Ken and Dee's System

[GaryD]

Hi Dee,

Let's begin by asking some questions.

Are you more interested in fish or vegetables.......or a good mix of both?

How would you describe your climate?

Can you keep tilapia in your area?

How big is the space that is available to you?

You've already indicated that you want to use IBC's. Is your preference for recycling and DIY driven by personal philosophy or is it financially motivated?

Once we get a better grasp of what you're about, we can begin to point you in a useful direction.


Gary

[deehovey]

OK, I appreciate the help.

Are you more interested in fish or vegetables.......or a good mix of both?

I'm interested in the veggies, Ken is interested in the fish. Actually, we are both interested in both, but that's where our main focuses lie. There is a very good market for both through the co-op.

How would you describe your climate?

Oklahoma weather........whoooo boy!!! Well, we've hit nearly 90 degrees F (32 C) and had a frost this week. Well, actually, in the last 4 days. Oklahoma weather can be described in one word: unpredictable, but if I had to try I'd say hot humid summers (usually several 100+ days), fairly mild winters with just a couple of snows each year (this year has been the exception), and wildly swinging falls and springs with some pretty hairy severe weather, especially spring. The greenhouse is a must. It is attached to the house and we are working on a source of supplemental heat for the winter, either a wood stove on that end of the house or a mini split heat pump.

Can you keep tilapia in your area?

Yes, we can keep Tilapia and that is the plan. I'm wanting to have our own breeding colony and plan to get them from either White Brook or R & S Ranch. I'd like to drive up and see their system, whichever we decide on, but in that case White Brook is closer. We are also looking at fresh water prawns.

How big is the space that is available to you?

The greenhouse is 18' x 20' (6 x 6.5 meters). We have 5 acres, so future systems can be very large. I've got future plans for a 40' x 80' greenhouse.

You've already indicated that you want to use IBC's. Is your preference for recycling and DIY driven by personal philosophy or is it financially motivated?

The IBC's are available, cheap and recycling. Cost for this first go round is going to be very important. I can't see how I could get the same volume of fish tank for $65. Plus I like that they are square and will result in more usable space. Plus I've never been one to pay someone to do something we can do ourselves for half the price.

Once we get a better grasp of what you're about, we can begin to point you in a useful direction.

Thanks so much! I appreciate all the help we can get!

~Dee

[GaryD]

Hi Dee,

Thanks for that information. It will make the advice that we provide a bit more relevant to your particular situation.

On the matter of IBC's:

• They should be protected against direct contact with the sun. UV exposure will eventually cause them to become brittle to the point where the plastic will fail. You could cover them with something (or perhaps paint them).
• Be sure about their contents prior to you getting hold of them. Be a bit cynical about third party information about what was in them. Many farmers use them to mix and transport herbicides and pesticides so what's on the nameplate is not necessarily the last thing that was in them.
• IBC's will always look like IBC's.

You have a company in the US (Rubbermaid) which makes excellent containers for aquaponics purposes. There's another place over there (Tractor and Farm Supplies or similar) that sells stock troughs that are very adaptable, too. I mention this simply to suggest that you have a range of cost effective options when it comes to fish tanks.

I've been planning to do a series of blog posts on the various system layouts that are available so, as post each one, I'll let you know. I'll start with the most basic of system layouts.

Gary

[deehovey]

Thanks Gary, I'm looking forward to reading your blog.

The IBC's in question are coming from a local Purina dog food mill. They contained the substance that they spray on the mold's so that the kibble won't stick, I'm assuming something like non-stick cooking spray. I will have to find something non-toxic to degrease them with.

A similarly sized stock tank at tractor supply is $210. I do realize that the IBC's won't be as durable, but if we are to get this going at all we will have to do it cheaply. Once the system pays for itself we will start looking at upgrades. When we do this commercially we will invest in higher grade equipment, hopefully with the help of grants.

I was thinking about wrapping them in insulation to help regulate temperature, which would also protect them from UV. Would that be helpful?

[GaryD]

Hi Dee,

I was thinking about wrapping them in insulation to help regulate temperature, which would also protect them from UV. Would that be helpful?

Yes, it would help on both counts.

Gary

[Lynn]

The IBC's in question...

I was thinking about wrapping them in insulation to help regulate temperature, which would also protect them from UV. Would that be helpful?

You could look at getting a old non-working chest-type freezer. You could probably find someone on craigslist wanting to get rid of one just for hauling it off, and it would be well insulated.

Way back when I was a kid my fisherman neighbor had two that he raised salamanders in. If I recall correctly, his was at least half full of water. I have also heard of fisherman using them for raising minnows.

Don't know if an old freezer would hold up to the weight of a full load of water, but, for the price, I think it would be worth a try.

I'm planning on trying it when I get to that stage.

[robinmill]

hi dee

I am currently using an old 300 litre fridge laying on its back with the dorr and all the shelves removed and the holes filled with silastic

It has lettuce growing in a floating raft.... the go mad in the water

it seems to be holding up to the weight and as lynn says it is well insulated and they can be got for nothing from fridge repairmen or the local tip

one thing I see with secondhand materials is that you can pay quite a bit more in fittings to join it all up, than if you buy a larger tank/growbed and cut down the cost of all the plumbing fittings

[kellenw]

Dee,

IBC's work great. We've used them in our own tilapia operations, and they make reconfiguring and moving things around a breeze since they are on pallets. Just get a quality pallet jack ($200 or less used), and you are able to move a completely full IBC around (on a flat surface) with ease. Also, their square footprint makes placing and organizing them quite simple. IBC's allow for "modular scalability", and we like that.

We will be using IBC's in a portion of our new hatchery facility we are constructing this Summer. We will be using about 20 of them in one of the sections of the hatchery building in fact.

I've grown millions of fish in IBC's over the years, and I still find them to be excellent fish tanks.

[GaryD]

Hi Dee,

I've begun to roll out the series of system layout posts that I promised a couple of weeks ago.

You can see them.....here.

Gary