Installing a Swirl Filter
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- Опубліковано 5 вер 2024
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I finally installed a swirl filter in the aquaponic system. I had debated making a radial filter instead but I was moving a bit too much water through the system for the solids to settle down properly.
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Great video Rob! Very exciting to see your system running again. We're getting ready to install our own solids swirl filter.
nice! Can't wait to see it.
1:06 freaking awesome! I think i would put the input to the swirl filter further down towards the bottom, or leave it up top, and put a shroud of sorts over the output, forcing the water to change directions twice before leaving the filter, that is, if the shroud doesn't mess with your swirl formation, would likely improve solid collection at the bottom. I can't believe how much they charge for them conical bottom barrels.
I really appreciate the clear instructions, I plan to use earthan style beds and these videos will help immensely!
you certainly should follow Paul's plans. He knows his stuff!
Hi Rob! According to the book Recirculating Aquaculture(Timmons / Ebeling) a swirl filter should be able to handle a flow of 122 - 204 Lpm/m2 (3 - 5 gpm per ft2). If I am understanding this correctly you measure the surface area of the tank and based off of that you can calculate the maximum flow for best solid retention. Also water should be a minimum of 30 seconds in the swirl filter tank for best solids dropout.
Judging from the 1 1/4" pipe in the video the tank is a little over 2' across that would give it ~11 ft2 surface area. 11 * 3= 33 gpm 11*5=55 gpm so between 33 and 55 gpm flow will give the best retention of solids.
You mentioned that the tank is 30 gallons so at 30 gpm the water would be in the tank for 1 minute. At 60 gpm the water would be in the tank for 30 seconds so that is the maximum flow with this rule.
All notes from Recirculating Aquaculture regarding swirl filters.
hydraulic loading of 122 to 204 Lpm/m2 (3 to 5 gpm per ft2)
Underflow of 5 - 15% of total flow
Tangential inlet flow
Outlet submerged 1/3 vessel diameter
best used with a Cornell dual-drain
Frederick Henderson I was very non-technical with putting this in. ;-) I got the tank for $30 and did a few calculations. I haven't measured the flow to it but it is a bit too fast for it to settle perfectly. It's one reason why I restricted the flow through the 1" pipe and then let the main fish tank overflow through the emergency drain along the top which has little solids in that area. It's sort of like using the fish tank as the primary filter to let majority of the solids fall to the bottom and routing that to the swirl, then the excess flow go directly to the grow beds.
Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb) Yes, this is what the aquaculture books recommend, using a double drain. One for settling solids the other for suspended solids. It allows you to use smaller filters as not as much water needs to pass through either one.
Frederick Henderson Yup, I've seen these results and videos. ;-) The problem I have with my filter is that the tank is basically too small for my flow. If I made it into a radial filter, there is too much water movement (not enough time) so the solids don't have a chance to settle. I actually had made this a radial filter before doing this and it just didn't work well. At least with this setup I can get a lot of the heavier solids out. The rest will end up in the grow beds for the worms. If this system was all DWC, it certainly wouldn't be a very good solution for solids removal.
Well done. AFAIK swirl filter designs work best with the input water coming in half way down the water column, and output from the top perimeter. Still your install is a vast improvement.
thanks. It's been working great.
to further collect solids you can add a 400 micron strainer design for a 5gallon bucket ,the strainer can cost from $6.00-14.00 dollars in amazon.
Your swirl filter is great, but you could do with a chamber on the bottom outlet of the conical section to collect the solids as they accumulate, and let them drop out of the swirl action: consider the Thien Baffle dust collectors for further inspiration.
any video show the effects? seldom seen, wield
So surprised you didn't do this earlier. You are going to love all that fish poop. It makes such great fertilizer.
One other idea that I have not yet tried but would like to is to add a section of a larger pipe under the cone section of a swirl filter to give the settling solids a "quiet" place to rest instead of having to continue to swirl.
I've noticed that the solids collect very nicely in the pipe before the valve and have been debating raising the tank some more to make this a longer area. I can tell you that after just one day of the solids being in there, they are very ripe! I'm glad to get them out of the system! I'm going to work on a materialization tank next......
Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb) Is this the stuff that has been sitting in the sump tank for a while? If so I am not surprised. The 5-15% underflow listed in the book is a smaller flow exiting the filter where you have your bottom valve now. It is just another way to do it, but it gets the solids out of the system sooner.
In my first system I used a 5 gallon bucket for the mineralization tank. I would put an air stone in it for a couple of days until I had filled the bucket with sludge. Then I would remove the air stone, swirl it with a stick and come back later when the solids had settled to the bottom. The top water I put back in the system. Solids went to the garden or compost. Raspberries grow really well when fertilized with the solids.
Nice set up. I am making notes for the future.
MY HEART GOES OUT TO YOU BRO.... HOPE THE SMOKE DAMAGE IS RECOVERING... PEACE TO YOU GOOD LUCK
Nicely done video
Nice job! You really lucked out getting the cone shaped barrel for $30.00. That is what I need too. Cleaning my RFF is just too much of a pain.
Yeah, that included the stand and the 2" bulkhead. I couldn't pass it up!
Awesome filtration setup! I had one question on the waste/solids If you were to use say a smaller size of fish that gives smaller sized waste would it be easier to filtrate? Your thoughts please the cons and pros. Thank you very much.
This swirl filter is a great idea, i like it.
It seems rather efficient, but how much solids can you remove with this... all of it or how ?
I like using a sand filter with the waste water filling from the bottom of the barrel up throw the sand then out the top....all gravity feed ....
I think I would have gone with a 90 degree fitting instead of the 45 so that the swirl was strictly along the outside edge, instead of down. But I expect this will do a great deal to keep the solids to a minimum.. Good job Rob!
I tried both and it didn't make much of a difference. I had to point it into the sidewall a bit just to slow the swirling down.
Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb) Yep, I can count on you to actually try stuff out! I should have known better! What are you going to do with the "fertilizer"? I bet your outdoor plants will love it!
right now I'm just tossing it into the snow bank since I can't get to the compost pile. ;-) I have a bunch of fruit trees going in this year so I'll keep pouring it around them.
Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb) A brilliant idea! Except for the snow part... Many of our fruit trees have flowered already, and we almost saw snow several times, but I'm in Austin TX... A lack of heat is rarely an issue here.
Almost saw snow? We almost can see the ground. ;-)
Hi, nice videos thanks for sharing your experiences, around 4:15min into this video you said something about a `deep mineralization process`, could you please provide some links that explain such a system?
thanks in advance.
I accidentally said "demineralization" when it should have been "mineralization". (I was thinking about denitrification) I don't have any designs for one but there are a few on google.
Where do you get your pvc supplies from? I don't see that ball valve on the HD website.
That one came from Lowes, but they have them at HD too.
I'm trying to develop a way to separate the solids after they come out of the filter to feed my worm beds. They really like the fish poop but I don't need any extra moisture in the beds.
Jeff Sullivan I did a minerialisation tank that is taking the solids out of the swirl filter and it helps to break them down more. After a few weeks I can take the sludge out....I'm not sure how much organic material would be left for the worms after this processing. Anyway, my composting worms in the media beds don't seem to care about how wet everything is.
Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb) What I have found is when I take the poly fiber mesh out of my homemade PVC filter on my aquarium tanks and place it on top of the media beds the worms come up and totally clean the poly to almost new condition. I've even used this method to capture the worms and move them to a different location. Don't know why they do this since there should be plenty of solids in the bed. I use the worm bins for my dirt gardens and composting.
Hey, would you mind telling me the name of the song in this video? Great work! Loved your geodesic dome series!
Haliotro It's called "Yard Sale" and I got it from the UA-cam creator area.
Should a cap be installed on the waste valve? I don't know if you have safeguards on other outlets but it would worry me a little that so much water could be quickly ejected.
I'm not worried about a failure point here. If I were to slip and leave it open, it would just dump the 30 gallons from this tank. That's only 1% of the total system volume. ;-)
Love the set up
Hi man! Thanks for sharing. I wish to know where you buy that conic tank. I'm from Colombia and I like to buy a few !
Where do you purchase that 30 gal conical tank that you used as the swirl filter?
Nice swirl filter, any thoughts on swirls vs sieve filtering? I really need to add a mechanical filter before the water hits my media beds and both seem like nice options.
usually the radial flow filters will do a better job than a swirl filter if you want to get more of the solids out.
Great videos, and the update looks recovery going will. What kind heat system are you using in the future?
we'll stick with wood and pellets.
Great
great install! keep us posted!
Where do you get a bulk head fitting? I can't seem to find it at a local Home Depot or Lowe's.
Maybe add an internal basket to slow the water.
If it's to fast could you slow the input to the filter? Possibly by turning the ball valve from the fish tank?
I just adjust the output so it hit against the side of the tank. That slows it down just enough.
Where on the swirl filter is the water entering from?
Very cool...Thanks for sharing
Thank you for a nother great and inspirational video. :)
wonderful idea
thnx a lot
I may try this at home
I love your project
I love it - good job
where did you get your main fish tank?
Is there a reason you chose to use a swirl filter instead of a radial filter?
This tank was too small to be a good RFS
Great video ty!
Awesome.
After what you spend on fish food, electric and water, it would probably be cheaper to buy food at the grocery store but if this is fun for you, then go for it.
These sort of systems can be set up to run on solar power and batteries, some on which, require less than 75 watts to run. Fish food, maybe $50 a year, some people, actually growing their own fish food within the system, for free. As for water, the better you learn to manage it, the less you'll waste. Initial set up costs can be ridiculous, especially if you're trying to stay away from containers that aren't food safe (which of course, you should), and if you want a lot of grow beds filled with media (very costly), but it's definitely a great hobby and a huge money saver when it comes to produce, fish, and your health (if done properly).
Hi Rob, what's the HRT in this swirl settler?
A couple of minutes. LOL It's way undersized for this system. Next one will be an RFF
I am just curious since I am currently using a swirl settler, HRT is over 6min. And with that it works well aside from the fact that solids tend to settle in the pipes leading up to the filter. I blow the pipes out once a day and that solves that problem. I am wondering if some of the research papers we have seen on RFS vs Swirl was incorrect.
I saw one comparison stating the RFS is always better, with the swirl, you really never slow the water down enough to get as many of the suspended solids out. I believe it was Dr Wilson that wrote at least 20 minutes is best. For my 1000 gallon fish tank, I'm taking about 20% of the water out through the SLO and the rest through the "Cornell" outlet. I'm pumping about 800 gal per hour so that's 160 gallon/hour going through the filter. so the filter should be no less than 53.3 gallons. In the future greenhouse, I'm planning on the same size take and using 100 gallon inductor tanks (the capacity will probably be around 80 gallons)
Bigelow Brook Farm (Web4Deb) actually the HRT of 20 min was for a UVI clarifier.
HRT for swirl and RFS is much much shorter. In the range of 0.5-5 minutes. That's why they are being used. To be able to downsize the filter tank and save money and make it easier to drain an clean without wasting so much water.
The study was done by Summerfelt on the RFS vs Swirl. They got both filters from that company in New Orleans. I have a feeling that they were partial to the RFS.. I hope I am wrong but I don't think so. I will send you a link to the "study"
thanks. please do
👌👍
how to differential fish shit and rubbish?
interesting!
That's a lot of water for just some fish
super