IBC Do It Yourself

Ian

freoboy wrote:

are they non return valves onthe inlet/outlet?

Not quite . . the bottom (black) fitting is just a 25mm Bulkhead fitting to secure the pipe work to the PVC liner/former. The top (white and red) Valve is proposed to be a Thermostatic Radiator Valve with a remote sensor in the Fish Tank.
When the temperature in the fish tank is lower than that at the Valve, the valve will automatically open to allow the thermo siphon to flow and put hot water into the fish tank. If the temperature in the Fish tank is greater than at the valve, then it will close to stop any reverse cycling etc. That's the theory anyway.
The lack of a valve at the bottom of the tower means there will always be water in the pipes so that the thermosiphon can be started at any time, and hopefully the water will stop the PVC pipe from overheating if it gets too hot in the compost!

Cheers IanK

freoboy

hmm i was just thinking that a non-return valve in the bottom would allow keep the pipes full of water, even if your ft water level falls below the level of the outlet :dontknow:

Ian

freoboy wrote:

hmm i was just thinking that a non-return valve in the bottom would allow keep the pipes full of water, even if your ft water level falls below the level of the outlet :dontknow:

Yeah, but . . . I don't think the strength of the Thermo-siphon could produce enough flow/pressure to crack a spring load/ball check valve against that head when it was ready to start again. It might not even be able to tackle a flap check!
So that's why I didn't put a non-return valve in at the bottom. If the water in the fish tank level drops below the tower outlet level, it will break the siphon anyway and water will even out to the top level of the tower pipes to the Hot water outlet ring pipe and will all have to be primed again for operation, regardless of having a non-return valve on the bottom inlet. I know what you are saying, and I don't disagree, just that it may not "hold water"? We will try it and see.

Cheers IanK

freoboy

ah ok:) let me know how it goes, im thinking of doing a similar think with black painted PVC on a roof . .

freoboy

hows progress?

abdul

Hows your hand Ian...?

Ian

Hand is all healed Abdul . . it was only a flesh wound!!! Dog forgiven and still playfull.

Freoboy: Haven't progressed any with the compost heater as yet, still doing "other" things around the house in accordance with 'Her In The Garden's' wishes!

Have a little time on my hands until I find another job . . . but I'm not looking real hard yet.
So, I may get around to the Compost heater shortly . . .just got to get some more fish for the system after losing the Jades and the Sleppies. Goldfish are indestructable! Still going strong after the major self-inflicted HSM!

Cheers all; IanK

Ian

Hi all,
A little update, got some more Silvers and Sleepies after my last episode and they are doing rather well.

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File comment: Co-habitating Comets and Silvers.

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I was also given some Bristle Nose catfish by a friend,

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File comment: Bristle Toes catfish!! doing a good job on the tank windows.

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and my frequent visitor and companion, the youngest male King Parrot from our resident family.

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Ian

Hello All,
The IBC DIY system is now in full swing without fish, cycling away quite nicely in a fully exposed position in the veggie garden area.
Using a cap full of Seasol each day (not the concentrate, but the "ready to spray" mixture) the Tomatoes are fruiting, the Beetroot, silverbeet and carrots are growing strongly.
The tests show Trace of Ammonia, Nitrites=5 and Nitrates=trace, pH = 6.8 Temperature 21C, 1ppt salt and clear water. Lots of oxygen, Power Stream venturi running 24/7 from Fish tank By-pass. Will put some fish in next w/e. That will be about 8 weeks after starting the fishless cycling, so should be OK.
Pics:

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And with all the rain we have been getting in QLD, this is the sort of Insect we don't need, especially when you have Dogs!!

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Found this one rolling around the Decking, it was full as "a Tick!" and may have dropped of a bird or something other than the Dobbie. I check her every night and she didn't have it on her as far as I know. Although this Blue Cattle Tick doesn't really hurt big dogs (it's the smaller Bush Tick which can kill them!!) it's not nice to find them around.

Cheers; IanK

gnash06

Hope you stood on it....had heaps of those in Derby, it was a sunday morning ritual to de-tick the dogs.

Ian

Hi All,
Done nothing to the stand-alone IBC system, it's just going along with good plant growth without fish, just some Seasol every now and then.
I am in the throws of building another GB for the Megabin system (as I now have a Nitrates reading of 40+) and while thinking about the new auto-siphons, I tried something which works and saves me money and I'd like to share it with you.
I have read various posts where people can't source a 25/40mm adaptor to make the Affnan style of standpipe, which is just a Bell Mouth stand pipe entry, and have to wait or spend big dollars on obtaining one.
Well . . . Instead of using an adaptor at the top of the Standpipe for the siphon (in the style of Affnan) to give the Bell Mouth effect in starting the auto-siphon, I did this:

1 Take the 25mm diameter uPVC stand pipe and a small soft drink bottle.

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2 Add heat (I used the gas ring on the Hot Plates, but don't burn it, it catches fire rather easily) until soft and pliable and then push it down over soft drink bottle neck. Run cold water over it while still on bottle.

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3 You now have a smooth transition bell mouth without the square faces of the adaptor (If in fact, you can get them!!) and gives the same diameter (or bigger) as the 40mm adaptor without the extra wall thickness; which may restrict flow up and around when in the Bell tube.

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Adaptor on pipe in picture just for comparison.
The extra "bulge" was because I pushed too hard and I heated too far up the pipe, but it doesn't matter; just looks a bit off.

Larger standpipes could use a wine bottle or even larger stand pipes (65mm and up) could use a Flagon neck I'm sure.

. . . . and it works just fine.
Cheers IanK

pjenkyn

I used an old ww11 cannon head, will post photo's later if you want, wine bottle sound good, I reckon using the heat gun will help flare out to the max to get a hopefully better effect.

pjenkyn

Thanks Ian I've been trying to think of a way to flare it more. I think a wine bottle with the long tapered neck like some champagne bottles will do it. I will give it a go and play around with flow to see how much I can reduce flow to get it started. Different tapers etc

Ian

This one's for you Chillidude . . .
In my Megabin system Grow beds, I planted this so-called Capsicum plant. . .

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It doesn't look like any Capsicum I normally know as a Capsicum . . do you know what it really is?

Thanks.
IanK :?:

mantis

It will be a sweet pepper of some variety

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