Welcome to Koi Forum. Is this your first visit? Register
Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 82
  1. #1
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514

    T-Tip#1 ... Simple Air Lift (updated).

    I'm updating some of my info posts and making them easier to find ...

    This Air Lift has worked flawlessly from day one and can easily be scaled up to suit larger ponds:

    After getting asked by a few people for details of a simple reliable Air Lift, I'll put the basics in this thread (the principles of this design were originally shown to me by "Headlight" from the Koimag forum and I have developed it further for my own requirements), the original was working perfectly for him and my version has been exactly the same for me, you can scale it to whatever volume of water you have.

    Here is the Airlift in place with the air hose entering the top of the drive pipe (just to the side of the left hand air pump):



    12mm OD/8mm ID ... standard PVC air hose is used, my drive pipe is 2" waste (975mm in overall height, with 600mm of exposed pipe between the t-pieces). The part below the bottom t-piece is just long enough for the air stone to sit just below the water inlet ... build from the bottom up (all parts from Toolstation):



    **** NOTE**** The most crucial part of the air lift system is getting the return outlet exactly level with the water surface ... so there is no extra pumping head for the water *****

    Apart from that it's almost too easy ...

    Air stone (30 x 130mm) was modded to allow better flow around the collar and drilled out to 8mm to reduce pump back pressure:



    This pic will help explain clearly ... the modded stone is then simply fixed on the end of the air tubing (I use a small cable tie for extra security round the tube at the stone hose tail) and dropped to the bottom of the Drive Pipe from the top. The green "stoppers" in the tops of the tubes in the first picture are pieces of foam kneeling mat and are just there to stop water drops splashing out of the top of the Air Outlets. They have nothing to do with performance.

    When I'm cleaning my static K1 filter I re-route the air from the pump that drives the Air Llift to "boil" up the k1 before flushing so the air pump has a dual purpose.

    Air lifts are as simple as it gets, a length of vertical pipe with an air stone in the bottom ... water is lifted up the pipe by the bubbles until it reaches it's easiest first horizontal route of escape (the pond return).


    They use much less power than water pumps, don't burn out if they run dry, oxygenate the water to an extent and also act as a foam fractionator. It's win,win,win! ... can't think on any drawbacks to using an airlift.

    As for flow rates it seems that (1000GPH for 2" pipe 975mm in length) and (2500GPH for 4" pipe 1500mm in length) are good ballpark figures for smooth flow (these are minimum lengths for useable performance ... the longer the better) .... as you can see by the lengths air lift "pits" are required to be planned in for best performance ... they can be difficult to retro fit if you have e.g. a concrete filter house/pit floor.

    For larger pond volumes you could just add extra drive pipes and fabricate a manifold for a single return to the pond.

    Here's a couple of pics showing the position of the return outlet (bottom of pipe level with water surface).



    The pipe end was open at first but I heard a bit of splashing/flapping one day and turned to see the tail of one of my more "ambitious" goldfish sticking out of the pipe ... he'd managed to get right into it and was swimming like mad but couldn't get any further ... after that I put a grating on ... I imagine Orfe would love a go at this LOL ...



    This air lift was retro fitted .... it's a lot easier to plan them in while doing initial construction ...


    .



  2. Thanks voodoo_15_uk, imc28, freddyboy, Manky Sanke, Ant62, GeorgeReid Thanked / Liked this Post
  3. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion Ant62's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    North Manchester M66 area
    Posts
    2,433
    Thanks / Likes
    1356
    For what purpose do you use your airlift for Trace....

  4. Thanks Trace Thanked / Liked this Post
  5. #3
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    Quote Originally Posted by Ant62 View Post
    For what purpose do you use your airlift for Trace....
    The Air Lift is the return pump in my gravity fed filter system ...

  6. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion Ant62's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    North Manchester M66 area
    Posts
    2,433
    Thanks / Likes
    1356
    Quote Originally Posted by Trace View Post
    The Air Lift is the return pump in my gravity fed filter system ...
    Cant you explain more about it as its sounds interesting..

  7. #5
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    There's not much to it:

    Water leaves the Fluid Bed Filter ... through U.V. ... then drops to the bottom of the Air Lift and is pumped back up to the pond by the bubbles in the Air Lift drive pipe ... the water that is pumped is replaced by gravity and so the water flows round the entire system.

    You don't get any simpler than an Air Lift.

    If your more specific about what you want to know then I can go into more detail ...

  8. Thanks Ant62 Thanked / Liked this Post
  9. #6
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai GeorgeReid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    234
    Thanks / Likes
    200
    This is a really neat way of moving water! Thanks for the thread Trace.

    Do you know if an airlift would work on a skimmer line? It should do right? 😯

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

  10. #7
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    Quote Originally Posted by GeorgeReid View Post
    This is a really neat way of moving water! Thanks for the thread Trace.

    Do you know if an airlift would work on a skimmer line? It should do right? 

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
    An Air Lift will work anywhere you want to lift clean water back to pond surface height ... most people make the mistake of thinking it's complicated whereas it's actually about as simple as it gets ...

  11. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai GeorgeReid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    234
    Thanks / Likes
    200
    Quote Originally Posted by Trace View Post
    An Air Lift will work anywhere you want to lift clean water back to pond surface height ... most people make the mistake of thinking it's complicated whereas it's actually about as simple as it gets ...
    Awesome! Thought it would 😀

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

  12. #9
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    Quote Originally Posted by GeorgeReid View Post
    Awesome! Thought it would 

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
    If you want to try it out draw me a diagram of what you've got in mind and I'll tell you what I think ...

  13. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai GeorgeReid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    234
    Thanks / Likes
    200
    Quote Originally Posted by Trace View Post
    If you want to try it out draw me a diagram of what you've got in mind and I'll tell you what I think ...
    Oh yes please, once I finish work I'll draw up a quick sketch!

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

  14. #11
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    I'll be interested to see it ...

  15. #12
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion Ant62's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    North Manchester M66 area
    Posts
    2,433
    Thanks / Likes
    1356
    Quote Originally Posted by Trace View Post
    An Air Lift will work anywhere you want to lift clean water back to pond surface height ... most people make the mistake of thinking it's complicated whereas it's actually about as simple as it gets ...
    Excuse my ignorence but how come an airlift will only move clean water..
    Is there not enough pull to draw up waste etc and is the waste to heavy move..

  16. Thanks Trace Thanked / Liked this Post
  17. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai GeorgeReid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    234
    Thanks / Likes
    200
    Quote Originally Posted by Ant62 View Post
    Excuse my ignorence but how come an airlift will only move clean water..
    Is there not enough pull to draw up waste etc and is the waste to heavy move..
    Ant I think he was just implying it would be from the output of the filter.

    I would assume waterborne dirt wouldn't get stuck in the airlift however

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

  18. #14
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai GeorgeReid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    234
    Thanks / Likes
    200








    Trace this is what I'm currently thinking of doing,
    Current questions are..

    - will I get good flow from the BD and the skimmer if they are connected like this

    - would it be better to run the skimmer on a separate line to get more flow (possibly over a shower)

    - the max I can pull from the nexus and draco is 12,000 L/H (12m^3) , so I'm aiming for about 10,000 L/H (10m^3) with a pipe depth of about 1.6m would 40 l/min be too much? (roughly)

    And I think that's it

    Thanks again for your help 😊😊

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

  19. Thanks Trace Thanked / Liked this Post
  20. #15
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    Clean water is not a necessity for an Air Lift ... just good practice in a pond environment where only limited practical lengths of pipe can be used.

    Air Lifts are used for commercial dredging ... but IMO there are better ways of moving dirty water in a pond.

    I think Air Lifts are best used to return water after filtration in a pond system because of the length of pipe that would be required to get strong enough suction to reliably move solids ...

  21. Thanks GeorgeReid, Ant62 Thanked / Liked this Post
  22. #16
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    Quote Originally Posted by GeorgeReid View Post

    Trace this is what I'm currently thinking of doing,
    Current questions are..

    - will I get good flow from the BD and the skimmer if they are connected like this

    - would it be better to run the skimmer on a separate line to get more flow (possibly over a shower)

    - the max I can pull from the nexus and draco is 12,000 L/H (12m^3) , so I'm aiming for about 10,000 L/H (10m^3) with a pipe depth of about 1.6m would 40 l/min be too much? (roughly)

    And I think that's it

    Thanks again for your help 

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk
    If you want to split the BD and skimmer that's up to you ...

    I can maybe help you make the decision though with some relevant figures for the length of Drive Pipe you have space for ...

    Ok .... what matters for the Air Lift is the length and diameter of the Drive Pipe and how much flow the system can provide by gravity to the bottom of it. Remember an Air Lift made with the short lengths of pipe we're talking about here cannot "pull" the same as a pump can ... but they will lift "what they can get" delivered by gravity.

    So you have a possible 1600mm Drive Pipe with a 3" Diameter driven by a 40L/M Air Pump.

    I don't have exact figures for that but I do know someone that was getting a reliable 2500 UK GALLONS/Hr with a 1500mm Drive Pipe of 4" Diameter ... with a 40L/m Air Pump.

    So I would expect your Lift to be at least that or maybe even more with the 100mm extra length ... every little addition counts.

    2500 G/H = 11,365L/H ... so I think your circumstances are excellent for having a go with one ...

    It's dead easy to test ... build your Drive Pipe (cheap as chips if you go 4") ... drop an Air Stone down it pumping 40L/M ... shove it in your pond with the Outlet level with the pond surface and measure the flow rate with a bucket with a Litre scale on the inside and a stopwatch ....

    Remember and use 12mm OD/8mm ID air line and drill out your Drive Pipe air stone inlets to 7mm as detailed and pictured in my T-Tip#11 DIY pressure release vent post ...

  23. #17
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai GeorgeReid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    234
    Thanks / Likes
    200
    Cheers for the reply,

    Yeah I'm still undecided about joining the skimmer to the nexus but I can always try it and see how it goes.

    Those figures are looking like they will work out nicely though! I will definitely be adding a flow meter onto the pipe so I can get the exact reading.

    Unfortunately my pond is currently only 3ft deep so I can't do the test, but I think I might go for the 4 inch pipe over the 3 inch then just turn the air down if need be.

    The only sad thing is that I won't be able to report back until this winter as that's when the rebuild starts 🙁🙁

    But thanks again for your help trace 👍👌

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

  24. #18
    Banned Rank = Mature Champion Trace's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2015
    Posts
    2,214
    Thanks / Likes
    1514
    Go 4" and buy the pipe and fittings over the counter at your local Toolstation for best value ....

    What is your pond volume?

  25. #19
    Senior Member Rank = Yonsai GeorgeReid's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Reading
    Posts
    234
    Thanks / Likes
    200
    Yeah good idea, also makes it easier to take anything I don't use back.

    I'm planning on making it approx 3000 gallons

    Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

  26. #20
    Senior Member Rank = Mature Champion Ant62's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    North Manchester M66 area
    Posts
    2,433
    Thanks / Likes
    1356
    Quote Originally Posted by Trace View Post
    Clean water is not a necessity for an Air Lift ... just good practice in a pond environment where only limited practical lengths of pipe can be used.

    Air Lifts are used for commercial dredging ... but IMO there are better ways of moving dirty water in a pond.

    I think Air Lifts are best used to return water after filtration in a pond system because of the length of pipe that would be required to get strong enough suction to reliably move solids ...
    I was pondering to try and experiment to see if an airlift will work on the EKF trace using 4inch pipe.....
    Would it draw enough water up into the pipe and flow back into the first barrel !.....

  27. Thanks Trace, Tom Koi Thanked / Liked this Post
 

 
Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
All times are GMT +1. The time now is 09:30 AM. Online Koi Mag Forum
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.3
Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved.

vBulletin Improved By vBFoster® (Lite Version), © UltimateScheme, Ltd.