Affnan's Aquaponics - Affnan's Bell-Valve How-to

[mystify37]

Fantastic!!! Thank you SO much for the explanation!!

[grandmastermicochero]

affnan?? what is the purpose of the drip hole and the water tank adapter??

[TheUnNerved]

Great information

[1234jeanneelliott]

Thanks for your excellent teaching of how to make this bell valve. I am very grateful.

[MrPOORAM]

Cheers for the break down of the design of your siphon. Im just starting a system up and need to drain the bed alot quicker than it does and this will help heaps. Great stuff Affnan!

[affnan]

@MrPOORAM Thanks, there is a new video I post on the improve version and a clearer footage as compare to this.

[sythe007]

I just want to add that you can make your own bulkheads for under a dollar. The secret is electrical conduit fittings. A male and female electrical conduit adapter and a couple O-rings from the plumbing dept. will create the bulkhead you need in any size.

[affnan]

@sythe007 Great info here, I know its difficult to get exact parts. This info you have is a great help to others.

[sythe007]

Thanks for the wealth of info. I've just recently started my aquaponics system and i had trouble finding a bulkhead for the pvc pipes. The hardware stores near me only carried 1/4 in. and smaller bulkheads for around $10. I needed 1 in. bulkheads. A quick search of online stores showed a few that sold for $10+.

[chengaun]

does the bell have to be slightly above the bottom of the grow bed?

[affnan]

@chengaun The bell I made have few half moon cut at the bottom to let in water, so it rested on growbed bottom don't require to be raised. Some people made it like an inverted castle (chess castle) the space in between the inverted castellated head let in water.

[danman911]

I'd like to thank you for your work it helped me greatly. I had to watch it many times to get the theory down, but you really helped me. Can you post a video of your system now? You have helped many people that you don't even know. Thanks Dano.

[affnan]

@danman911 Thanks dan, for your comment.. I intent to make a fresh video of how to make the siphon.. this classic was done with my hand phone.. but this next few month would be difficult for me, so much to do at work.

I am glad to hear that this simple siphon and my various youtube post had help those that keen on trying Aquaponics.

Affnan

[esurf2]

Great video Affnan. I made two of your bell valves and they worked great.

Thanks

[affnan]

@esurf2 Thanks for feedback, video quality was bad. It was done by Nokia E71 and alone. I am trying to make a new video on same to make it better.

[AgadalTayo]

Thank you very much too Mr. Affnan. I am just a beginner and still at the data gathering stage. I have not yet have set up anything and this item on the auto- draining valve is what I saw i had to learn as a start.

And your presentation here has been very clear and well explained.

Thank you again.

[affnan]

@AgadalTayo Thanks for your comments, if you need more info on aquaponics setup feel free to visit my blog. I am still learning and along they way I post on my blog for others to learn from my mistakes or success.

Affnan

[BFreiburg1]

Affnan, I would like to thank you for posting the Video on you Bell Valve syphon design.

I have constructed a 150 gallon Aquaponics system and use two of your syphons in the system. They both work flawlessly.

Thanks, Bill

[affnan]

@BFreiburg1 thanks for your comment, I am very happy to hear that the siphon works great. In my blog I did make some revision to the design and its final, nothing much to change, it already work for me without problem.

Affnan

[jemiti]

HI there, I like your videos. it taught me a lot... question though, what sizes of PVC pipes do I use for bell siphon if I have 11k gallon fish tank (we are building commercial aquaponic system? and also what what of pump? can I use a blidge pump? thanks

[affnan]

@jemiti , hi blidge pump can be use as long as you can have sufficient flow into each growbed. I would recommend no changes to the pipe size as in my video, its 25mm here in USA its probably 1 inch approximate.

With 11k gallon, I am sure you will use more than one growbed. Each grow bed will need to have its own valve. Flow rate per valve about 500 ~ 900 liter/hr should be ok, for the said size.

Hope this help.

[garbctor]

السلام عليكم

Will, thanks a lot for the effort you have put into making this video. It is really informative.

Once I am able to get all the stuff you had in this video I will proceed and make one and let you know insha'allah

[mrlongsmath]

Thanks for the design! I used it in my mini system for my son's science fair project. It is only a 25 gallon fish tank and a 2ft by 2ft grow bed. It cycles every 2.5 minutes. Hopefully this isn't too often for the plants. We should be planting soon.

[affnan]

@mrlongsmath great to hear about the science project, not a problem to the plants on the 2.5 min cycle. I would recommend to switch off the pump at night and use an aerator to supplement oxygen, the aerator can be left running 24/7 not a problem.

[pippaknuckle]

It worked for me - thanks Affnan - your videos have helped me a lot.

(I must say PVC is a difficult material to drill, it catches on the drill bit, and spade bits have trouble.)

[affnan]

@pippaknuckle Great to hear from you. Hope you can do Aquaponics without problem using the valve

[mrtilley66]

Affnan, thanks for posting your how to vid on your bell siphon I made 2 of them this week one in a one gallon bucket with half inch pipe and one in a 3 gallon bucket using 1 inch pipe each one worked great ,the water flow in makes it very important I found that out the hard way. I will be making my fish tank and grow bed in a week or so using 275 gallon container powered by solar panel and 12 volt livewell pump that is running a fountain.I will vid. and post.Thanks again

[affnan]

mrtilley66, q for your feedback, running aquaponics from solar panel.., now this is great. So far I've chicken out from using solar panel due difficulties is getting a low cost system here.

[affnan]

q should be Tq (thank you), these keyboard..... :))

[jumpinjak007]

Ive checked on the AP forums out there. Several people have abandoned their previous bell siphon designs and gone with yours giving credit to you. Nice innovation. You from malaysia??? Ive been to jahor bahru before. Thanks again. I will post a video reply when I do mine in a couple of months.

[affnan]

Thanks jumpinjak007, it took a lot of effort and experimenting for the valve. Roughly it took me a bout a year trying many design and finally "Eureka" this one .. I made it for all to freely use and enjoy Aquaponics.

[AquaponicsNewYork]

Thanks, I have made 2 bell siphons now with this design and they work without fail.

[affnan]

Thank you very much for your feed back, if you discover anything that could improve its reliability feel free to share.

[cebufishman]

Thanks, great video, this will be very useful, actually has a wide range of possible applications.

[xcaluber]

Thank you very much for this design!

[affnan]

Hope you manage to try and make one.

[AntsPlants]

I finally made a video of my set up with your bell valve design, but I cant find it on you tube. I ll let u know when I work it out!!!

[affnan]

That's intresting :)

[MokuPueo]

Thanks. I am going to try it when I get the parts.

[AntsPlants]

Great videos. I have tried this design on a smaller scale because my grow bed is smaller. It wont stop syphoning and I dont know why?? ANy ideas?

[affnan]

Few possibilities,

1. water too much reduce water,

2. Not enough vertical length below the growbed ( approx 8 inches)

3. Not enough horizontal pipe after item (2) also about 8 inches.

There are few more tips on my blog, if you could try, may be it will help.

[affnan]

Any picture to share ?

[dmacosta1]

Thanks

[affnan]

:) Thanks

[UthmanAbdWali]

terima kasih tuan ats video yang berinformasi tinggi ini!!

[affnan]

sama sama, kalau berminat boleh lah mula cuba Aquaponics sendiri, tersangat lah mudah.

[MilesB1975]

Great Video Affnan!,

All your video's are of a huge benefit.

Can you advise why the bell needs an airtight cap?

Will the siphon not work if exposed to the air?

[affnan]

It must be air tight, it work with suction so if there is an air leak it will not siphon and flush

[mnrashid]

definitely gonna try this.. thanks for the idea

[affnan]

let me know if you manage to duplicate this and any problem encounted so that we could improve it.

Thanks

[arthanathos]

The PVC pipe adaptor to make the siphon works and the drip hole is a wonderful idea. However I don't think you should not glue the strainer/filter to the growbed. Over time, root growth would clog the holes and you need to twist the pipe from time to time in order to unclog it.

[affnan]

You are correct there, ideally what needed is a pipe with a lip, something like a magician hat. The growth medium should press the strainer down and holds it in place. The only reason I glue it down because, the growth bed medium (pebbles) will creep in and cause problem.

[MMARUDHAM]

Good Job. Neat and clean! God job Again!

[affnan]

I hope, this valve will benefit many Aquaponics enthusiast

Affnan