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One of the seemingly most mysterious components of an The Bulkhead and Standpipe
aquaponics system is the siphon. It seems to inspire
confusion amongst newcomers, and frustration from No matter which siphon we use, the first thing that we
more experienced aquaponicers. need to set up is the bulkhead, or through-pipe. With
any growbed and siphon set up we will need to have
At its simplest, a siphon is a mechanism for moving water some way of getting the water through the growbed –
from one reservoir to another, lower reservoir. The we usually do this by cutting a hole through the side or
benefit of a siphon is that it is capable of raising water bottom of the tank:
over a barrier – and this is what makes it distinctive, and
of practical benefit to aquaponics.
As the water rises inside the growbed it will also rise inside
the tube until eventually it starts to trickle out. The flow of
water will increase until eventually all the air has been
expelled from the tube and at that point a siphon will
have been formed and the water will start to rapidly
drain. This will continue until the water level in the
growbed drops enough to allow air to re-enter the tube
and so stop the siphon.
The rapid draining draws oxygen down fully into the roots The tube diameter also needs to be varied according to
and this is vital for good growth. the size of the growbed and the volume of water that
needs to be drained. As a rule of thumb it should larger
than the piping that brings the water to the growbed so
that it can drain faster than the rate that the growbed is
being filled.
1b!
3!
1a!
The final graphic shows the water entering the growbed
via a piping grid. The grid runs all the way around the
bed and has small holes drilled regularly around it. In this
way the water is spread very evenly around the whole
growbed and ensures maximum dispersal of solid waste
and nutrients.
The first thing that we start with is the placement of your 1. First, start with the hole in your growbed. Check and
siphon in your growbed. Once this has been decided check again that you have the right sized drill bit for the
then you need to decide on the size of your siphon – PVC fittings (bulkhead) that you are using.
what size pipe are you going to use?
Even now we usually physically check on a scrap piece
Look at your plumbing bringing the water up from your of plastic before we drill into the growbed itself. You
growbed – a rule of thumb is that your main siphon really do not want to get this wrong!
components should be equal to or slightly greater than
the water inflow components. So drill the hole where you want it to go, and then place
the bulkhead fitting above and below the hole. The
In a larger, say 500 litre growbed, you will need to be male fitting (with the screw) should usually go through
looking at filling and emptying approximately 200 litres of the top of the growbed so that you are left with
water in each cycle. Let’s also assume that you will be something looking like this:
using an 800-litre fish tank to support this growbed… you
will need to circulate the entire contents of the fish tank
every hour.
10”
12”
2”
In this picture you can see that we also have a reducer The gap at the bottom should also be geared to how
fixed to the top of the pipe. The reducer is 50mm at the much water you would like to remain in your growbed at
top lip and reduces to fix to the 40mm pipe. all times. If the gaps are 2” inches high, then you will also
Experiments, particularly by a guy called Affnan, showed have at least 2” of water in the bottom of your growbed,
that the reducer helps to make the siphon more efficient because this is where the siphon will cut off and stop
and to work more regularly. We recommend using one if drawing up water. This depth is good for a 12” growbed,
you can. but you may want to reduce this height for a smaller
growbed.
So in the case, from the bottom of the bulkhead shown
in the photo, to the top of the reducer on the standpipe, The Bell Siphon should also be sized according to your
the height is a total of 10”. standpipe. In terms of width, there needs to be enough
room between the side of the Standpipe and the side of
In the photo above you will also notice a small hole the Bell Siphon, to allow water to flow smoothly and
about 1.5” up from the bottom of the bulkhead. This quickly. We recommend at least half as much again,
drip-hole will very slowly empty the growbed if the pump and ideally twice as much as the Standpipe – so if you
is stopped. This installation was in a built up urban area are using a 40mm Standpipe, you should use at least
and so the client requested that the pump be turned off 60mm or 80mm diameter piping for the Bell Siphon.
at night to reduce noise.
The height of the Bell Siphon also needs to be
The drip-hole is not necessary at all, but is an option if appropriate for the size of your Standpipe. We
you prefer it… or if you think that the pump may be recommend leaving between 1” and 2” between the
turned off sometimes. The hole should not be placed top of the Standpipe and the top of the Bell Siphon.
right at the bottom as we would like to leave an inch or
two of water in the bottom of the growbed at all times – These sizes are reflected in the sizings given in the two
so just place the hole at that height. photos shown of the Standpipe and the Bell Siphon.
Affnan’s Aquaponics is an excellent resource to see his You will also notice in the photo of the Bell Siphon that
many experiments with all sort of siphons. A general there is a piece of wire attached around it and
starting point is here: extending up from the top of the cap. Once the Media
Guard is in place it can sometimes be a very tight fit
http://affnan-aquaponics.blogspot.jp/2010/02/affnans- between the guard and the Bell Siphon and so the wire is
valve-detailed-explanations-of_9459.html just there to be able to lift the Bell Siphon out easily.
The idea of using the reducer on top of the standpipe So you should now have the upper half of the Bell Siphon
was probably first used, or at least written about by set up – the Bulkhead, The Standpipe, The Bell Siphon
Affnan, and so you may also see this referred to as the and the Media Guard. We can now look at the lower
Affnan Bell Siphon. half of the Bell Siphon – the part that goes under the
growbed.
• A pipe with an aerator nozzle, or a venture to There are a number of principles at play here, but very
again help aerate the water in the fish tank. simply, as your growbed fills up with water the water will
raise within the bell siphon until it reaches the top of the
Here with a simple 45-degree angled pipe that provided standpipe.
lots of aeration as the water gushed into the fish tank:
At that point the water will start flowing over the top of
the standpipe and exiting the growbed. If there were no
bell siphon this would just continue to overflow
continuously and the water would stay at that height in
the growbed. This is because the air pressure acting on
the water in the growbed is equal across the whole
system (i.e it is the same pressure in the growbed as it is in
in the standpipe).
Setting up the Bell Siphon at the beginning If you manage to get it right on the first attempt, then
congratulations… you are probably in a happy minority!
First, start with your water flow. For most other people there will be a little bit of tinkering
to do in order to make it work properly… and like
• You need to work backwards from the fish tank clockwork every time.
volume of water. This volume needs to be
recirculated at least once every hour. You can Troubleshooting your Siphon
therefore work out the minimum setting for your
pump – the setting that at a minimum will There is likely to be one of only two real problems with
recirculate the entire volume of the fish tank. your siphon:
• This setting will now give you the minimum • It won’t start
amount of water that will be entering into your • It won’t stop
growbed(s) at any given time. You can
increase this amount – but you must not Beyond that, there are degrees of tinkering to make your
decrease it – your siphon has to be able to start siphon more efficient, quieter, starting and stopping
with this minimal amount of water coming into more easily, adding maximum aeration etc… but these
the growbed. are all great issues to play around with…. once you can
get your siphon working like clockwork and are
comfortable with how it all works.
40% Rule. As a rule of thumb, if you have a
growbed filled with media – the water will be about
40% of the volume of the growbed.
If the bell siphon will not start (the water remain at a high After the siphon has started then when it finishes it needs
level in the growbed) then it probably means that there to be able to take a big gulp of air in order to stop the
is not enough backpressure in the system to expel all the action of the siphon. If we have increased the
air that we need in order for the siphon to start. backpressure too much, or the water is entering the
growbed too fast, then it can be hard for the siphon to
The first thing that we can check is the cap on top of the take in enough air to make that gasp, that burp that
bell siphon – is this fitted snuggly? Could there be air stops the siphon.
entering through the top of the bell siphon? Check this
first and make sure that there are no air leaks at the top You will see this by the siphon outflow just continue to run
of the bell siphon. Similarly make sure that there are no at the same rate that water is entering the growbed.
obstructions or media pieces in the bell siphon itself. The water in the growbed will simply stay at the bottom
level of the cutouts in the bell siphon.
If that part of the bell siphon is ok then we can look at a
few more things initially: The first that you can check is whether any media or
anything else has gotten into the media guard and is
• Increase the amount of water flowing into the blocking up the bell siphon cutouts. If this is the case
growbed. This is one method of getting the then just clear the obstruction and see if this helps.
siphon to start, as the increased water volume
will force the air out of the bell siphon causing it If this is not the case then you can try the following:
to start. You will have to experiment to see how
much extra water flow is needed. • Reduce the amount of water flowing into the
growbed. This will make it easier for air to enter
• Increase the backpressure in the siphon by the bell siphon to stop it… but will of course also
adding a restrictor to the outflow pipe. This make it harder for the siphon to start. Please
could be a simple reducer on the end of the also make sure that you do not reduce the
down-pipe that helps to restrict the flow. water flow so much that there is not enough
water being pumped out of the fish tank.
• Increase the backpressure in the siphon by Remember that the volume of water in the fish
adding a 90-degree elbow to the outflow pipe tank should be recycled very hour.
under the growbed. You may find that this is
sufficient to create enough backpressure to kick- • Next, you can look at reducing the backpressure
start the siphon. in the system. Look at the outflow pipes under
the growbed – can you remove a 90-degree
• If this does not work, then try adding a second elbow, or make a piece of pipe shorter? The less
45-degree or 90-degree elbow in sequence. This pipework there is in the outflow system, the
increases the pressure even more making it easier it is for the siphon to gulp air.
easier for the siphon to start. You can also vary
the direction of this second elbow – downward / • Some people have also reported success by
sideways or even pointing upwards – all these using a different cap on the bell siphon.
variations will change the backpressure in the Sometimes a rounded, or domed cap can help
siphon – so try a few different things. the bell siphon to start and stop. Your own
mileage might vary, but we have had some
• Some people have also reported success by success using different caps on the siphon.
using a different cap on the bell siphon.
Sometimes a rounded, or domed cap can help • Some people have reported success by
the bell siphon to start and stop. Your own increasing the height between the top of the
mileage might vary, but we have had some standpipe and the top of the bell siphon.
success using different caps on the siphon. Increasing the height of the bell siphon may
work, but again, your mileage may vary.
Between these measures you are likely to be able to
solve the problem of the siphon not starting. If none of • You could also try adding a snorkel to your bell
these measures work however, then you may have to siphon. This is usually a rubber tube that is
look at the sizing of your pipes. It could be that your placed in the top of your bell siphon and which
siphon is simply too big for the amount of water flowing is then tied to the side of the outside of the bell
through it and so you will need to downsize your siphon. siphon, and which is cut just above the top of
the cutouts on the siphon. This breathing tube
For most people though, the measures noted above allows additional air to be sucked into the siphon
should be sufficient to get the siphon to start. at the appropriate time:
Once you have got it to start, then you may well run into
problem number 2:
If your pipe sizing is good then you will find the balance
that you are looking for – it may take a few tries, but by
varying the flow of water into the growbed, and then
rearranging the combination of fittings on the outflow
pipe you will come to an arrangement that will work.
That will restrict flow enough to start the siphon every
time – but which allows enough air into the system at the
end of the cycle in order to stop the siphon.
Check out a few videos on the web and you will see lots
of variations and explanations. You can also find other
tutorials, guides and links to aquaponics plumbing pages
on the web. We have included some links for you at the
end of this guide.
Aragon St-Charles
Japan Aquaponics