", easy to check on things - notice the water naturally flowing down the standpipe, put the siphon pipe back on and the siphon kicked in and drained the GB

that's a chinese cabbage on the right

Neat execution of the bell siphon idea. Just wondering, would there be a large advantage to having 80% of the bell siphon outside of the grow bed or tank? Maybe a just little extra space for plants? Easier access to clear of plant roots? Do siphons get cogged?

G'day Sparkie,

at the time of the experiments there was great need to keep modifying (pull the bloody thing apart when it wasn't working) so we opted for a small grow bed...the trials worked fantastic and it got left for a few months with large plants in there (they were small )

On that size GB there would be an advantage of having part of the siphon outside, however.....it is more likely to get bumped or damaged (I refer to Daniel and his bricks that moved with his swivel flout arm test)...so my personal preference is to keep it within the GB confines


The pipe is 150mm (6") diameter, one of the tests conducted was to make sure my hand could fit down alongside the inner stand pipe and remove any obstructions including gravel and wrestle with plant roots


I had climbing beans next to the outer pipe and the roots went down (30cm) then started growing up between the pipes, so yes - the siphon could get clogged with roots, but regular monthly maintenance conducted by removing the bell cover and peering down would bring this to attention, to remove:
a) as previously stated; or
b) grab the outer (6") pipe and give it a twist, snapping off any root growth inside

The size of the inner pipe 40mm (1-1/2") seemed to eliminate any other type of blockage...these would hopefully be picked up on the regular checks