Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey skeggley.
I made a proper radial filter with that sort of "drain" because i didnt want to make a special stand or spend the time rounding the bottom, that design will not work well.
It will suck some solids from about 1cm around the edge of the flare, then nothing. Particles will fall onto the flared part and never get sucked off, it will build up with alot of solids that will foul the water.
I have recently disconnected a radial filter with almost the exact same drain, i am now in the process of trying to melt the bottom, then working out the best way to make a stand for the filter.

Once you can get all solids to one location (not spread across the whole bottom) then it will work just fine, but not right now.

Ok thanks yavimaya, I was hoping to get the whirlpool action going and mimic the slo but maybe I need to reengineer.
Yes Charlie swirl... Swirl, radial it's all making my head spin
Back to the drawing board.

gday fellow hampton parker
have you got any photos of your radial filter ?
cheers b&v

i just has a thought about skeggley's filter and the problem of removing solids
is it possible to make a funnel shaped bottom out of sand and cement and then cover that with bitumen rubber
most of the solids will move to the middle
just an idea
if this is wrong someone will say so
cheers b&v

You can do that BV, some people use cement and perlite mix and a hard cone they make to make a nice cone for thier filters.

No pics right now sorry BV, its dismantled and sitting on a stand waiting to be melted.

Skeggley, your system MAY work, but you will have to get the water spinning fast, which is kind of not the point of a swirl filter, both radial and swirl filters are still just settling tanks, they need a certain speed to work, but not enough to get all of the solids to move to the centre of a flat bottomed barrel, your pipework inside the barrel will also cause alot of problems getting a nice fast swirl going.

a cone would help skeggley, a bottom drain is always going to be best, but i will end up with something like yours when mine is redone.

Yeah... maybe. Do the search I suggested. The issue is more than just water.

Ok conical bottom seems to be the consensus. Plastic and silicon, 30 degrees?

Searched and found this reposted post on solids. Found it so well written and topical.
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16068&p=384444&hilit=Solids+on+plants+Burn#p384444

I use a very similar container and designed my almost identical. Only differance is I have my internal pipe attached to the lid and my water feed directly from the bottom up not from the side.

I'm wondering if something like this could be made a little cheaper.

I've only found them for around $50. I was thinking it would be possible to heat up the bottom of a 5 gallon bucket set it on another open bucket and then push the center down to create a semi-decent cone. However I've heard that sometimes you run the risk of leeching toxins easier if you start heating up plastics. Let me know if this is a reasonable concern...otherwise I may give it a go and let you all know how it turns out.

AP on my friends!
-Ryan

I would be more concerned about that diet Moutain Dew than the leaching of nasties from heating plastic... Polyethylene is made to be heated, shaped, and cooled. If you stick to that, you should be okay.

Oh come on, Ron, what have you got against a healthy serving of aspartame?

I suppose as long as you make sure its polyethylene that makes sense. There are the el'cheapo buckets out there that "might" pose an issue. I guess the vertical strawberry towers that you heat PVC until it bends has me a little on edge about heating any "plastics". Thanks for the info Ron. Nothing wrong with a little dew...except everything...lol

AP on my friends!
-Ryan

Are blue barrels polyethylene?

Yes.