Final design plans!!!!

[alex281]

Hey guys!

i decided to ditch my 10 gallon plan and go larger with my system and make it out doors.

My plans as of now are.

a 55 gallon rubbermaid tote.(aquarium)

A custom built wooden frame with pond liner.(grow bed)
dimensions are 12" H 24" W 45" L this equals about 56 gallons of grow bed.

my 100 gph pump finally arrived(expected it to be bigger its about the size of my fist.)
And my air pump is on the way. I ordered this one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... SA:US:1123

It says its good for up to 80 gallon aquariums.

OH and most importantly, for the bell siphon. according to affnans videos he has his pvc pipes and then an adapter on the stand pipe that makes it like a funnel, he said it works really well. so my plans for that is to use 3/4 inch with the funnel piece that goes up to 1 inch, a 2 inch bell and 3 inch guard. the funnel piece was rather chunky and left a little space with between the 2" bell, but i suppose thats just going to cause more suction. (i didnt buy it just yet just looked at the pvc)

Im also going to be using a nice gravel.(similar to the grey kind in murray's videos.) hydroton is just way to much money.

well these are my plans as of now, i have until sunday(when i go to home depot.) to change

Let me know what you think

[bsfman]

My plans as of now are.

a 55 gallon rubbermaid tote.(aquarium)

Sounds like a great start to me, Alex. You may want to construct a frame out of 1X2's for the 55 gallon tote though. Otherwise the top edges will bulge and deform and eventually crack and split when you fill the tote with water. (You'll want a cross brace across the top - especially on the long edges of the tote).

[Bioritize]

With the 50 gallon system you may want to use 3/4 to 1/2, and use a 1/2 drain pipe. I it will allow you to have a slow flow into your grow bed. If you got the other way you will need a large amount of flow to start the siphon. I had this issue, if you go down to 1/2 you can use slow flow and only cycle 4-5 times per hour.

[davidstcldfl]

If you want to try the smaller stand pipe, like Bioritize mentioned....you could put in a 3/4 " bulkhead with a 3/4 x 1/2" bushing inside the bulkhead. It would be an easy way to test both sizes for flow. If it drains too slow, just remove the bushing and go with the 3/4" standpipe.
Looking forward to some pictures...

[alex281]

Thanks for the advice on the bell siphon!!!!!
I definitely will take the advice on that and try both sizes!
Good thing you brought that up because im sure the 100gph is going to lack as its max height is 3 ft.(the freaking tote alone is higher than that.)