unusual bell setup

[foodchain]

I suck at Bell Siphons. Maybe you can help me with an idea. Can I put a bell siphon on a 300 gallon IBC tote. Full sized. I only want it to drain a portion of it, not the full tote. Water goes from outdoor pond nonstop, fills IBC, siphon activates when it's so full, and activates flow through growbeds, then drains back to pond.
A few extra steps than needed, but this allows me to branch more grow beds off the ibc than from pond directly.
Any input is appreciated.

[foodchain]

Doing it this way cuts down on the amount of pumps I need, and also my electrical consumption.

[bsfman]

I suck at Bell Siphons. Maybe you can help me with an idea. Can I put a bell siphon on a 300 gallon IBC tote. Full sized. I only want it to drain a portion of it, not the full tote.

Mount a standpipe the full depth to the max water level you want. Cover with the bell (also full depth). Determine how deep you want the water to remain when partially drained to your desired level, and place your intake holes on the bell at that level - rather than at the more traditionally done bottom of the bell. If you opt to use a siphon break air tube from the top of the bell, it too should terminate at the desired drain level you want.

[keith_r]

or go through the side of the 300 gallon tank at the level you want with a 90 ell pointed up
just cut a notch for your media guard
i'm going through the side on my cut down ibc gb's because of the height restrictions i'm working with, but starting to think that constant flood might be the best way to go.. so the side outlet is still ok

[foodchain]

I like the side outlet, would take less pvc, and therefore less $'s.
I am not understanding how to make it work. Can you photo yours?

[David]

Yes you can use a bell siphon on it. Your standpipe needs to be cut to your desired height of your water and then drill a hole (that will break the suction) at the level you want the water to drain from your IBC.

[foodchain]

I guess I don't understand your post David. It seems to me, that if you drill a hole further down than the bell, as the tank fills it would go out this hole. Even if your filling faster than it's going out the hole, your not really mantaining a full change over, but more of constant flow.
Which is more along the lines of what I have now.

Maybe better to ditch the bell setup and go back to toilet flappers. I can adjust those a lot more simply.

[keith_r]

not a hole in the siphon, but in the siphon cover.. some folks use a piece of airline tubing that exits from the siphone cover cap, then goes back down the siphone cover, but is "cut" at the depth you want the siphon to break

[foodchain]

If one bell doesn't drain off enough water to keep up with the big pump...do I add another bell and put each bed on it's own bell, or enlarge the one and put a splitter or Y at the end branching off to multiple beds?

How do I determine the maximum range I can move in the IBC? Ideally would like to move a max of about 2 ft of water at one time...but the needs may change...so I figure this would need to be adjustable.

Seems to me, 4-5 small bells would be better than one big one.

[David]

Sorry food chain. I probably could have explained that better.

There are three major parts to a bell siphon.

1. The standpipe - This is the part the water will drain into
2. The bell - This part covers the standpipe and is the part I am talking about drilling a hole into
3. The housing - This is just used to keep the other parts clear of grow media and other debris

I typically do not drill a hole in the bell, because I like my beds to drain down the majority of the bed. But, if you drill a hole into the bell it will brake suction at that level and will stop draining the bed.

So water will fill your bed up to the level of your standpipe. (No holes in this part) and will drain until the suction is broken on your siphon, (the level of the hole in the bell).

I know I always understand better when I can see a picture. You can see a picture I have laid out of a bell siphon kit here: http://www.diyaquaponicsexpert.com/floo ... aquaponics

Let me know if you have any other questions.