Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm interested in how to take advantage of the threaded drain to connect it to a bell siphon, on the 50gal Rubbermaid stock tank.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/rubbermaid ... ty-2229927

Does anyone use a flood and drain (ebb and flow) system with this GB?

Also, has anyone retrofit this drain to a bell siphon?

Drainage suggestions for flood and drain?

Pictures welcome!

Thanks!

One foot depth is not enough. Why don't you getthis one. It already got a drain connection at the bottom.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/rubbermaid ... ty-2229901

Hm, thats going to jack up my required FT size, but lets roll with that idea...

Assuming I went with that model, how would one hook up a bell siphon to an elbow piece so it still drained out the side?

Also, how deep is enough? Obviously the deeper you go, the more water is required to fill the GB (and the heavier it gets)

I've got no problem doing it right the first time though, so if 1 foot isn't deep enough, then so be it.

Thanks!

One foot should be plenty for a grow bed, most of mine are going to be 1 foot deep, only going to make few that are deeper.

Icecream,
My mistake; I thought you are going to use that container for your fish tank. For grow bed, one foot can be used.
To use the threaded opening for your siphon, pass a PVC through it, seal it with J&B Weld, then use an elbow to get the siphon tube upward. But you got to remember that the hight of the tube going through the threaded opening will be your minimum water level at the bottom. To avoid having 2 inches of water there, drill a small hole at the bottom of PVC tube before exiting the grow bed. That should drain the remaining water from the grow bed between cycling.

Perfect, thanks!

The small hole will obviously drain continuously, but shouldn't be enough to cause any real loss of functionality...

I'm hoping to set something up this weekend :-)

This will be an indoor garden :-)

Whoa!!! Before you go building siphons consider using Constant Flood - it works just as well and keeps the sump water level more consistant so you don't need as big of a sump. I've run loop siphons, bell siphons and Constant Flood without siphons. CF without siphons is the easiest and most fool proof of the bunch. In addition you'll have your system up and running faster if you don't have to mess with the siphons. If you decide to run with the siphons and you want to switch later, all you have to do is lift the siphon off the standpipe and get rid of the small hole at the base of the standpipe (either replace the pipe or just flip it upside down - it's better to replace them)

I have used these growbeds with and without siphons. They drain just fine with the siphon draining through the side. I used a through hull fitting (which is espensive but works - you could also use uniseals)

Some of mine came with the hole already drilled some didn't - While JBWeld may be safe once it's cured (I'm not certain it is) I sure wouldn't use it on a growbed where I was going to get food.

The only thing really different is the through the side setup which changes the media guard. Use an affnan style bell siphon and drill a hole in the standpipe toward the bottom as Zubin suggested. Here are a few pics to give you the idea (sorry no actual siphon pics but the setup is almost the same - just with siphon removed).

Thanks for the photos!! Perfect.

So let me ask a simple question ... when using a siphon ... do you contestantly pump water it the grow bed?

IE, pump runs 24/7, eventually the GB fills and the Siphon empties the water while the pump is still pumping water into the system... it eventually fills again and repeats? Is this the general idea?

If so/not, how does the 15/45 method work?

I assume that either the water builds up and then drains within the 15 minutes and then the bed is "dry" for 45... else how to you trigger the drainage? only during the 15?

Thanks!

In the timed Flood & Drain method (15/45) The standpipe has a small hole in the base (say 6- 8 mm) the pump runs and starts to fill the GB (some water escapes out the drain hole) when the GB is full, ie. to the height of the standpipe it overflows into the standpipe and back to the sump. Water continues overflowing into the standpipe until the timer shuts the pump off. (end of the 15 mins) It then may take 15 -20 mins for the GB to completely drain and stays that way until the timer turns the pump back on.

Chainsaw's explanation is on target, I'll just add that there are a lot of different ways to run a system. The 15/45 (timed flood and drain) bit can be with or without siphons. The small hole lets the growbed drain no matter what level was in the growbed when the pump stopped. You could also just leave the pump running all the time with siphons in the Growbeds or as in my case run CF without siphons but with the pump running all the time.

FYI - Occasionally people will turn the pump off at night as well and the small hole allows the growbed to drain. Turning the pump off at night really isn't a great idea but works if you're system is lightly stocked. If it's not, you can run into oxygen issues.

Right Scotty I have done that as well. After much testing have found Constant Flood (CF) or Timed Flood & Drain (F&D) work the best in regards to filtration. Siphon has a tendency to drag muck back.