Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Dad came up with a pretty nice solution... a table tennis ball!!!

in the corner of this photo you can see a 32mm pressure pipe with a series of large holes in it.



Basically what dad did was to extend the incoming pipe with a 32mm pressure with a table tennis ball inside and a cap on the bottom.
What this achieves is a backflow valve that requires very little pressure to activate.
It is essential that the pipe is vertical for it to work correctly.
When the pump supplies water it easily pushes the ball down to the bottom of the pipe and it sits in the cap allowing all the water and air to rush into the tank.
When the pump stops, the ball instantly floats and also gets sucked into the top of the pipe causing it to stop any backflow. the venturi pipe lets a heap of air into the pipe causing the siphon/backflow to break

so true to form the design 'had' to change.

it worked so well why not try to make it into a wall of air bubbles with a few mods!!

SO dad made it happen by replacing the 32mm pipe with hole with a new one with a slightly thicker wall so the ball wouldn't slip up inside. add a 32mm T piece into the bottom with a cap and this would house the ball and then add a horizontal 32mm with 13mm holes and an open end.

here are some exploded photos and i hope it makes sense.



venturi


T section


the air bar (cable ties prevent the ball from entering the bar)




and the bottom cap with a 25mm escape hole just in case a fish decides that it makes a good home

and a rather dodgy under water snapshot of its operation

its all good... she's back in queensland...lol

Nice innovative approach to solve a problem. I like it

What are all those orange things floating around in the tank? Are you supposed to eat them?

Great design.

love that design guys...
Might pinch a few ideas form it later

cheers fellas, dad takes all the credit for this one. we all pinch ideas from each other and then refine them to our specific needs.

Dude, I've now looked through your first, second and third system and I gotta say I'm super impressed.

Favourite feature by far is the window (with the lights in there).

Congrats to you and your Dad.

thanks mate and its all about to change...lol

we should be getting some greenhouses to build soon.

UPDATES!!!

thought it was time to get some more photos up

Unfortunately the fish didn't want to come say hello this time, the weather has cooled off and the fish stay schooling on the bottom

Dam that looks good Iceman.

Been waiting for a photo update!

Awesome looking setup you have IceMan, certainly would like to take a leaf out of your book in regards to my own system.

I love how tidy it is!

Keep up the good work!