Physics of siphoning explained and its potential utilisation to grow vegetables and raise fish?

[Samuel1988]

Evening all,

I have an allotment (in the UK an area used to grow food) and I am thinking of setting up an aquaponics system (which is where you grow vegetables in a media bed and raise fish for food in a closed loop system http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquaponics) but the trouble is I have no access to electricity (to pump the water from the fish tank into the vegetable growing media bed).

I stumbled across siphoning and was wondering if it would be possible to utilise this phenomenon to get around the need for a fish pump?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siphon

'While a simple siphon cannot output liquid at a level higher than the source reservoir, a more complicated device utilizing an airtight chamber at the crest and a system of automatic valves, may discharge liquid on an ongoing basis, at a level higher than the source reservoir, without outside pumping energy being added. It can accomplish this despite what initially appears to be a violation of conservation of energy because it can take advantage of the energy of a large volume of liquid dropping some distance, to raise and discharge a small volume of liquid above the source reservoir. Thus it might be said to "require" a large quantity of falling liquid to power the dispensing of a small quantity. Such a system typically operates in a cyclical or start/stop but ongoing and self-powered manner.'

Thank you for your help,

Samuel

[Robittybob1]

Use a system that is powered by the daily heating during the day and cooling during the night. So you have some gas filled container that expands during the day but at night the gas cools, negative pressure develops and draws liquid up into it.

I haven't got the entire cycle worked out but I can sort of feel there is a possibility.

Let me know if you get it going?

[fiveworlds]

Yeah siphoning works. with a small hose. Had a neighbor who filled his fish tank with it. Basically you put one end of the hose in the bottom of your filled bucket. Suck on the other end of the hose until you get a flow of liquid then leave the hose above the level of the water in the tank.

Edited October 12, 2014 by fiveworlds

[Robittybob1]

Yeah siphoning works. with a small hose. Had a neighbor who filled his fish tank with it. Basically you put one end of the hose in the bottom of your filled bucket. Suck on the other end of the hose until you get a flow of liquid then leave the hose above the level of the water in the tank.

You won't get circulation going in a aquaponic system that way unless you manually lift the water all the time.