Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Gnash your using blue barrels are'nt you?

How about making a pipe like mine? fairly easy to do and on the newer system I will use the run out water for aeration into the sump/fingerling tank.

I am using barrels, just haven't started experimenting yet as to drains, I would like to be able to turn the outer pipe to cut roots BUT will take what i can get.

thanks Gnash. Will give it a go.
with the stands i got for my barrels, I am thinking of putting the whole outer pipe through the the bottom of the barrel, then putting a cap on it with the shower drain going through the cap into a common drain line. The wine barrel stands allow the drain to be supported then this will support the capped outer pipe. Will post pic when i give it a try. Bloody xmas has put a whole big STOP on things

I have made a modification to EB's standpipe which allows adjustment of drain rate and/or maximum GB water height.
Two simple sleeves made from 25 mm pressure pipe slide up or down for adjustment.

very clever

evolution baby, gotta luv it.

sexy easy simple solution Peterall, well done.

Try drilling the cap the same size as the shower drain then clamping this to the bottom of the barrel then push the outer pipe in then you can remove twist what ever you need

Has anyone used the reducers with auto-siphons plugged into them? How do you keep the reducers from leaking?

At the moment I think I'll try the VB method if I can find a thread that fits my drain hole.

Here you go Gemmell, I connected 2 bell siphons (40mm pipe) into 50mm pipe using reducers/increasers
Reducers in use with siphons


There are a few more pics above that one

Not quite what I meant!

I think up until today I haven't really understood this method of using reducers in the bathtub environment. I thought you took the entire drain out of the bathtub and replaced it with a reducer. However I think I'm wrong.

What you want to do is get a bathtub drain that doesn't have the metal plug thingy ontop. That attaches to your plumbing underneath and seals the hole. Then the reducer actually fits into this perfectly and thus you get a good enough seal to run an autosiphon with it. Is this correct? Would B have everything I need or do I need to go to a plumbing shop?

Just for information regarding the pvc reducers being used for standpipes

on the left is a class 9 and the right a class 18. If you compare these you'll see marked differences in their profile. If you then compare these with ones EB put on this thread they are different again. So Reducers ain't all the same between manufacturers and class it would seem (left is Mitre10 right is B)

PVC pipe is interesting.

REtic pipe is "nominal diameter" meaning it is not actually that diameter, but once upon a time all manufacturers made different size pipe, so no two brands worked together. The Standards Australia group took the most common size and nominated that as the standard size.

Retic PVC , plumbing waste pipe pvc and electrical conduit are all different so u cannot use retic pipe as electrical conduit etc.

Class of pipe refers to the pressure it will hold. I think class 9 will hold 900psi and class 18 will hold 18psi. Im not sure. THe OD of a pipe si the same across classes, but the inside diameter changes due to thicker walls.

Therefore different brand fittings must have standard ID but the shape and OD can be whatever they like.

Yep, I've used about 3 different shaped reducers, including the one on the right of the picture, I like that shape, they fit nicely into the drain fittings I use..

Agree EB, have got both and this one is better, but the price difference is hard to pass up I think wetearths price was a 1/4 of the price of the one on the right.