unusual bell setup

[bsfman]

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.

You need to balance the size of your siphon or siphons to the input rate. Too small a siphon won't keep up with fill rate, and if it does, it may not break siphon properly at the end. Likewise, too big a siphon for the fill rate may never get siphon going properly. Multiple siphons could be a problem because unless your standpipes are totally EXACT in length, one will start before the others and the remaining ones may never get fully primed to flow. You might be better off doing the "Y" thing with a single siphon. Be sure to allow for adequate space for sufficient downflow below the siphon exit to keep the flow going. How far above ground level is the bottom of your IBC?

I suggest experimenting with a bell siphon in a 5 gallon plastic bucket so you can understand the concept better before trying it out on your IBC. PCV is cheap and easy to experiment with.

[foodchain]

Tabled the initial design due to the distance from pond to IBC is too hard on the pump I want to use. Not worth the expense to increase pump size...next one up is $200 more. So no go there.

Changing the design.
IF I use the IBC as the FT, and want to pump to gutters and different heighths in an ebb/flow format, currently works as constant flow. But it's the on again/off again I am looking for. Currently has no bell on this one as it's a flow through. Tallest one is 7 ft, and then there's another gutter every 8-10 inches. Currently the water is pumped to top one, and each one is angle slightly to allow the water to run to the end, and fall down to next, then run the opposite direction on the next gutter. Similar to a cascading zig zag.
So in short, my setup with the gutters is fine, but it's a flow through, constant flow. I want it to be ebb/flow. If needed I can raise the volume tank base to about 4-5 off the ground. It's outside so no concerns of overhang. Just ugly if high enough neighbors see it.
Hope all of this makes sense to someone.

[David]

I'm not sure exactly what your setup looks like but could you add a sump tank near the pond, pump into that (to keep your current pump) and gravity feed to the IBC?

Just a thought.

[David]

Tabled the initial design due to the distance from pond to IBC is too hard on the pump I want to use. Not worth the expense to increase pump size...next one up is $200 more. So no go there.

Changing the design.
IF I use the IBC as the FT, and want to pump to gutters and different heighths in an ebb/flow format, currently works as constant flow. But it's the on again/off again I am looking for. Currently has no bell on this one as it's a flow through. Tallest one is 7 ft, and then there's another gutter every 8-10 inches. Currently the water is pumped to top one, and each one is angle slightly to allow the water to run to the end, and fall down to next, then run the opposite direction on the next gutter. Similar to a cascading zig zag.
So in short, my setup with the gutters is fine, but it's a flow through, constant flow. I want it to be ebb/flow. If needed I can raise the volume tank base to about 4-5 off the ground. It's outside so no concerns of overhang. Just ugly if high enough neighbors see it.
Hope all of this makes sense to someone.

I think I understand what you are doing here. However to get the ebb and flow you're looking for you need to cycle your pump on and off (This is hard on the pump and will shorten it's life) or you can the bell siphon.

Pumping directly from the fish tank to the gutters gives nowhere for the ebb and flow to happen.
If you're going to use the IBC as a fish tank, you will need to add another holding container or sump tank to collect the water and then release the flow periodically.

[foodchain]

Yep, that's what I thought. And this then tanks us back the the Hughley design of putting the 1/2 blue barrel on top to fill up. It looks like to make this happen though, the 1/2 barrel has to be higher than the gutters. Which means either one bad pump for the head pressure, or elevating the entire unit into the air. Building into the air is a whole new set of problems, risks, and expenses. Might be cheaper to just lower the gutters and reduce the amount of space between them.

[keith_r]

what type of gutters are you talking about? buildup in gutters heat might be a problem with flood and drain amd i don't think you'd get the flow you need with "media filled", which would also clog pretty easily.. the flow in gutters is usually a constant low volume flow, and your water should be heavily filterd prior to going through the gutters.. (NFT = nutrient film technique)
have you though of using some kind of upflowing filter piped to headers (on opposite ends of your gutter runs) set up so that both ends drain back to the middle?
pump to filter, filter overflows to headers that feed multiple gutters that drain back to tank
heavy flood and drain cycles in gutters, imho, wouldn't proved a good environment to grow plants

[foodchain]

Gutters work fine for strawberries. They have shallow roots and love the heat. Gutters don't do so well on other plants. A lot of people tell me that I can't use gutters, but I have 4" plastic white gutters from lowes, and all seems to be well now for some time. I will get pics some time. Just trying to convert this from a constant flow, to an ebb/flow.