Gary's 3 Mega Bin System

[GaryD]

Hi BD,

The grey thing down the bottom of the tank with black ends on it as shown on picture 1 of your last post is that a rod less air cylinder?

It's a 200mm air stone.

Also I see the clear line coming from the 19 mm black poly ,is that the air supply line from the Air pump?

The 19mm soft poly pipe is the air line from the air pump and the clear reinforced hose is a branch off of that air line.

........where does the exhaust line come and go to from the cylinder?

I'm not sure that I understand the question.

How is water pumped from the sump/bio filter to the fish tank?

There's a pipe which comes out of the sump/bio-filter and runs along the entire length of the fish tanks. An airlift on each tank lifts the water from this pipe and discharges it into each fish tank.

Once water gets to the skimmer dish it goes over the edge of the dish and down a pipe in the side of the mega bin to where?

Currently, the water rises up the outlet pipe (to which the air stone is attached) and into the skimmer tray. Once I cut a shallow section out of the skimmer tray, a small percentage of the water will also flow over the edge of the tray. This arrangement is designed to take most of the water from the tank from the bottom of the tank but the smaller amount that goes over the edge of the skimmer tray is intended to remove the floating scum that is evident in tanks that contain (for example) barramundi.

The water from the skimmer tray in each tank flows down into a common drain which then goes to the swirl tank......then through the packed media filter.......and then back into the sump/bio-filter. The photo of the pipework shows the drain line from the tanks (the upper pipe) and the return from the sump to the fish tanks (the bottom one).

The second photo shows the air line to the air lift.

I'll attempt to put a diagram together which shows everything a little more clearly.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

Here's a photo of the muck that I dumped out of the swirl filter (love that swirl filter) this morning. You can see some of the fish food that I chucked in the tanks a while back and, if you look closely, you can see a tiny halo of heterotrophic bacteria around the food.

Gary

[bigdaddy]

Cheers for that Gary,

You are taking the smoke and mirrors away from me now,and opening my eyes,which is good.

Now onto the air lift, How does this work?(this is still smoke and mirrors to me)

With the air stones,the exhaust comes out of the stones I was thinking it was a cylinder of some sort so I was not sure what was happening to the exhaust,but now I know.

You are doing a very good job of explaining your setup very clearly and bit by bit.

I understand what you are saying about attempting to get a diagram together.I can't even organize my photo's properly yet,when posting,but I'll get there sometime.I,and I'm sure,others would very much appreciate a diagram when you can.

How much did the whole setup cost you?I'm estimating you would get change out of $1500.00(I could be wrong) - Not bad at all for a flash looking new 2000 plus litre system.

The grow beds haven't been talked about much yet,are you going to add any,once this is setup,tweeked, and running how you want it to.?I noticed Crusty mentioning something about If you add a hydroponic part to the system you can still have enough air for that(or something like that)or is this system going to be just aquaculture?

What fish are you planning to run in your new system?

Cheers.

[jet]

Please outline Biofilter/sump workings to me, Media, etc?
Also cleaning of packed media filtration unit - how? expected fequency? Could it be done in situ by isolating swirl tank and using high pressure air, then send (now dirty) tankful to waste?

A key feature of your new design is large pipe sizes - near nil headloss so possibly where you gain efficiencies for pumping

Cheers
JR

[grassroots]

Thanks Gary for your answers and continued patience, I am amazed at how much I have learned from your website. Keep up the good work.

[GaryD]

Hi,

I did up a diagram which I hope will assist with understanding how the water moves through the Mega Bin System.

Gary

[GaryD]

Hi,

Grassroots......thanks for your kind words......and for your ongoing support of APHQ.

BD......

Now onto the air lift, How does this work?(this is still smoke and mirrors to me)

Look at the photos of the pipework a couple posts back and you'll see a 90mm line with a 50mm riser coming out of it.

There's a close up of the same pipework.....where you can see an air line going into the 90mm - 50mm reducer. All of this pipework is full of water and, if you introduce bubbles of air (the larger the better for this purpose), the air pushed water up the pipe and out into the tank. When operating, an airlift pulses sending short spurts of water out with each pulse.

How much did the whole setup cost you?I'm estimating you would get change out of $1500.00(I could be wrong) - Not bad at all for a flash looking new 2000 plus litre system.

I had the mega bins, the bio-filter drum and some fittings so it cost me less than it would have done if I'd had to go out and buy everything new. In that event, it would have cost me around $2500. When you consider its capabilities, that's a steal.

The grow beds haven't been talked about much yet, are you going to add any, once this is setup, tweeked, and running how you want it to.?

This system will run as a standalone recirculating aquaculture system......or it will support any type of growing system. I'm contemplating setting some of my new (old) soft crab tray growing systems up on the other side of the shed wall. We'll also take water from it to irrigate our raised bed and wicking bed gardens.

What fish are you planning to run in your new system?

We've got some jade perch fingerlings that are growing quickly and some little sleepy cod (that are growing much less quickly) and, as soon as things begin to warm up, we'll transfer them into the new system.

Jet.....

Please outline Biofilter/sump workings to me, Media, etc?

The combined sump and bio-filter are located in the 200 litre drum on the far left of the photos. The bio-filter contains Kaldnes K1 manufactured plastic media (photo in earlier post) which is kept moving in the water by air introduced into the bottom of the drum.

The air agitates the media.......oxygenating it and allowing it to self-clean at the same time.

Also cleaning of packed media filtration unit - how? expected fequency? Could it be done in situ by isolating swirl tank and using high pressure air, then send (now dirty) tankful to waste?

We've already discovered that the packed media filter floats when it becomes clogged. We've already decided to get a stainless steel mesh basket made up to replace the existing plastic container.

Cleaning the filter is very easy.......I simply tip it into a larger bucket and use a paint stirrer to agitate the media before putting it back into the filter bucket and replacing it in the swirl tank. It takes just a few minutes.

We could use air to clean the media but we probably won't bother given the simplicity of the existing arrangement.

We will possibly use this approach on our next system which will be similar in terms of how it works. The filter containers that we have identified for the next system have sloping bases and lend themselves to dumping of the waste once it gets blown clear of the packed media.

A key feature of your new design is large pipe sizes - near nil headloss so possibly where you gain efficiencies for pumping

That certainly helps.

Gary

[bigdaddy]

Hi Gary,

Once again thanks for all that.I know you had to repeat yourself so,thanks.I guess me asking all those questions saved other people doing it so hopefully it has helped to inspire others to.

I know this is a complex one but how many of your Jades and Murray cod are you planning to put into your system,and at about at what weight are you planning to take them out?I know its complicated but if you just give me your numbers of fish,and about how many Jades and Murray cod at the same weights you think the system is capable of. That would help.

Cheers.

[GaryD]

Hi,

Once again thanks for all that.I know you had to repeat yourself so,thanks.I guess me asking all those questions saved other people doing it so hopefully it has helped to inspire others to.

Don't be concerned about asking questions........we all started in the same place and we are all (well most of us anyway) are still learning. I only demonstrate impatience around those who think that they know it all already.

I know this is a complex one but how many of your Jades and Murray cod are you planning to put into your system,and at about at what weight are you planning to take them out?I know its complicated but if you just give me your numbers of fish,and about how many Jades and Murray cod at the same weights you think the system is capable of. That would help.

Initial indications are that this system will be able to support 60kg - 75kg of fish biomass......depending on the species and the feed they eat. That translates into 120 to 150 fish of around 500 grams (a bit over a pound for our US colleagues).

Gary

[bigdaddy]

Hi Gary,

That's great,for me,that would mean all going well,2 or 3 trout or barramundi a week in 6 months to a years time!

Is your swirl filter new?where did you get it from?and how much did you pay for it?

Cheers.