Possible to run bell siphon out side of tank?

[notomo]

I have a tank that already has a drain hole on the side I was thinking of using for a grow bed and was wondering if I could just run, my 1" pvc threw the drain hole then do an elbow up and then cut my bell siphon to go over that 1" pipe I mean I have to cut the siphon notches anyhow why couldn't one just go over that pipe? Is there a reason everyone goes threw the bottom of there tanks or would this work? Would also give more options for tank placement, and I think a cleaner overall presentation in some cases.

[urbanfarmer]

You can do it that way, but you may have a problem with your siphon stopping. Thermofluid dynamics currently escapes me because I have forgotten a lot of science and math that I once knew so well... Good luck!

[wh33t]

I have a tank that already has a drain hole on the side I was thinking of using for a grow bed and was wondering if I could just run, my 1" pvc threw the drain hole then do an elbow up and then cut my bell siphon to go over that 1" pipe I mean I have to cut the siphon notches anyhow why couldn't one just go over that pipe? Is there a reason everyone goes threw the bottom of there tanks or would this work? Would also give more options for tank placement, and I think a cleaner overall presentation in some cases.

There is nothing wrong with one you are suggesting and I've done it before. Just keep in mind it's good to have at least 6 inches of down spout coming out of your bell siphon. So what you would want to do is have your bell siphon turn 90 degrees twice. 90 degrees once inside of the flower bed, then once more turning it 90 degrees downward on the outside of your flower bed.

The problem you will run into is that due to the drain being on the side the highest part of the piping will be your lower possible water level. The siphon only works for as long as the bottom of the "bell" is in contact with water. So even if you cut an "arc" into the bottom of your bell so that it slides over the piping going through to the outside of the flower bed chances are it will still break the siphon once the water level gets that low.

It's not a huge deal unless your flower bed is really shallow. If your flower bed is 12 inches plus in height that's plenty of room for most veggies to have good sized root systems. But if you flower bed is really shallow you have to accept that using this system there will always be an inch or two (depending on the height of the hole in the side of your flower bed for the drain) of water in the bed.

You gotta keep in mind that point of flood and drain is to oxygenate the root zone of the flower bed periodically. In the bottom of the flower beds many heavy fish solids, dead/broken roots, perhaps worms and other things will gather there. You don't want this lower zone to be too high. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't just ask a clarifying question and someone will answer it

[notomo]

I have a tank that already has a drain hole on the side I was thinking of using for a grow bed and was wondering if I could just run, my 1" pvc threw the drain hole then do an elbow up and then cut my bell siphon to go over that 1" pipe I mean I have to cut the siphon notches anyhow why couldn't one just go over that pipe? Is there a reason everyone goes threw the bottom of there tanks or would this work? Would also give more options for tank placement, and I think a cleaner overall presentation in some cases.

There is nothing wrong with one you are suggesting and I've done it before. Just keep in mind it's good to have at least 6 inches of down spout coming out of your bell siphon. So what you would want to do is have your bell siphon turn 90 degrees twice. 90 degrees once inside of the flower bed, then once more turning it 90 degrees downward on the outside of your flower bed.

The problem you will run into is that due to the drain being on the side the highest part of the piping will be your lower possible water level. The siphon only works for as long as the bottom of the "bell" is in contact with water. So even if you cut an "arc" into the bottom of your bell so that it slides over the piping going through to the outside of the flower bed chances are it will still break the siphon once the water level gets that low.

It's not a huge deal unless your flower bed is really shallow. If your flower bed is 12 inches plus in height that's plenty of room for most veggies to have good sized root systems. But if you flower bed is really shallow you have to accept that using this system there will always be an inch or two (depending on the height of the hole in the side of your flower bed for the drain) of water in the bed.

You gotta keep in mind that point of flood and drain is to oxygenate the root zone of the flower bed periodically. In the bottom of the flower beds many heavy fish solids, dead/broken roots, perhaps worms and other things will gather there. You don't want this lower zone to be too high. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't just ask a clarifying question and someone will answer it

Actually that was great answered questions I did not even think of. I think instead of using the tank I have I am going to buy some new ones.

This tank is from a hydro system I have not used yet I was planning to do hydro but then came upon aqua which sounds way better and I had decided I should just jump into aqua instead of even messing with hydro. But since this tank is only like 8-10 inches I think what I will do is keep it setup for hydro and just do another setup for aqua and learn both maybe some things will do better in the hydro. And also I can always probably sell the hydro setup at some point.

Now just to decide how big of a starting system to do for aqua, I think I will start off with goldfish and once I get that down move into edibles if I can even do them in MN

[wh33t]

I have a tank that already has a drain hole on the side I was thinking of using for a grow bed and was wondering if I could just run, my 1" pvc threw the drain hole then do an elbow up and then cut my bell siphon to go over that 1" pipe I mean I have to cut the siphon notches anyhow why couldn't one just go over that pipe? Is there a reason everyone goes threw the bottom of there tanks or would this work? Would also give more options for tank placement, and I think a cleaner overall presentation in some cases.

There is nothing wrong with one you are suggesting and I've done it before. Just keep in mind it's good to have at least 6 inches of down spout coming out of your bell siphon. So what you would want to do is have your bell siphon turn 90 degrees twice. 90 degrees once inside of the flower bed, then once more turning it 90 degrees downward on the outside of your flower bed.

The problem you will run into is that due to the drain being on the side the highest part of the piping will be your lower possible water level. The siphon only works for as long as the bottom of the "bell" is in contact with water. So even if you cut an "arc" into the bottom of your bell so that it slides over the piping going through to the outside of the flower bed chances are it will still break the siphon once the water level gets that low.

It's not a huge deal unless your flower bed is really shallow. If your flower bed is 12 inches plus in height that's plenty of room for most veggies to have good sized root systems. But if you flower bed is really shallow you have to accept that using this system there will always be an inch or two (depending on the height of the hole in the side of your flower bed for the drain) of water in the bed.

You gotta keep in mind that point of flood and drain is to oxygenate the root zone of the flower bed periodically. In the bottom of the flower beds many heavy fish solids, dead/broken roots, perhaps worms and other things will gather there. You don't want this lower zone to be too high. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't just ask a clarifying question and someone will answer it

Actually that was great answered questions I did not even think of. I think instead of using the tank I have I am going to buy some new ones.

This tank is from a hydro system I have not used yet I was planning to do hydro but then came upon aqua which sounds way better and I had decided I should just jump into aqua instead of even messing with hydro. But since this tank is only like 8-10 inches I think what I will do is keep it setup for hydro and just do another setup for aqua and learn both maybe some things will do better in the hydro. And also I can always probably sell the hydro setup at some point.

Now just to decide how big of a starting system to do for aqua, I think I will start off with goldfish and once I get that down move into edibles if I can even do them in MN

I'm still doing gold fish simply because I don't feel confident enough to do edibles. Gold fish are seriously tough.

If I were you and getting ready to learn a water farming technique I wouldn't bother with Hydro. Aquaponics is the future and it is the moral choice when comparing the two. Except for of course the veggies you can't grow in Aquaponics such as most root veggies.

If possible I suggest getting a hold of a copy of any instructional videos you can find both on the web and off. One that comes to mind which is a great primer is Murray Hallams Aquaponics made easy. ([URL to illegal material removed - UF]) He puts out an Advanced DVD as well as another one which I can't seem remember. All of his films are amazing jump starters and I wouldn't do a single thing until you've watched them.

[urbanfarmer]

DO NOT post links to illegal torrents or pirated content whatsoever. You can purchase the DVD for pretty cheap or you can view some scenes posted by Murray (or one of his henchmen) on YouTube.

I realize you are just trying to help, and thank you for that. However, allowing such things to go on here can have dire consequences for the rest of the community (the forum as a whole).

[dufflight]

Most of my siphons go out the side of the GB's. This one allows for the stone guard to be twisted so roots can be still cleaned away.

[notomo]

I have a tank that already has a drain hole on the side I was thinking of using for a grow bed and was wondering if I could just run, my 1" pvc threw the drain hole then do an elbow up and then cut my bell siphon to go over that 1" pipe I mean I have to cut the siphon notches anyhow why couldn't one just go over that pipe? Is there a reason everyone goes threw the bottom of there tanks or would this work? Would also give more options for tank placement, and I think a cleaner overall presentation in some cases.

There is nothing wrong with one you are suggesting and I've done it before. Just keep in mind it's good to have at least 6 inches of down spout coming out of your bell siphon. So what you would want to do is have your bell siphon turn 90 degrees twice. 90 degrees once inside of the flower bed, then once more turning it 90 degrees downward on the outside of your flower bed.

The problem you will run into is that due to the drain being on the side the highest part of the piping will be your lower possible water level. The siphon only works for as long as the bottom of the "bell" is in contact with water. So even if you cut an "arc" into the bottom of your bell so that it slides over the piping going through to the outside of the flower bed chances are it will still break the siphon once the water level gets that low.

It's not a huge deal unless your flower bed is really shallow. If your flower bed is 12 inches plus in height that's plenty of room for most veggies to have good sized root systems. But if you flower bed is really shallow you have to accept that using this system there will always be an inch or two (depending on the height of the hole in the side of your flower bed for the drain) of water in the bed.

You gotta keep in mind that point of flood and drain is to oxygenate the root zone of the flower bed periodically. In the bottom of the flower beds many heavy fish solids, dead/broken roots, perhaps worms and other things will gather there. You don't want this lower zone to be too high. I hope that makes sense. If it doesn't just ask a clarifying question and someone will answer it

Actually that was great answered questions I did not even think of. I think instead of using the tank I have I am going to buy some new ones.

This tank is from a hydro system I have not used yet I was planning to do hydro but then came upon aqua which sounds way better and I had decided I should just jump into aqua instead of even messing with hydro. But since this tank is only like 8-10 inches I think what I will do is keep it setup for hydro and just do another setup for aqua and learn both maybe some things will do better in the hydro. And also I can always probably sell the hydro setup at some point.

Now just to decide how big of a starting system to do for aqua, I think I will start off with goldfish and once I get that down move into edibles if I can even do them in MN

I'm still doing gold fish simply because I don't feel confident enough to do edibles. Gold fish are seriously tough.

If I were you and getting ready to learn a water farming technique I wouldn't bother with Hydro. Aquaponics is the future and it is the moral choice when comparing the two. Except for of course the veggies you can't grow in Aquaponics such as most root veggies.

If possible I suggest getting a hold of a copy of any instructional videos you can find both on the web and off. One that comes to mind which is a great primer is Murray Hallams Aquaponics made easy. ([URL to illegal material removed - UF]) He puts out an Advanced DVD as well as another one which I can't seem remember. All of his films are amazing jump starters and I wouldn't do a single thing until you've watched them.

Ya I have been reading a lot about it online and watching youtube videos, btw is "Aquaponic Gardening: a step-by-step guide" ({see rule #9~~stucco})[/color] Was thinking about buying it I have the preview on my kindle at the moment seemed good from that and it has good reviews on amazon.

[notomo]

Erm sorry about the link did not think of the selling thing, just wanna know if the book is worth buying before spending 17-20 bucks on it. Figured you guys might know. I think I am going to buy it but dunno hate spending that much on something I may not really need, but the reviews sound like its helpful so I dunno. If it was 10 bucks or less I would buy it right now but 17-20 to me is a lot of money right now. Maybe I will get lucky and can look at a copy in town today.

Again sorry about the link thing, wont happen again.

[stucco]

You have this forum and youtube…you don’t need that book.