Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Jonty - what is the benefit of having this tee setup as opposed to the much more simple method of just having the one air hose going in high on the side of the outer pipe.

Looks good. I emagine having a tee set up takes away from having a possible tight loop in the line VB. Allows for a lower profile while giving twice the syphon stopping power.

The tubes really just break the vacuum. They don't contribute much to the stopping power as such in my experience John. I see where you are coming from with the kinking - though I have not had that issue myself.

Hi,

I found by trial and error to do it this way. (Ah! I can hear ol blue eyes singing My way).

It doesn't matter what way you set the syphon up as long as it works. The advantage I like is the additional aeration it creates when syphoning. And as Gotfish stated the additional air certainly does help stop the syphon.

My grow bed takes 27 minutes to fill and 13 minutes to empty.

Regards
Jonty

As the air starts coming in the flow out of the bed through the siphon also tends to reduce. Because my siphon flies pretty close to the edge when it comes to its ability to siphon out the water quick enough to have the siphon break - I try not to have the air start enterrign too early because the slow in flow just means that it takes much more time for the siphon to break and therefore for the next cycle to start.

Of course with siphons, a particular one will work differently in every system unless all the parameters are duplicated.

When I used the air hoses to stop my syphon I found it look some time for enough air to be sucked in for them to be effective. Since I use a header tank the emptying of a grow bed may or may not happen each cycle. A double line may work fine in correcting that for my configuration.
If nothing else will, syphons will keep you up at night.

veggie boy,

I tried syphons with an air tube entering near the top and running the length of the syphon outside. I kept getting problems with the system kicking in properly. I surmised that it was due to the water compressing the air to the point where the syphon gets going, plus the pump not delivery an adequate flow of water to completely expel the air.

With the inside tube, no air is drawn into it until the water level is below the outside tubes. However, no air can enter inside the syphon body until the water level reaches the end of the inside tube. This tube fits inside the outlet pipe and has no effect on the syphon rate other than adding air. The water level in the grow bed fills to about 10 mm over the top of the syphon cap.

The length of the outside air hoses are immaterial. They play no role in the syphon kicking in, only supplying air to stop the syphon action plus the additional aeration.

I actually overfilled the tank and the outlet in the tank was below the water level but it continued to cycle properly.

Gee, I hope all this makes sense.

Regards
Jonty

What I should add also is that with my system I don't get problems with the syphon stopping. With the tube outside running down the length of the syphon I would sometimes get the water falling back inside the syphon body blocking the air tube and the syphon would then go into dribble mode (AP incontinence). When the water falls back out of the syphon with my system, it cannot block the air tube as it is inside the drain tube. The water falling out of the syphon body actually helps to pull in air.

Drawing or photos please?????????????

SORRY JUST FOUND THEM, DIDNT LOOK (CAPS LOCK AGAIN!) far enough back to read all!

very good jonty. Now, what ya growing? been a while since you've been on?

Good to see more mods/ideas on the auto-siphon and glad you got it working Jonty....I reckon they are fabulous.

How did the supports you made for the blue barrels stand up - pics pls

The loops on my system were running 4 minutes fill 2 minutes drain - your numbers are an additional data point that suggests that 2:1 fill to drain time may be a sweet spot as far as siphon flow tuning goes. I'm interested to hear if others match a 2:1 ratio.

Steve,

Have planted a few silverbeet and asian greens in the new growbed. Only have 6 small goldfish. The plants are growing but very slowly - plus it's been 2 degrees overnight for the last few nights. Will stock silvers and jades when the weather warms. I am also looking at making a solar heater to raise the temp.

EllKayBee,

Blue barrel system has been fine since I steeled it. Pic for your info.

Dave,

My new system is a 2:1 fill to drain ration. However the blue barrel system takes about 10 minutes to fill and about 30 seconds to empty. Plants are doing fine though.

Regards
Jonty

Jonty, do you want me to move this to your system thread?

Jaymie,
Thanks. Please move to my system thread.
Jonty