Biosphere-Trouble Shooting

Below are some Tips to help you deal with potential issues. Please contact me (Glenn-0417729509) if you continue to have issues or if there is a topic we have not covered:

Leaking Bowl

If your feature has a leak there are two main possible causes:

1) Weak Water Flow

It’s important that a strong flow of water runs through the centre of the tray to the bowl below. There should be at least one continuous flow of water down to the bowl below. If the flow slows down to just intermittent drips this may result in water running along the tray via capillary action (not down into the bowl) and cause a leak where the rim of the bowl joins the tray. Below are some things that can be done to improve water flow to the bowl below:

• Move the pots more towards the central riser pipe. The large pot should be directly behind the riser pipe and the two medium size pots should sit either side of the feeding port and close to the riser pipe. This will direct flow directly under the drainage holes which are concentrated at the centre and improve water flow downwards.
• Check that there is not excessive root growth in the centre of the tray. Remove the pots from the tray and remove excessive plant and roots from the centre of the bowl.
• Sometimes moving the gravel around in the center and moving the pots around will change the flow of water.

2) Incorrect Positioning

Anything that touches the rim of the bowl can potentially cause a leak by creating a gap. Check the following:

• The pump cord is not stuck between the bowl and tray, or that part of the cord is touching the rim from the inside.
• Where the pump cord goes through the tray is not touching the rim. Move the tray forwards so the pump hole is not touching the rim.
• Grab the tray and rotate it left then right to create a seal with the bowl.
• Check that there is not water running down a plant onto the outside of the tray
• Check the bowl is level as an angle will cause water to flow along the tray to the edge. If the distance from the tray and water line is different from one end of the bowl to the other, then the room or table may be on a lean.

• For the large Biosphere, there is a plastic ring (1mm think) around the bottom of the tray. This ring needs to be located on the inside of the bowl on all sides.