Rivermuds Test Tank
- Thread starter Rivermud
- Start date
Unbelievable! I built it and it works. I just tested the airlift with roughly 1 foot of depth abnd it was pushing water out roughly 8 inches above the top of the water. With a little more head I can easily lift enough water to run my aquaponics setup. Pictures soon. I put some pvc cement on a place that was leaking to make sure I was giving it its full pressure for lifting. .. stoked
and air lift that actually works! I can't imagine how much flow this would have if it were just used as a circulation device with 0 head. btw the pump is rated for 140 gph airflow
and air lift that actually works! I can't imagine how much flow this would have if it were just used as a circulation device with 0 head. btw the pump is rated for 140 gph airflow
Okay, so I made an air lift that actually works. There are a few things I will do differently with the final model on the tank. I will touch on those after the pictures so you can understand what i am talking about.
Outer Coupling 1.5"
Coupling and 1.5" to 1" bushings cut down
1" standpipe with small holes drilled. very small holes
The coupler with bushings installed over the drilled portion of the pipe
The coupling withe airline connectors installed
It actually working with very little depth to build pressure
This is all being achieved with less than 14 inches of depth to provide pressure for lift. With my aquarium and some inventive plumbing i can get upwards of 4 feet of depth pressure to work with. Which means I will be able to lift water easier to my desires height of about 9 to ten inches, maybe 12. This is all done for less than 9 watts of power. I don't have to worry about a pump failing or something clogging it up either as it is a smooth 1 inch all the way. In the model that i build for the aquarium i will change the 1.5" coupler to a bell "t" which will give me a much better way to connect my airlines to it. since I can cap the t and install the lines on a flat surface. I will also use screw in airline fittings. I may increase the pipe diameter to 1.25 since I have two 1" overflows to feed it. This in theory should give me better lift and more flow. I can also increase the airflow with a larger pump since I am only using a 140gph pump.
So what do you all think?
Outer Coupling 1.5"
Coupling and 1.5" to 1" bushings cut down
1" standpipe with small holes drilled. very small holes
The coupler with bushings installed over the drilled portion of the pipe
The coupling withe airline connectors installed
It actually working with very little depth to build pressure
This is all being achieved with less than 14 inches of depth to provide pressure for lift. With my aquarium and some inventive plumbing i can get upwards of 4 feet of depth pressure to work with. Which means I will be able to lift water easier to my desires height of about 9 to ten inches, maybe 12. This is all done for less than 9 watts of power. I don't have to worry about a pump failing or something clogging it up either as it is a smooth 1 inch all the way. In the model that i build for the aquarium i will change the 1.5" coupler to a bell "t" which will give me a much better way to connect my airlines to it. since I can cap the t and install the lines on a flat surface. I will also use screw in airline fittings. I may increase the pipe diameter to 1.25 since I have two 1" overflows to feed it. This in theory should give me better lift and more flow. I can also increase the airflow with a larger pump since I am only using a 140gph pump.
So what do you all think?
This reminds me of the Swiss Tropical's jet lifter. I switched all my sponges over to them after realizing how much better flow you got versus just trying to manage large bubbles from an ATI sponge. If you don't have a pic, I'll see if I can grab one tonight and post it up.
Here's the quick and dirty, but you don't get to see what is underneath.
http://www.swisstropicals.com/filtration-shop/jetlifter-cubelifter-shop/
EDIT: Yep, that's it. Works much better than any other I've tried, without modification of course.
http://www.swisstropicals.com/filtration-shop/jetlifter-cubelifter-shop/
EDIT: Yep, that's it. Works much better than any other I've tried, without modification of course.
Well, with that done I will need to build a new stand for this tank. In keeping with the theme of this thread I would like to open it up for discussion. Ultimately the stand needs to be roughly counter top height. It may one day house a sump/refugium. For now it just has to add height to our plumbing system in order to allow me to build the jet lift at a lower level and increased pressure.
The added depth should give me a loft more lift.
So, is there anything you all can think of for a stand that might be interesti9ng or useful that i can incorporate to follow the "test" theme?
The added depth should give me a loft more lift.
So, is there anything you all can think of for a stand that might be interesti9ng or useful that i can incorporate to follow the "test" theme?
