Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I found this on ebay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/QUALITY-FLUSH-STAINLESS-STEEL-ANGLED-BULKHEAD-FITTING-2-ID-2-3-8-OD-NEW-/331456402589?hash=item4d2c57549d

Quite expensive, but it seems like it'd be really great for a making a swirl filter, for example. Is there a name for this kind of fitting other than "angled bulkhead" ?

It mite be called angle but the water will come straight out I don't see a benefit
If you want the water to turn you need an elbow

Plus ten to that..
I wonder what that fitting was meant to do, other than providing a climbing device for a boat stern ..
WAY.WAY too expensive.. for the dubious benefit..
And sooo much depends on the size of the container.. I used 60L drum and 50mm fittings
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Add "stainless", multiply cost by 10 or 20. Seriously it's amazing what some of that stuff costs.

F&F: Water has momentum, so water would jet out of that bulkhead at an angle relative to the tank wall.

If that fitting is in a round tank the water is going to go straight to the center of the tank
For a filter you need it to go around the edge and swirl
I cannot see any use for that fitting in aquaponics

Cathode, dont look at the "angle" that the outer has, that bulkhead will sit flat inside the barrel like a normal bulkhead and the inside of the pipe is straight, it might be cut off on an angle, but the water will go straight.

If you dont believe us or cant understand, grab your garden hose, cut the end off on a huge angle, something that you think will bend the water and then turn it on and see what happens.

as said, to get a swirl, you need a fitting on the end to direct it toward the barrel wall so it can then follow that around in its natural curve.

I think you guys are not seeing that the pipe and thus water flow is not perpendicular to the wall of the tank with that fitting.

But it's kind of a moot point anyway, from what I'm reading, radial flow filters do a better job than swirl filters... hmmm....

actually, it is totally perpendicular when put into a round barrel.
That bulkhead will go into the barrel straight just like any other bulkhead (look at the screw and base, those would have to be angled for the bulkhead to be angled) when you put a hole in a round object, it is inherently in the middle, you can not put it over to one side, etc.... because there are no sides.

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He is right.. we are looking at it from the wrong view..

IF the TANK has an eliptical hole and clamps between the stainless face and the shaped spacer, then the water will be injected at ??? 45deg..

Still - it is hideously expensive and I could achieve the same with standard fittings for likely 20 bucks tops..

The injection angle would still be a problem as it would still be injecting INWARDS , rather than arouind the wall..

The really good point is that there is NO fittings inside that tank..

Thinking laterally (pardon the pun), a BIG tub will see the water injected at a poor angle.. but a smaller tub will be seeing more injection around the side..

PS - this is what I have now standardised as MY bulkhead fitting..
a 50mm Pipe-to-Thread unit plus a 50mm Faucet fitting


and this is how I inject into my SF, via a fitting that is instantly removable..

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Sorry, didn't mean to instigate an argument. I saw a thing I'd never seen before and envisioned a few uses for it. BuiDoi is correct... "hideously expensive" is spot-on. I bet someone with a 3d printer or a CNC machine could make a plastic version of this that was cheaper, and with perhaps even more extreme approach to the tank wall.

This would let you recirculate water in a round tank without any obstructions inside the tank.

Ok it will squirt water in at a bit of an angle
But of no use in an aquaponics environment

You are naturally completely correct and WE are at fault..

I seriously doubt that it could be easily made from plastics, and especially at even more acute angles as the ??? rotational torque when trying to tighten, would split the face off from the body.. ie.. the wedge would act like a shear/guillotine.. IMHO

Think outside the box some more..

That great fitting would mean that there was nothing obstructing/ entering the container.. and so no flow disturbance
but such "Obstructions" can be practical, in that they help to slow the rotational flow, and as with a RFF, the whole precipitation thing is based on slowing.. which is why I contend that a SWIRL and a RADIAL are essentially the same..

I would assume that IF you had a purely smooth injection and if it was flowing TOO FAST then the solids would simply be held in swirling suspension and "upFLOW" to the outlet above..
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and I would suggest that, is a bit harsh, and it WILL work, but not as well as the right alternative..


Injecting at an angle WILL cause rotation.. It simply can't not work

the larger the diameter, the less practical the benefit will be, and as i said B4. it could be particularly suited to a small diameter, like a blue barrel at maximum..
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ok fair enough, you would be pushing that spacer back, it looked to me like that spacer went inside the barrel.
Bad picture or bad brain i guess.

yea really, a 45deg piece is always going to work better as well as being cheaper.
But as you already said, *frack* swirl filters, RFF is the way to go.