A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Check valve recommendation

I want to incorporate a check valve into an existing airlift pump. If you know of a reliable one, suitable for aquaponics, please identify it.

thank you

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Permalink Reply by Jeff S on August 28, 2015 at 4:29pm

I just got one and pieced together a test pump. Seems to work OK. Haven't thoroughly tested it yet. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B95U3TS?psc=1&redirect=true...

2"- $15.49

Let me know how you set yours up.

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Permalink Reply by George on August 28, 2015 at 6:42pm

Thanks. The reviews on this are not that great so please let me know how yours holds up.

My airlift is simply a 1 1/4 pipe standing up vertically in a 4-feet deep tank with an elbow resting on the bottom. Air is delivered to near the bottom of the pipe via a 1/2 inch pipe running inside the 1 1/4. It burps and delivers quite a bit of water but I haven't measured the volume. It is absolutely great for lifting solids. What I had in mind for the valve is stopping the backflow which occurs during each burp. How much that would increase output, I don't know. When I get to the install, I'll compare before and after.

Today, I built an aquarium filter from a small tote filled with charcoal. An air lift built with 1/2 inch pipe lifts the water to the filter. This one is also simple, a short piece of pipe runs horizontally on the bottom of the tank with an elbow to the riser pipe which T's to the filter, above the aquarium. Air is delivered by airline running inside the horizontal pipe. The water in the aquarium cleared up quickly.

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Permalink Reply by Jeff S on August 28, 2015 at 9:30pm

Is that just barbecue charcoal? How much air are you using?

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Permalink Reply by George on August 29, 2015 at 5:35am

I make charcoal from urban waste and the link below shows an easy method which can be scaled up or down. Instead of a hole in the ground, I generally use a large piece of pipe with a steel bottom but the principal is the same. I've used virtually every method there is to make charcoal and the "direct" methods are easiest by far and, in my opinion, are the most efficient as to yield.

https://youtu.be/I1jAo7qd_Q8?list=PL60FnyEY-eJAfBgRAHKXjsNiUwqD1GTFK

40-watt air pump/air lift in 400 gallon tank

20-watt air pump in small aquarium (overkill), half of which lifts water to filter