Hi Everyone,
Some of you may recognize this plan from the original dome greenhouse video series a few
years ago, where it displayed the fish tank, sump tank, and filtration.
A few things were shifted around after this plan, but the filter remained in the design….I
just never bothered to install it, until now.
The existing large sump tank has a cone bottom and part of the goal was for it to collect
the solids at the center and they would get pumped into the grow beds.
Unfortunately, the cone isn’t quite steep enough and it doesn’t swirl fast enough
to collect at the center, so I’ve had to mix it up once in a while.
So far, the media beds with composting worms have been able to keep up with the solids,
but I’m getting some sludge ending up in the DWC beds and also some solids building
up in the supply lines, so on occasion I have to flush them out.
It hasn’t been a problem, but I’m planning on expanding the system in the future and
want to reduce some of the solids getting to the beds.
The old setup used a solid lifting output (or SLO) to suck the solids from the bottom
of the fish tank through a 1” pipe.
There was a second 2” line used as an emergency overflow if too much water was getting pumped
into the fish tank.
The new setup will still have the 1” line going into the swirl filter.
To reduce the risk of the filter overflowing, the outlet pipe is 1-1/4” pipe.
Then there is a 1-1/2” waste line.
Because there is less suction on the 1” pipe from less head, the 2” overflow will
be utilized a bit more, so I extended this more into the tank.
On occasion this line would suck in fish food as it floated around the edges or an occasional
fish would get sucked down into the sump tank.
After partly draining the fish tank, I needed to install a new bulkhead fitting so the solid
lifting output could get to the swirl filter.
Be careful not to leave any plastic particles in the tank or the fish will try to eat them.
Any barbs from drilling should also be removed and the side of the tank needs to be cleaned
so the bulkhead fitting will make a good seal.
Bulkhead fitting are really easy to install.
Usually they can just be hand tightened.
Most people have problem with them when they are overtightened and the crush the rubber
seal.
I reused my solid lifting pipe.
My setup is a bit different from others as I have it set to siphon water from the system
and break the siphon with a little hole.
The base has a bushing with slots cut into to keep fish out, then a second larger cap
with slits that is able to settle along the bottom in case the pipe lifts a bit.
All the threads are the same with the new bulkhead fitting so this section goes right
back into place.
The old drain was abandoned and capped.
This bulkhead fitting is a 1-1/4” fitting so I need to use a 1-1/4” thread to 1”
slip fitting.
I like to use the larger bulkheads in case I ever decide to increase the pipe sizes.
From here, I install a ball valve so I can shut off the flow to the filter if it needs
to be cleaned or serviced.
While I’m working on the rest of the plumbing, I can now turn the water back on to the fish
and let the water go through the existing overflow.
This cone tank is a bit small for this system, but for 30 bucks, I couldn’t pass it up.
This is why I’m keeping a 1” pipe into the swirl, to restrict the flow into this
tank.
If it flows too fast, it will actually create a cyclone in the center and lift the solids
right out.
After the valve, the water the heads down into the filter and shoots out with a 45 degree
elbow to force the water to circulate.
A new bulkhead fitting is added through the side of the filter and a 1-1/4” drain line
is run to the sump tank.
Inside the filter, the drain line comes through the side to the center, then heads up using
an elbow.
I then increased the pipe size up to 2” just to give the water a bit more room to
drop into the drain.
The waste line connects to an existing 2” bulkhead fitting and is reduced to 1-1/2”
and closed with a ball valve.
After firing it up, it starts to swirl right away catching most of the heavier solids.
There is still some lighter solids that escape from filtration but they will still get caught
in the media beds.
After a day the bottom of the cone has a “nice” collection of solids and it’s easy enough
to drain the waste into a bucket.
At some point I may run this into a dimerization process but for now this waste will just go
into the compost.
Thanks for watching!