My New System

[POC3442]

I would first like to first say that this is by far one of the best sites that I have found in the past 2 months of doing research. I finally decided to register to tell you guys what I'll be building to see if you had any suggestions.

First off I live in Central Illinois and plan on doing an aquaponics system in our house so i don't plan on making a huge system. If this one works out well I'll be building a 275+ gallon FT system outside next summer. That being said here is what my plans are.

Lighting:
I'll be using fluorescent lighting to cover a 4x4 square foot area. The new T-5 HO grow lights look really nice for the job of growing veggies indoors.

GB:
This will be 4x4 foot area. Constructed of 2x12 to make a 8 inch deep grow bed. I plan on using a bell siphon to drain out the grow bed once it reaches 6 inches (want at least 1 inch under the grow medium to keep algae from growing). Since it's indoors I plan on installing 2 bell siphons just in case one fails it doesn’t drain my tanks and spill all over onto concrete floor. 54mm sheet of pond grade fish safe lineing.

Medium: I plan on using the Red Lava Rock from Lowes it's only $3 for .5 cubic feet and I'll need approximately 19 bags. I'll first test it out to make sure the PH doesn’t go to wacky but anyone have experience with this lava rock? I assume it's acts a lot like expanded clay.
here is a link to it:
http://www.lowes.com/lowes/lkn?actio...568&lpage=none

FT:
For the fish tank I plan on using 2 55 gallon totes. I opted for 2 separate fish tanks so I can keep my goldfish from my pond in 1 tote and bluegill/whatever fish I feel like in the other tote. Then when summer comes I can switch out the goldfish for bluegill for something else.

Pump:
I plan on using just a 200 gph fountain pump at 3' which should fill up my
GB in 10-15 minutes. The pump will be in a 55 gallon tote as well that is fed from the bottom fish tank by gravity.

Aeration:
I plan on using a 100-150 gallon fish tank air pump and run 1 line to one of the 55 gallon totes and the 2nd line to the other 55 gallon tote.

My over all setup will be the grow bed above the 3 totes. The water will be pumped into the grow bed for 15 minutes and off for 45 minutes on at timer. The water will then fill up the grow bed and drain after it reaches the 6 inch water mark on the bell siphon. The bell siphon will drain the water into the 1st fish tank which will be 4 inches above the 2nd fish tank which will be 4 inches above the pump tank. I plan on having the totes tiered so that once the water gets to a certain mark on the tote it feeds the water into the system below it. So Tote1 (fish) once hits 50 gallons starts to gravity drain into Tote2 (fish) which once hits 50 gallons will drain into Tote3 (my pump tank).

I would prefer to use all 3 totes as fish tanks but from what I have read the medium will take up approximately 30-40% of the volume of the grow bed. That means that the grow bed will take approximately 35.9-41.9 gallons to fill up to a level where it will start draining via bell siphon. This would leave my 3rd tote sitting at 9-15 gallons which I am assuming would be dangerously low water level for fish to be in for 5-15 minutes every hour as the water cycles. However, I have though I could use this last tote for fingerlings...any suggestions?


My overall goal is to get some veggies/greens over the winter and learn a lot about how I want to do a much bigger system come summer time.

Hope all that made sense if not here is a picture of how I plan on doing it overall:
http://docs.google.com/Doc?docid=0AZ...azhndA& hl=en

All sugestions welcome.

[POC3442]

Well after a little discussion I think I might opt for an IBC tote 275 gallon...however it'l be in the 200 gallon range once I cut it down sot hat it fits in the doorway. I figure if I do it right I might just be able to use the top part for the grow bed insted and the bottom for the fish tank...need to find one at a decent price now...come on craigslist!

[nwestwood]

I found used totes by looking in the yellow pages under "Barrels and Drums" and in most major cities and you will find companies who recondition plastic barrels and totes. I picked up 3 in the Salt Lake City area for $50 each.

[POC3442]

I found used totes by looking in the yellow pages under "Barrels and Drums" and in most major cities and you will find companies who recondition plastic barrels and totes. I picked up 3 in the Salt Lake City area for $50 each.

Ended up finding a 275 gallon one for $80. How hard is it to cut the metal cages on these? And any tips for cutingt he plastic? I'll be picking it up monday so I'll have a little time to plan what I need before I get it.

[hellbent]

Ended up finding a 275 gallon one for $80. How hard is it to cut the metal cages on these? And any tips for cutingt he plastic? I'll be picking it up monday so I'll have a little time to plan what I need before I get it.

i cut mines with a circular saw and a cutting disc. make sure you wear eye protection!

http://aquaponicsinparadise.com/APforums/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=8.0;attach=34;image

[nwestwood]

I had 2 different kinds of cages, one I cut with cable cutters, the other, I put a metal cut off blade in my circular saw.

To cut the plastic, I just used a fine toothed circular saw blade and yes wear safety glasses, the plastic flies.

[Outbackozzie]

I use a diamond impregnated tile cutting disc in a grinder :)

[newfarmer]

The last plastic barrel I cut in half was a breeze, just used the standard metal disc on my small angle grinder...

[POC3442]

Well just an update for you guys. I could only find 1 IBC tote in the whole area unless I wanted to drive 3-4 hours away. So, I got a 275 gallon IBC tote yesterday that has been used for holding grease. It was not clean and so far has been a pain to clean. I was able to cut the steal frame to size today and cut open the tote so I could try and clean the inside tomorrow. Looks like it’ll hold 250 gallons in the end with a 8 inch deep grow bed. A pressure washer w/soap at the car wash doesn’t seem to do much. I guess I'll just have to stick to grease cutting Dawn soap to get the inside really clean. I think the wife isn't super happy I can't get the outside really clean...but at least it's not sticky anymore.

If you guys have any suggestions how to clean it out easier I’m all ears. I’ll post pics once I get it cleaned off.

Once it’s clean I can start building the frame for the top grow bed part of the tote to sit in(so it looks pleasant to the eye). The hard part I think will be cutting out a hole in tote for the grow bed for the bell siphon. Other than that should be cake.

[POC3442]

Well Figure I would give an update...

So a week ago or so I got my IBC tote that was food grade, dirty and last stored grease/oil. Let me just say if anyone ever is going to get a IBC tote only get one that stored grease/oil as a last resort. It was a royal pain in the butt to clean took me 3 days about 10-15 hours of scrubbing. That being said I now have clean GB and FT curing with aquarium grade silicon tonight. I put silicon all around the screw on parts of the lid to prevent and chance of leaking. I also sealed off the bottom drain spout. Since this will be indoors I also made a nice box for the GB to sit in so it is a little more appealing to the eye (for the wife).

Things left to do:
Make Bell Siphon
Cut out hole in GB for Bell Siphon and get it working.
Get Pump
Get Aerator
Get 1/2" River Rock
Clean 1/2" River Rock
Get Black Crappie (going with 100)
Figure out what type of food to feed Crappie to get them to grow the fastest.
Get Growlight

[POC3442]

Like all new projects there are always things that will change. For the better thanks to Moose I will now be using Tilapia insted of Crappie. I am so excited! That being said, I got a few more things done. Most importantly got the homemade autosiphon built and working. I got all my parts ordered so now I just have to waite on the pump. I also got all my gravel but can't fill the bed untill I get the water pump so I can submerge the water inlet into the GB.

Things left to do:
Waite for Pump, Airator, Grow Lights to arrive.
Get system primed.
Order Tilapia


Here are a few pics of my new system so far.

[hellbent]

nice, but are you worried about mold with it being inside the house?
did you use some kind of degreaser to clean that thing? my ibc had some kind of polymer in it, it took a few hours to clean too.

[POC3442]

Dawn soap and a lot of green scrubber pads....took 3 days working 3-4 hours each day on it. Let me tell you by the 3rd day my arms were shot.

As far as mold not really. As you can see that room has vinyl siding on it. The previous home owners enclosed it so that it would be a year around room since it was already roofed and had the other 3 sides up against the house. All they did was add on the 2 Sliding glass doors. Because the room was outside before I don't really see mold being a problem. But also aquaponics doesn’t loose a lot of water. In addition, the winters are really dry so if anything it might get the humidity up a little bit in the house.

Summers I can open the house up. The best part about being inside is I will get a constant 70-73 degree temperature.

[hellbent]

i have read that some people have used brake cleaner, and then thoroughly cleaned it again to remove all trace of the brake cleaner

[POC3442]

i have read that some people have used brake cleaner, and then thoroughly cleaned it again to remove all trace of the brake cleaner

That would of been great to know a week ago...assuming it came of super easily w/no scrubbing required. I was just afraid to use anything on it inside that might leave a residue for something I'll be eating out of.

[POC3442]

Just wanted to post an update:
So the system is fully built everything is in place now I just need the IDNR(Illinois Department of Natural Resources) to get back to me with my permits. I applied for a Tilapia permit which the guy in IDNR said it wouldn't be a problem from what he could understand with my setup. But I sent the money in 2 weeks ago so might have to give them a check up call come Monday.

[Apache]

Hello There, I recently met a very brilliant and successful aquaponics/culture farmer, Myles Harston of AquaRanch Industries, who lives in your back yard. If you haven't had a chance to talk to him you should. http://www.aquaranch.com/

Good luck!

Austin~

[POC3442]

Its funny you mention him because I talked to hike before I applied for the permit. He sells 2" fingerlings for 24 cents and 3" fingerlings for 34 cents. He lives 2 hours away so as soon as I get a my permit I'll be making the trip....just need to ask if he sells food too.

[POC3442]

Well just wanted to give another update:
Today I got all the grow lights put up and just got off the phone with the Illinois DNR guy. Long story short I called them 2 months ago. Filled out a form, then kept badgering them untill they finally got a guy to come out(took 3 weeks). He came out took 2 pictures and left. I then had to waite another week and just got off the phone with the last IDNR (Illinois Department of Natural Resources) guy. He said he sent off for my permit for Tilapia which was approved to Springfield(our state capitol) and if I don't have my permit in hand in 2-3 weeks to give him a call again. Long ass process but now I can start looking at buying some local tilapia fingerlings!

The only thing I am not sure about now is how I am going to transfer 50-75 3inch tilapia fingerlings from 2 hours away. Anything have any tips?

[Jean R]

Hello
You can transfer them by plastic bag which is inflated with O2 (and water).
We use this technique to transfert fish during more than 24 hours. Just be carrefull with density per bag.
For less than one hundred fingerlings, you can use a 50 Liter plastic bag, put 15 Liter of water with the fish. Then, blow up with O2 (be carreful : no fire and no grease), O2 is used to do gas welding. You can find someone who's got a gas bottle. I think that you can just use air, but take 2 or 3 bags more as a precaution.
Use rubber band to close the bag hermetically.

If you can't do that, use a bucket with aerating system (like here (http://sudestappats.fr/achat/index.php?catid=9)).

Keep whatching on the temperature, use a coolbox if necessary.

good luck (and sorry for my poor vocabulary !):D

[nwestwood]

Bag and 02 works great if you or the hatcher/supplier has 02 and bags. It's also the way most fish are shipped long distances, Bagged in O2, boxed and shipped FedEx overnight. Thats the way my Bass come.

For local pickup, I've had good luck just using a 5-10 gallon drink container or large cooler. I bought a 12V to 120V inverter, plug it into the truck or a spare battery, then plug in my aquarium size air pump with 2 air stones.

Fill the tanks with water from the hatchery/fish farm, net and count the fish into the containers, put them in the back of your truck, hook up the air put the lids on (partially) careful not to cut off the air.

You can see my setup from my last trout run on my web site:

http://www.utahcountyweather.com/Utah_Aquaponic_System_Fish.htm

It's a lot of fun to pick up your own fish and bring them home, good luck.

[POC3442]

Well I have not been on these forums in a while because I've played the call IDNR and waite game. I come on now to finally say that after 20 or so phone calls and 10 months I finally have my Illinois Permit to buy and sell Tilipia. WHOT! Now I just need to go call my tilipia farmer and go get my 3 inch fingerlings.

[GaryD]

Hi,

It's great to see that you're on your way. We look forward to further updates as you settle your new fish in.

Gary

[POC3442]

I'm not sure how it is there in other places but the nice part about getting the license is when my fish get to size in 8 months I can sell them alive or gutted on ice to local stores. That and I can either eat all my tomatoes or sell them (doubt any will get out the door). But my major incentive for selling everything is so I can put the money towards expanding my system...but we'll see.

[POC3442]

After catching up on my reading I'm starting to think I might need to incoperate some sort of filtration into my setup...grr just when you think you got it all down pat.
I'll have to take pictures when I get home but basicly here is how it goes. I have a 225 gallon IBC tote w/cage under my 75 gallon grow bed filled with 1/4-1/2 gravel. The pump pumps water up the PVC pipe runs it through a inline filter http://www.plantlightinghydroponics.com/cap-inline-water-filter-p-2305.html into my grow bed. The grow bed then fills in 15 mintues then empties back into my fish tank. The pump runs 24/7 is my plan.

As the water goes into the grow bed part of it is diverted shooting out into the fish tank this alone creates a swirling motion in the fish tank. Any sugestions? I know that you can put a micron mesh sleve where the water goes from the PVC pipe into the grow bed after my inital small filter. Should this small mesh sleve be empties once a day? BTW the way my 200 gallon fish tank is set up it should swirl causing most food to go to the center. Which makes me wonder if I'll need to find a way to remove solids from the center of my fish tank...hmm...