Jobney's system log

[jobney]

Still cycling my system no nitrite yet. Ammonia seems locked at .50. I have this red algae in the fish tank... is it sucking up all my ammonia?

[jobney]

I added some more fish on Monday. The ammonia is 0, nitrite is between 0 and .25, and the nitrate is between 0 and 5. I guess It's time to order and build the NFT channels and rack. Hopefully the blackout fabric cover the wife makes for the fish tank will kill off all the cyanobacteria / algae.

[Pugo]

Looks like everything is moving a long for you Jeff. Everything takes time as I was told before, but once you hit balance you should have a good system.

[Sherman]

Jobney great looking system. I have a couple of questions. Where did you get your k1 and also the round drain that is in your fish tank?
Thanks
Sherman

[jobney]

That is not K1 media. It is called MB3 media and you can get it here.
http://www.w-m-t.com/Products/WaterT..._Bed_Media.php
It is much less expansive then K1.

The white overflow is the bottom of Home Depot 5 gallon bucket sawn off. They charge slightly more for the plain white one vs the orange one with store artwork.

More info. http://www.earthangroup.com.au/inter...plumbing/1082/

[keith_r]

stick with slip fittings.. i've only used pvc cement on the main connections after the pump, right at the pump, i have a union fitting to be able to replace it if necessary (the pump that is..)

[jobney]

I've done the same. I did need to glue some of the 2 inch pipes going in and out of the swirl filters as they were too heavy and would pull themselves apart via twisting. The PVC drain line sweeping elbows have shallow connections so less friction to hold them in place. I did not clue the 2" ball valves as they are expensive and have deep sockets.

stick with slip fittings.. i've only used pvc cement on the main connections after the pump, right at the pump, i have a union fitting to be able to replace it if necessary (the pump that is..)

[Cecil]

Jobney,

Thanks for the link to the MB3 media. It's half the price of the Kaldnes and that really makes a difference if you are using several cubic feet. Looks like it may be even better than the Kaldnes according to the linked study on the website.

I love my RBC's but I like the smaller footprint and economics of a just using a 55 gallon plastic drum, a diffuser mounted to the bottom and an inlet and outlet. I also like the self cleaning component of an MBBR (moving bed bioreactor), the ability to add aeration in a separate component, and if the power fails the bacteria doesn't die by drying out as in a trickle filter. Going to build one soon and see how it works.

I've been asked to present a small scale aquaculture system at a "Green" show in July and I think to keep costs down an Intex pool, utube siphon, barrel clarifier and barrel MBBR is the way to go. The entire system can be run on air too.

[jobney]

I ordered my commercial NFT channels today. I decided to get 4 Nursery Channels for the flexibility. The (12') finishing channels have 18 holes with 8 inch spacing. The nursery channels have 72 holes with 2 inch spacing. Normally you would have 1 Nursery Channel for every 4 finishing channels but I did not want to get stuck with 8 inch spacing. With the 2 inch spacing I can just cover holes I don't need.

I talked to them on the phone... They said they no longer need lipped as seen in the photos and that they were about to launch a new site sometime this week. http://www.amhydro.com/

[Earthan Group]

That is not K1 media. It is called MB3 media and you can get it here.
http://www.w-m-t.com/Products/WaterT..._Bed_Media.php
It is much less expansive then K1.

Interested to know how much cheaper Jobney? Considering it is only 70% of the surface area of K1.