I'm building my new Aquaponics setup, Bell Valve and Grow Bed already done. Prefilter need to be upgraded to 20 mm pipe input from current 15 mm.
Above photo, are the components necessary for water/solids separation part in the filter. Other item needed are casing made of PVC pipe 100 mm and another end cap with hole drilled at the bottom for ball drain.
From left to right are :
- 40/20mm (1 1/2" - 3/4") Tee attached to a 20 ( 3/4") mm water tank adapter.
- 100 mm (4") end cap drilled 2 holes, top and side - for 20 ( 3/4") mm water tank adapter.
- 20 mm ( 3/4") pipe cut a slanting wedge (optional to cut it slanting)
- 20 mm ( 3/4") water tank adapter.
The Tee is cut at 2 part, 1st at the 20mm connection and 2nd at one end of the 40mm this to ensure the assembly fit inside the end cap.
After assembly this is how it looks like, use silicone sealant to ensure no leak on both connection.
Another angle of the complete end cap that needed to be assemble to form a filter.
This how it should look like from outside.
The new filter end cap with separator part ready to replace the old end cap with the 15 mm inlet and outlet.
Link to filter design is here.
Quickie updates, after routing all water to grow beds via filter and using a more powerful pump show sign of more solids collected.
Collected fish solids and food pallets after 6 hours of pump operation.
It should be more after 1 week, as compare to yesterday's post.
Drained prefilter this evening, there are sign of fish waste in the water. So the filter work, as I said it will not be as efficient as filter using mesh, sponge or other medium.
This filter do not have anything inside, just solid and water separation using tube arrangement.
Its not much of sludge after about 1 week of running, this filter is only for one of the grow bed, so not 100 percent of water flow through it.
Above picture shows amount of collected sludge, something is better then nothing. Must figure out how to increase this waste extraction.
I have just rework my Aquaponics water feed, now 100 percent of water to both the beds are routed via filter. I use that Resun Penguin 4500 pump for water feed, and looks like two Bell valve works with 110 Watt water pump.
I cheated a bit, pump outlet were step down from 20mm to 15mm fed to filter then divide by 2, one for each bed. With full flow 20mm outlet it may be too much for 2 Bell Valve to handle, but I never tried it so can't confirm otherwise.
One thing good about Aquaponics is, I can do gardening till 10 pm.. :)
Updates 2012 : After practicing Aquaponics for some times, I do not use a pre-filter anymore.
Usefulness of solids waste in aquaponics setup is much debated, there are people that say its required and otherwise, what ever it is, if you need to remove some of the waste here is one method that I employ.
Quote from http://www.aquaponics.com.au
"When solids are allowed to enter grow beds, over time build up occurs and can cause anaerobic areas within the grow beds to develop, which in turn causes toxic substances to develop."
Above diagram shows the construction of the filter. This is a new design that I made, previously I use similar setup but with a liquid swirl at the bottom. This one is still under evaluation.
Water and solids entering the filter will need to make a sharp turn to get out, solids being heavier and sluggish in its flow will tend to flow straight down, hence separating it from the water out.
To remove the solids, just open the ball valve at the bottom, make sure you have a bucket or a hose ready.. what flow out may not to your liking.
Pictures of filter follows;
Above filter, more like a water/solid separator is not as efficient as a filter using mesh or gauze or any filtering medium. I design this one for only one reason, no messy things to bother. It did not have any filter medium so nothing to change, just drain the tube once in a while you are done.
