Welcome to Koi Forum. Is this your first visit? Register
TuffX Glass
Page 1 of 7 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 132
  1. #1
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037

    Airlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only air

    Hi

    I'd like to start by saying I don't claim to be an expert on airlifts and can't claim any credit in coming up with the idea. TBH before coming on this forum, I'd never hear of them. I learnt about them through a great thread by Trace on here and also from Aquatechnobel, who are based in benelux and use them to great affect on some pretty big ponds.

    As Trace is no longer a member I wanted to share with people about this system of pumping water, because once you understand how it works you'll wonder (well I do) why people still insist on using conventional water pumps on a gravity system.

    Following my research (I did a lot, as I skeptical that it would work), I have successfully built one for my pond. I only use an airlift to circulate all the water from my filters back into my pond - which is around 12,500litres in size. I do also have a Jebao 10000 TSP variable pump as well, but this is purely to pump water over a shower - as you'll see, an airlift won't work for this - and the water in the shower returns back into a bio unit rather the pond.

    What is an airlift?

    For those who've not heard of it, an airlift is essentially a long open ended pipe that is submerged in water (or water can be fed to the bottom of the pipe) and by pumping air to the bottom of the pipe, the rising bubbles causes water to flow into the bottom of the pipe and rise to the top. This is essentially caused by the bubbles expanding as they rise which causes the water to then fill the void caused by the bubbles.

    Once the water reaches the top of the pipe, all you need to do is give the air a chance to escape and the water somewhere to go. In our case, the water flowing into the bottom of the airlift will be water coming from your filters and the water flowing out the top will be flowing back to your pond.

    To see one in action, check out this video, which uses coloured balls and clear perspex pipes showing how an airlift works:

    So what are the pros and cons?

    Pros:
    Most importantly - it is much more energy efficient than a standard water pump - a 30watt air pump can realistically pump over 20,000 LPH - based on an airlift built out of 110mm pipe, that is 1.70m long and providing there is a good supply of water to the air lift. To get more info on how to build one and flow rates on different configurations, check out this website: airlift.eu - Portal.
    It adds air to your pond water.
    It can't run dry or burn out like a conventional pump
    There are no moving parts to get jammed or broken. At most you'll have to get new diaphragms for your air pump every few years.
    It won't get blocked by solids - well within reason.
    Its cheap and easy to build
    It acts as a foam fractionator - so if you suffer from foam on your pond surface due to DOCs, this is a good way to remove it.
    Its easily scalable - if you need more flow than one can provide, just build more. Two airlifts in an optimal configuration supplied by one 58watt pump can potentially deliver between 40,000-48,000lph!
    In the long run, energy prices will go up as we change our energy mix to renewable energy - an air lift will save you £££'s in energy bills, plus having to keep forking out for conventional water pumps.
    If the airlift is installed in a tank you can put extra filtration in that tank - anoxic baskets spring to mind!

    Cons
    Due to how it works, an airlift can't pump water to any height above the pond water level. So can only really be used in a gravity system whereby the water is returned at, or just below water level in the pond.
    To ensure sufficient flow, the airlift needs to be around 1.7m long, so ideally needs to be located in a tank that is around 2m deep, which unless block built, can be hard to find.
    As flow is controlled by air supply, I use an air manifold with valves on to control how much air is delivered to the air lift. This requires very small turns of the valve - but it still works fine. It's just not as good as a digital controller on a variable pump.
    It really needs a pond return that is 110mm/4" so can't be easily retrofitted on smaller existing return pipework.
    The water needs to be delivered at or just below water level so not ideal for mid water or deep returns.

    As draw backs go that's not bad!

    So for everyone building or thinking of building a pond using a gravity system - I'd strongly recommend you check out Trace's thread, the youtube video above and airlift.eu - Portal and you'll see that it should really be the go-to way to pump water around a gravity system.

    And no I'm not on commission :-) for anyone - I just want to spread the word as so few seem to have heard of them before.

    Try it out and see!

    And if you are still not convinced after all that, it's really easy to see it work for yourself. Just get a long piece of pipe (ideally 110m pipe to see decent flow, but anything that will fit an airstone down it) - the longer the better (1.5m or longer) - hold it vertically in your pond so the top is just above the waters surface and the bottom of the pipe is hovering just off the bottom of the pond to allow water to flow in.

    Now drop an airstone (on an airline of course) in there and lower it down so its as far down as you can get it without it falling out the bottom. Now turn your air pump on and providing it's powerful enough - a 40lpm pump should do it - water will start cascading over the top of the pipe at a rate that, if slightly submerged, will be 1,000's of litres an hour.

    As you can see from the video on youtube, its great advice on how it works and how to build one. But I found some of the materials are really hard to source in the UK and I don't think my DIY skills are necessarily up to scratch for creating the collector. But I found a way around that. So I'll put up a post about how I built mine shortly.


    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  2. Thanks Alburglar, Stuffyrat, jayjt29, Maddog1, john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
  3. #2
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    How I built mine

    To power my airlift and a bio unit, I use a Hi Blow 80XP air pump. I got this pump second hand for about £100. I chose this pump as it seems to get good reviews and can handle pumping air to around 2m depth. So the air for my bio and to return water to the pond uses just 58watts on my set up. But any air pump will do providing it can handle pumping to a depth of around 2m. and can provide around 40lpm to each airlift.

    In the Youtube video there is a lot of talk of using a collector for the airlift to sit in. I found this too much hardwork. So instead, I installed the airlift into a tall black water storage tank I got from here: https://www.tanks-direct.co.uk/water...n-potable.html.

    On the airlift tank, I installed two 110mm radial tank connectors on one side of the tank for the supply from my filters and another one on the other side of the tank for the outlet. Note the outlet has to be either at, or just below the pond water level. The top of my outlet pipe/pond return is about 20cm below the water level but still works fine. Also note the pipe on the pond return should ideally be level.

    The airlift itself is 1.5m length of black 110mm waste pipe. With a push fit elbow at the top. I then used 2 x 110mm swept T's connected together to act as vents to allow all bubbles to escape. The open end of the second T is then connected up to the tank connector for the pond returns. Simples!

    The two swept T fittings are only there to allow the air to escape. I tried using just one, but had a lot of air bubble up from the pond return in the pond. Having two T's/air vents will almost completely eliminate this. I got all the pipework and fittings from Toolstation - so easily accessible and relatively cheap.

    To deliver air to the bottom of the airlift you have two main options.

    You either drop an air stone down the air lift and have the air line come up the inside of the airlift and out of the first T/air vent at the top and to your air pump. This is the option Trace took in her thread.



    Alternatively you can create a chamber around the bottom of the airlift pipe and within that chamber drill loads of 1/2mm holes to allow the air to enter the airlift as small bubbles.. This is the route I took.

    To create the air chamber I struggled to find the larger pipework that the Aquatechnobel used in the video. So to get around this, I used 2 x flexible clay to plastic rubber boots from Toolstation: https://www.toolstation.com/flexible...-to-pvc/p54240

    And for the main wall of the air chamber I used a 125mm pressure pipe straight socket from here: https://www.gasandwaterpipelines.co....7/G105125.html

    It is quite a tight fit to get the rubber boots over the straight socket. So to help I took the jubilee clips off the fatter end of the rubber boots and then put them in a saucepan of hot water to soften them up, and then with a bit of effort the rubber boots slipped on over each end of the straight socket. Once on, they are firmly on, so won't need the jubilee clips and shouldn't leak any air either. And with this you have an air chamber that just slides on over the air lift pipe.

    To create the bubbles in the airlift. You'll need a 1-2mm drill bit and to drill loads of holes into the bottom of the airlift pipe, under where the air chamber will fit.

    As you can see from the photos, in the final version, I used a large holesaws to cut out four big holes. This was so the airlift pipe can rest on the bottom of the tank, but still allow water to enter the airlift.

    Once you've built this, you then need to cut out (with a hole saw) a hole just big enough for your airline pipe work to enter into the air chamber. I used 1" pressure pipe for this and solvent cemented a 1" elbow into the hole in the air chamber. I recommend testing the size of the holesaw needed for the elbow fitting on a bit of excess pipe, as once you drill into the straight socket, if its not a tight fit then you'll have air leak out.

    You then just run the airline pipe (1" pressure) up the outside of the air lift tube (I used pipe clips to keep it in place) and glue a hosetail on the end for your airline from your pump to fit onto.

    Having re-read the above, I appreciate it can be hard to follow so see the pics below.

    And there you have it, an airlift pump that pumps water for very little upfront and ongoing cost which should help reduce your energy bills. If you managed to get this far well done.

    I'd be interested to see what people's thoughts are on this.
    Last edited by Twhitenosugar; 02-05-2020 at 03:58 PM.
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  4. Thanks Alburglar, jayjt29, Maddog1, john1, PhilN Thanked / Liked this Post
  5. #3
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    Here's the template I used to drill out the air holes to produce the bubbles. I now think that there is no harm in drilling more holes, providing they are covered by the air chamber, more holes should result in less back pressure on the air pump.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  6. Thanks Stuffyrat, jayjt29, Maddog1, john1, RS2OOO Thanked / Liked this Post
  7. #4
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    And here's the air chamber that I built. This works surprisingly well, the rubber boots are tight on so no jubilee clips or glue needed. And if they break due to wear and tear and cheap and easy to replace. Plus if the holes on the airlift get blocked, the air chamber is removable so an added benefit.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  8. Thanks freddyboy, Simon Fish, jayjt29, Deanosbeano, Maddog1, Ajm, john1, RS2OOO Thanked / Liked this Post
  9. #5
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    And here it is in use. You can see it produces plenty of foam - outside of the pond. I have none in the pond. I've installed a ball valve between the airlift and pond return so it can be isolated if needs be. But as the return is near the surface (the top is about 20cm under the water's surface) its not the end of the world if one is not installed, as you'll only need to drop the water level in the pond to the bottom of the inlet pipe and jobs a good un.

    As you can see to ensure good flow from the air lift, I supply the air lift tank with two 110mm pipes. These come from a bio tank and before that a drum which is fed by a 4" BD pipe and 3" skimmer pipe. So the main restriction on flow on my set up is the drum, which I have no qualms about.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  10. Thanks bigcarpchaser, freddyboy, jayjt29, the coyman, Maddog1, Alburglar, john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
  11. #6
    Brilliant post!!
    I made my test version out of bits I had lying around and stuck it in the corner of the pond.
    4” pipe with a cut down orange funnel on the top, 2” rubber connector at the top with a bit of 2” pressure pipe in (I drilled the hole a bit big), tucked a big airstone in the bottom and plonked a plastic roofing vent cowl at bottom to act as a grille.
    All stuck together with gaffer tape and it worked a flipping treat.
    I bungee strapped it to a pergola post and dropped it In the corner of the pond and the fish loved it. I e only taken it out as I needed the 4” pipe for something else so I’ll make another one a so have some “spare air” which might as well be put to use.
    If I’m brave enough I might reconfigure my returns with some external air lifts in the future but that means removing a coping stone and messing with the top few inches of the pond.
    Should have trusted it from the start.

    Thanks for posting


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  12. Thanks Twhitenosugar, freddyboy, john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
  13. #7
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    Thanks BCC. I'm glad someone read it lol. Took me long enough to write.

    I've seen in your previous posts that you'd considered using airlifts as well. So at least the links are here to source the bits to make an air chamber if you go for it in the future.

    Well the info is here now. So at least people can read it if they are interested... and have a few hours spare lol.

    Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  14. Thanks freddyboy, Maddog1, john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
  15. #8
    Senior Member Rank = Jussai Alburglar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Dover Kent
    Posts
    1,471
    Thanks / Likes
    2047
    I've seen it work going higher than the level of the pond too, by 4 inches or so. This also has a very good build guide for a very simple and cheap way of doing it. Seems to work very well and the pipes do not look as long as 1.5m either (maybe they are?). Skip to 4:34, the guy likes to ramble on a bit.
    https://youtu.be/jsJRc-n0abU
    Last edited by Alburglar; 02-05-2020 at 12:48 AM.
    2660 Gallons. 4" Bottom Drain and Skimmer. Draco Solum 16 Drum. Anoxic Filtration. Air lift returns.

  16. Thanks Twhitenosugar, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  17. #9
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    Quote Originally Posted by Alburglar View Post
    I've seen it work going higher than the level of the pond too. This also has a very good build guide for a very simple and cheap way of doing it. Seems to work very well and the pipes do not look as long as 1.5m either.
    I've seen that too, but the post was so long I didn't want to go into any more detail lol

    Not sure if you've seen it, but there's a guy from Hawaii on YouTube who creates airlifts that go to crazy heights, but they seem to deliver sod all water and are a bit, er.. splurty.

    When I tested my one out in the pond, I found once it was over around a foot above the pond water level, the flow dropped off very quickly to nothing. But as i undestand it, going for a narrower pipe it can help it work even higher above water level than the 110mm version.

    So it's worth experimenting to see what you can achieve.

    Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  18. Thanks Alburglar, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  19. #10
    Senior Member Rank = Jussai Alburglar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Dover Kent
    Posts
    1,471
    Thanks / Likes
    2047
    I really want to go airlift but haven't got 1.7m to play with. Hopefully I can figure out something with shorter pipes.
    2660 Gallons. 4" Bottom Drain and Skimmer. Draco Solum 16 Drum. Anoxic Filtration. Air lift returns.

  20. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  21. #11
    My mess around one one was around 1.5m and worked fine.
    They’re just more effective the longer they are.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  22. Thanks freddyboy, Alburglar, Stuffyrat Thanked / Liked this Post
  23. #12
    I'm in the planning/building stage of my pond. And I've read good things about air lifts. So I thinkni might as well include them while I'm building the pond. And same some money on the running costs.

    I've got a couple of questions that you might be able to answer.

    1st can can an airlift be used on a skimmer instead of having an electric pump

    2nd is there a maximum length for the horizontal pipe that returns to the pond.

    My filters ect will be in my shed that is situated behind my pond. I'll have one return going straight into the pond from the shed. But I want another return on the other side of the pond that is 3 meters away. Is this possible or is it too far for the water to travel

    Thanks Colin

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

  24. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  25. #13
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    Quote Originally Posted by colinley1979 View Post
    I'm in the planning/building stage of my pond. And I've read good things about air lifts. So I thinkni might as well include them while I'm building the pond. And same some money on the running costs.

    I've got a couple of questions that you might be able to answer.

    1st can can an airlift be used on a skimmer instead of having an electric pump

    2nd is there a maximum length for the horizontal pipe that returns to the pond.

    My filters ect will be in my shed that is situated behind my pond. I'll have one return going straight into the pond from the shed. But I want another return on the other side of the pond that is 3 meters away. Is this possible or is it too far for the water to travel

    Thanks Colin

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
    Hi Colin

    A gravity fed skimmer can be pumped using an airlift. I have a bottom drain and skimmer (floating weir type) being pumped by 1 airlift (both go into a drum and then bio filter, then to the airlift all via 2 x 110mm pipes).

    Im presuming you'll be putting a gravity fed filter of some sort onto the skimmer line. So all you would then need to do is run the pipe from that filter into an airlift tank and then from the airlift back into the pond. To ensure good flow you probably want to have 3" or 4" pipework on this.

    There are probably other ways of doing it so you could do away with the airlift tank completely. But I've never tried that so can't comment.

    Are thinking of having a dedicated airlift for your skimmer line? If so, then i'm guessing you wont need the bigger flow that is needed for your main filtration. So as BCC has said above, you could probably get away with a slightly shorter airlift (e.g. 1.5m instead of 1.7m) which would mean the tank the airlift sits in won't need to be quite as deep as the one I used. Or you could build it out of smaller pipes.

    In terms of the length of the return from air lift to pond - that's a good question and I don't really have an answer for you. But it goes without saying that the longer it is and the more bends and valves there are, the bigger the impact will be on flow.

    On my air lift return pipe, it's 4" pressure and about 2m long - which includes 3 x 45° elbows and a double union ball valve - yet I still get decent flow. But the less restrictions you can have the better.

    I don't know the size of your pond or intended turn over, but if you need the airlift for your main filters to be operating at peak flow, then I'd suggest if possible having the airlift tank closer to the pond return then it is to the filters. Would you be able to conceal it if you had it behind the back wall of the pond rather than in the shed?

    As my airlift tank sits along the backwall of my pond, I dug the hole for the tank at the same time I dug the pond. And I laid a 4" concrete base as the tank i used weighs over 700kgs with water in. So something worth considering for the build.

    The other thing I'd say to get peak flow, is make sure you do not undersupply the airlift tank. For example, I have 2 x 110mm pipes from my filters supplying a 720 litre airlift tank which has one 110mm air lift in it.

    Hope this makes sense and is helpful. Any more questions fire away.

    And good luck with the build.

    Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
    Last edited by Twhitenosugar; 03-05-2020 at 01:14 AM.
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  26. Thanks colinley1979, freddyboy, john1 Thanked / Liked this Post
  27. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by bigcarpchaser View Post
    My mess around one one was around 1.5m and worked fine.
    They’re just more effective the longer they are.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    That's what she said Airlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only airAirlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only airAirlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only air

    Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk

  28. Thanks freddyboy, bigcarpchaser Thanked / Liked this Post
  29. #15
    Thank you for the for the detailed reply.
    My pond will be 3 meters x 3 meters x 1.5 meters so around 13500 litres. I'll have one aerated bottom drain. And a surface skimmer built into the block wall.
    I've said before on other threads I'm on a fairly tight budget so trying to build the pond as cheap as possible but also build it correctly. And try and keep running cost as low as possible. Because I'm in the building trade I can get most items at trade price if not free.

    Anyway back to how my pond will be built. The. Bottom drain will run to a settlement tank with an evolution aqua answer in it. This will do the vast majority of my mechanical filtration. I'm not sure what I should have after this to catch any fines. Because the answer only filters out up to 150 microns. But I'm planning on having an anoxic filter for my biological filtration. There will be 4" pipes connecting the mechanical and biological filters. My plan then was to put a 90 degree bend and send a 4" pipe down to about 1.8 meters below water level and connect that to an air lift like trace has built. Simple but effective. I've got jebao 100lpm air pump that's 65w and another pump thats 50lpm and that's 40w. I was thinking I could run my bottom drain and 2 airlift with the 100lpm or would it be better to run 3 separate smaller pumps?

    My problem start with how I'm going to power the the surface skimmer. And also where I place the inline heater and uv.

    I'll try and draw a quick drawing of what I was thinking of and if you could give me any pointers on what would work and what wouldn't. That would be great

    Thanks again

    Colin

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
    Last edited by colinley1979; 03-05-2020 at 02:17 AM.

  30. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  31. #16
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    Quote Originally Posted by Stuffyrat View Post
    That's what she said Airlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only airAirlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only airAirlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only air

    Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk
    Airlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only airAirlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only airAirlifts - pumping water around a gravity system using only air

    Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  32. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  33. #17
    Colin, what’s the thinking behind using an “answer”?
    Just use a decent sieve. No pump required.
    Pond - sieve - anoxic - air lifts collector chamber - return.
    Only pump needed will be an air pump.
    No messing around with an answer and settlement chambers.
    I’ve a pond design done already using the above, if you want to have a look I’ll dig it out and put a picture up.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  34. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  35. #18
    Senior Member Rank = Adult Champion Twhitenosugar's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2020
    Location
    Europe
    Posts
    1,888
    Thanks / Likes
    3037
    Quote Originally Posted by colinley1979 View Post
    Thank you for the for the detailed reply.
    My pond will be 3 meters x 3 meters x 1.5 meters so around 13500 litres. I'll have one aerated bottom drain. And a surface skimmer built into the block wall.
    I've said before on other threads I'm on a fairly tight budget so trying to build the pond as cheap as possible but also build it correctly. And try and keep running cost as low as possible. Because I'm in the building trade I can get most items at trade price if not free.

    Anyway back to how my pond will be built. The. Bottom drain will run to a settlement tank with an evolution aqua answer in it. This will do the vast majority of my mechanical filtration. I'm not sure what I should have after this to catch any fines. Because the answer only filters out up to 150 microns. But I'm planning on having an anoxic filter for my biological filtration. There will be 4" pipes connecting the mechanical and biological filters. My plan then was to put a 90 degree bend and send a 4" pipe down to about 1.8 meters below water level and connect that to an air lift like trace has built. Simple but effective. I've got jebao 100lpm air pump that's 65w and another pump thats 50lpm and that's 40w. I was thinking I could run my bottom drain and 2 airlift with the 100lpm or would it be better to run 3 separate smaller pumps?

    My problem start with how I'm going to power the the surface skimmer. And also where I place the inline heater and uv.

    I'll try and draw a quick drawing of what I was thinking of and if you could give me any pointers on what would work and what wouldn't. That would be great

    Thanks again

    Colin

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
    That sounds like a good sized pond.

    In terms of air pumps, I'd have your bd on a separate pump to the airlifts. You can have your airlifts on one pump and use a manifold with valves on to control the flow to each one. If you want to use your existing ones, I'd say the 60w jobby for the 2 airlifts and the 40w on your bd (hopefully its powerful enough for the depth).

    In terms of anoxic filters, maybe consider having them in the air lift tank itself. That would be a very compact solution! In the tank I use I could probably have two stacked up from the bottom. The only issue is how can to lower them in and take them out as it's so deep.

    If using heaters and UV these will have to go on before the airlift as neither of these will want any air in them.

    For the UV rather than have an inline one I'd suggest an amalgam. They dont restrict flow. And although they're pricey to buy, they are apparently more efficient per wattage than inline uv units. I have a 40w one in my drum (could you drop your one into the answer) and it currently only comes on for 5 hours overnight and was turned off over winter. Plus the bulb lasts (apparently) lasts for 16,000 hours so should last a while especially if not on all the time.

    Ive not tried taking traces' approach. But if you did maybe have that setup on your skimmer line and an air lift tank with anoxic baskets in, on your main filtration line.

    Sent from my SM-A520F using Tapatalk
    13,000L fibreglassed raised pond with window

  36. Thanks colinley1979, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  37. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by bigcarpchaser View Post
    Colin, what’s the thinking behind using an “answer”?
    Just use a decent sieve. No pump required.
    Pond - sieve - anoxic - air lifts collector chamber - return.
    Only pump needed will be an air pump.
    No messing around with an answer and settlement chambers.
    I’ve a pond design done already using the above, if you want to have a look I’ll dig it out and put a picture up.


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
    I was going to use the answer because I think they are better than a sieve but obviously not as good as a drum. But seen as I can't afford a drum. And I've already got the answer. I might as well use it. From what I've seen they are a very good mechanical filter. The only reason people didn't like them was because of the running cost with the pump being 200w plus.
    But I'll be fitting a newer eco pump that is far cheaper to run

    Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk

  38. Thanks bigcarpchaser, freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
  39. #20
    Cool
    Have you used one before then?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  40. Thanks freddyboy Thanked / Liked this Post
 

 
Page 1 of 7 123 ... 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 10:54 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.