Free aeration? Is this video's claim plausible?

[Jason Finn]

My thoughts:

I have done some reading in this forum about aeration and have not seen anybody bring this video's concept up yet. I want to know if anyone has seen this video or tried this method and whether it has worked. I plan on trying it as soon as I have my system set up (in a couple months hopefully). 

It would be a breakthrough if this were true but it seems far fetched. I would not have to buy any air pumps.  Any opinions?

 

Watch the video:

 

[Jason Finn]

Here's the video link just in case it didn't work ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UO9rGlcXMJg

title: "Hydrocyclone for Aquaponics Aeration"

Youtube user: "AlohaMahiai"

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Yes the concept works but I would question if your really saving all that much energy given you need to pump the water to a higher level to accomplish the aeration. I developed my own version of "free aeration" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhUoSwbSnVg using a Venturi fitting on the pump ( a well known way to aerate using a water pump ) but also a gravity aerator on the water coming back from the grow bed.

[Japan Aquaponics - アクアポニックス 日本]

We use this principle on a very small scale with a little micro system in our living room.  

The standpipe is set up to swirl the water as it goes back to the fish tank, and this return pipe goes right to the bottom of the tank.  We get a lot of aeration from that and have no need whatsoever for an air pump.... all just using the standard outflow, and so no additional power needed.  

This picture is not very good but you can kind of see the bubbles coming up from the bottom (the return pipe is hidden inside the bamboo piping).  It is only a very small version of this principle but it works nicely for this little tank.  We use a standard reducer on top of the standpipe (as you would use if you were running a bell siphon) and we cut some small indentations (using a soldering iron) into the top to direct the water where we want it to go in order to create the swirl effect.

Voila... using no extra energy to add all the aeration that we need (and the added benefit that the outflow pushes the solid waste over to the pump too).

Interested to see if this is really effective at a commercial level - I imagine that with the appropriate stocking densities it could certainly be effective.  Add in venturi components as well and you could be looking at a quite efficient system.

[Jason Finn]

Great point Jonathan about having to calculate pumping more distance. That must be like at least 3 feet higher. 

I like your little system Japan. If it does actually work on a small scale then maybe it can be scaled larger. I guess the thing for me to do would simply be to make the hydro cyclone and compare the wattage used for that versus what my wattage would be for air pumps. 

I like the venturi thing too but it seems like something I would rather incorporate in the bell siphon from the growbeds to the sump of a CHIFT PIST (thats what I'm planning on building). Does that end up slowing down the water flow of the pump by a significant amount or is it too small to really worry about?

Thanks for the quick responses. I wonder if anyone else has done the hydro cyclone thing on a similar scale shown in the video.

[Jason Finn]

I'm thinking maybe a small hydro cyclone thing going into the fish tank and a venturi from the GBs to the sump might just be enough aeration. It might be a little less reliable than the orthodox approach and I should probably invest in a DO meter lol. 

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

I have the venturi on the intake of my pump which some think is a no-no that will cause the pump to fail. My pump has been fine for around a year. I just didn't have the fittings to make it work on the outlet. I don't know if the bell siphon will operate at the right pressure to make the venturi work, but my gravity aerator design works great for getting aeration from the siphon drain.

The amount of aeration will also depend on the species of fish, the population density and the temperature of the water. Goldfish, for example, need very little aeration while trout need a lot.

Jason Finn said:

I'm thinking maybe a small hydro cyclone thing going into the fish tank and a venturi from the GBs to the sump might just be enough aeration. It might be a little less reliable than the orthodox approach and I should probably invest in a DO meter lol. 

[Alex Veidel]

Yeah, this is a pretty cool idea. Even if you can't provide all of your aerating needs for your tank, this system would be an excellent supplement. And I think you're on to something Jason, putting a hydro cyclone in between the grow beds and the sump in a CHOP system would nullify having to pump that extra distance.

[Jim Fisk]

I started out using venturis from the chemical field of all sizes for aeration on my 5 FTs in a 2000gal system and after some mucking around decided they were too restrictive and that the aeration system should be kept a separate entity so as not to restrict the very important water flow especially with Trout tanks. Hard enough balancing one system at a time much less 2 at once. I have been much happier with things since I made that change. Just say'n fwiw

[Rob Montelone]

Very cool :)

Thank  you for this.

Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair said:

Yes the concept works but I would question if your really saving all that much energy given you need to pump the water to a higher level to accomplish the aeration. I developed my own version of "free aeration" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhUoSwbSnVg using a Venturi fitting on the pump ( a well known way to aerate using a water pump ) but also a gravity aerator on the water coming back from the grow bed.

[George]

It seems to work very well.  

Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair said:

I have the venturi on the intake of my pump which some think is a no-no that will cause the pump to fail. My pump has been fine for around a year. 

[BenHehle Beamz]

Here is a Diy build and test video of a venturi aeration.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IZyrL5Ojqpo

[Jason Finn]

That was a cool video too BenHehle