Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Can peeps post pics of there slo bottoms cos mines shit and I need to change it

Frazzled!!!!!!

can't show photo yet but mine is 50mm pipe with an end cap , drilled a heap of i think they were about 8mm holes in it works awesome and fish can't get in it.go the biggest diameter pipe, I made the mistake of going too small the first time. Do the maths, what pipes you have going in ie; 2x25mm means you need at least 50

I cut some slots in the end of my 40 mm but tank overflowed cos I didn't have enough flow, made them bigger and fishvwent for a ride.

ATM iv got a 50mm sleved over my 40mm with 8mm holes in it, but I thought it might not pull solids up now off the bottom but I guess with the whirlpool iv got going it may just do the job.

Might hunt a 40mm to 90 converter and end cap the 90 and put 8mm holes round it should give me the flow I need. Back too trial n error.

Was away all day at the zoo and come home too a hsm at 9:45 pm

it may be the diameter of the pipe, I only have a small system, when I did the first one in 25mm I was sure it would do, but it was pathetic so I went straight to 50mm. now it drains like a waterfall, I've seen bigger systems use 90mm storm water pipe even with very little going in, it's the same problem I've seen when people put 90mm storm into a rainwater tank and only have 50mm overflow, I've seen lids popped off after a heavy down pour.overflow must be bigger than input.

I tend to agree with pjenkyn. I have another system with a 40mm SLO outlet and 25mm pump inlet but I have problems increasing the flow as it would overflow my tank. Have not fixed it yet, because it is merely a "test" system. I have a new IBC SLO tank but I have an 80mm pipe and cap at the bottom, drilled a number of holes into the cap as well as the vertical SLO pipe near the bottom. No issues with tank overflow.

I use a 50mm pipe set about .5cm from the bottom. I keep it off the bottom by leaving a bit of pvc sticking out. Works great...unless leaves block it...that's why we use a T on top for overflow situations.

I'm using 3" sewer pipe for my SLO drain on my big tank. (pipe from pump to the fish tank is 1 1/2" and perfectly capable of overflowing the fish tank if I were to send all the flow to the fish tank.)

I used some storm water grates on the bottom of the slow drain as well as on the top overflow from the T. These are great for a tank with BIG fish but they would definitely let little fingerlings go exploring the pipes and rocks of the grow beds. If I were to put little fingerlings into that tank, I would buy some plant baskets to modify into grates for the pipes.

Sorry I don't have any pictures to post for you at the moment.

I used some of this platic gardening matt - for creepers and the like to got up to cover my pump inlet.

I plan to do the same for my slo when i get fingerlings next....

I use a 90mm stormwater pipe with a floor drain grate style fitting on the bottom of it in my IBC. Was cheap and easy, all found in plumbing section at bunnings and it works well.

Cheers Guys, will try to get some of these ideas off the ground.

i found with it setup with .5cm cut out round the bottom, and leaving 2 small pieces sticking down didnt have Great flow and raised the level of my FT, also sucked 2 fish out i then made it a tad smaller and this decreased the flow way too much, caused an overflow.

What i have at the moment is a Piece of 50mm sleved over the 40 with 8mm holes all the way round and 3 high from the bottom, then the 40mm pipe is about 60mm off the bottom. this has awesome flow, no fish escaping, but thinking the Solids wont get out much.

The next idea would be to Convert 40mm upto 90mm cap it and 8mm holes all the way around it 1 high hoping that this will Draw the solids in.

at the moment i can give the pump full flow to my tank, No Overflow of tank but it gives my beds way too much water and siphons dont turn off, which allows me to add a few more beds on this smaller pump.

Is it storm water pipe?.....just discovered today that some storm water pipe is UV stabilized with lead.
BT put a link on my system thread (gnash) if you wanna have a look

I use all high pressure pipe...

you will be O.k using storm coz it's gravity fed not under pressure on SLO, interesting about the UV stabilized though containing lead, something to look into and see if there is a way to identify the lead containing products.

Main Reasons for using HP were it has a heavier wall thickness for strength and my local HW Shop has more of a HP Range of fittings than LP.

and i found once that a young guy gave me LP pipe and it had an Outside Diam of 40mm where the HP is Inside diam of 40.... not that it accounts for much but it is bigger

i find it hard to believe that they still use lead... but it doesnt surprise me at all.

PVC makers overseas could use lead for lubrication during manufacture but no Aussie makers use this anymore.
They use TiO2 to protect from UV. I think this is not present in "pressure" pipe or some conduit and must be painted or buried.
Pressure pipe can be more brittle as it mostly has no modifiers which provide flex to product.

Three main types. All have different sizes and fittings, rarely compatible with other types but they make a few adapters.

Pressure - 15mm and up, huge range of fittings, various pressure (PN) rated and more expensive
DWV - Cheaper, 40mm and up, medium range of fittings etc - often used in AP. Some larger sizes, 110mm and up, use sandwich construction
Storm - 90mm and?? very few sizes and fittings