Need some Direction

[drumwerx]

I am very new to AP and need to ask a couple of questions. I saw a company in the Netherlands that had fish tanks below there NFT trays in the ground. They grew tomatoes only. They were commercial growers with very large greenhouses. I would say 100 feet long.

Has anyone ever built fish tanks below ground?

I think it would be great becasue you would save space and they would really help the greenhouse in heating in the colder months becasue of the thermal mass.

If you have built them below ground what materials did you use?

I also saw a concept of a way to use large barrels with fish below and plants on top.

Is anyone doing this now?

I would like to grow tomatoes in a 30x100 greenhouse and try to use the tanks below ground level with the walkways.. I was hopping that this would work and also need to get more info on what I need to set this up. I am in Colorado and will probably use Talipa or Perch. Any help will be much appreciated.

Joe B

[GaryD]

Hi Drumwerx,

Welcome to APHQ.

I saw a company in the Netherlands that had fish tanks below there NFT trays in the ground. They grew tomatoes only. They were commercial growers with very large greenhouses. I would say 100 feet long.

Yeah......I saw an article on them in a local magazine...... Practical Hydroponics and Greenhouses. (See here).

I also saw a concept of a way to use large barrels with fish below and plants on top.

I think this was the creation of a man named Ronald Zweig.....but I don't know if anyone is doing anything similar now.

I would like to grow tomatoes in a 30x100 greenhouse and try to use the tanks below ground level with the walkways.. I was hopping that this would work and also need to get more info on what I need to set this up. I am in Colorado and will probably use Talipa or Perch. Any help will be much appreciated.

Long narrow tanks are often called raceway tanks. I'm not aware of anyone who uses them locally. On the backyard scale at which most of us operate, above-ground tanks probably present less hassle.

GaryD

[Outbackozzie]

I have my main sump tank buried, and growbeds surrounded by soil also.

This has resulted in an average of 5 degree c better temperatures.

The hots are not so hot, and the colds are not so cold.

[fishfood]

I am with you OBO if you are going to have the system buried then you have to have the whole system buried other wise 1 decent size grow bed out in the open will undo all your work

[GaryD]

Hi,

The fish/tomato operation to which Drumwerx refers, is located in a big greenhouse......where everything is undercover.

Gary

[drumwerx]

Thanks Gary for the links I should have put them on my original post. Those 2 links are exactly what I am refering too.

I would love to find out if anyone is doing this and how it works but it looks like it is pretty new to growers.

The greenhouse will increase its warmth and have a lot more space to grow things in because of the tanks below.

The article said that he was not happy with a few things because they were adding things to the plants and after the plants they were having to add to the PH for the fish.

The first article was able to pretty much just leave the process alone. It was a true recirculating system.

Any ideas on how I could start something like this. I will be building a smaller 24' x24' greenhouse as a nursery and can use it for a test to see if this works. I am not sure if it will. I don't want to build all of the long fish tanks and find out it will not or it takes to much to add to the system for tomatoes.

[tilapia]

Hi Joe,
We have a new tilapia hybrid that breeds at three months. Here is some more information if your interested:

These Hybrid are a cross between Male Rocky Moutain White,and Female O.mossombica (Mike Sipes Strain). THE ORANGE FISH IN THE PHOTO BELOW ARE FEMALE, AND THE DARK FISH IS MALE. THE FINGERLINGS ARE 12 WEEKS OLD, AND 4 INCHES.

Male or Female
3 Fish Minimum

1" $10.00 ea.
1.5" $12.00 ea.
2" $14.00 ea.
2.5" $16.00 ea.
3" $18.00 ea.
3.5" $20.00 ea.
4" $22.00 ea.

*Shipping included*

tilapiahybridpair.com
tilapiahybridpair@yahoo.com

Send Check or money order to:
Don Turner
3603 Cedarwood Court
Bettendorf, Iowa 52722
563.332.9444

[Outbackozzie]

Evil looking fish!