Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Glad to hear the fish are doing good. Definately next time you make your way down here, PM me ahead of time and we'll make arrangements.

Will you be ok with the fish if you don't get them out of the basement by winter? Or is that a safe place for them?

It could be other critters that are stirring up your outside fish. If you've got a lot of dog tracks around the fish tanks, then you are probably right. If you find other tracks or notice fish missing I'd suspect some other animals are making visits. Around here raccoons are regular visitors to fish ponds. I don't think they are that far north, are they?

Kevin

I think the fish will be OK but my wife isn't too keen on having
"stinky fish water" overflowing into the basement carpet.

well the answer seems pretty simple to me


remove the carpet

actually I've thought of that -- either painting the floor or else laying linoleum, but my little 1 1/2 year old climbs on everything and I feel more comfortable having some padding over the concrete. I'm thinking that my next indoor system will have some sort of secondary containment. I've also learned some of the disadvantages of a continuous flow system (sludge builds up in one spot, roots grow into pipes and drains, some spots are constantly dry, others always too wet) Also with the aquarium aquaponics, I was striving for space saving, practicality, and appearance. Seems that easy access to the tank and plumbing should be another design criteria.

Joel, urethane paint, the kind you get for garage floors works good for at least water proofing the floor. I ran coving along the edges to make a transition up the wall and painted the urethane over the transition and up the wall two feet. Has already worked well at preventing water from seeping into the walls. Since there is no drain in my floor I have to mop up spills. Last night I had a big one with the 3/4"pvc coming apart while I was refilling the sump tank. I have put down throw rugs, but they get too dirty, so I use those rubber industrial mats now. They are much easier to walk on too.

Joel, one problem your wife might not have recognized is that concrete is a pourous material and over time water can wick up from underneath. This can even happen with a basement that has a sump pump. As most people tend to lay the carpet and pad directly over the concrete without either sealing the concrete or putting down a vapor barrier they end up with a problem with the carpet sucking moisture out of the air and up through the concrete. The end result is that your pad is constantly damp and is a breeding ground for mold, mildew and bacteria. If you can bring yourself to do it, the most logical long term solution is to remove the carpet and pad and either put down a coating of an epoxy or urethane paint, install ceramic tile, marble or slate, or vinyl (true lineoleum is harder to find now a days.)

By the way, the National Safety Council did a study a number of years ago about injuries sustained by children falling on concrete or carpeted wooden subfloored floors. The net finding was that there was very little difference in the type or severity of injuries sustained. (The study of elder adults was different of course, but it might have had more to do with underlaying medical conditions, and the height to weight ratios resulting in different relative impact forces.)

Kevin

The urethane application is about $80 if I remember correctly, and I needed two application kits, so it was around $160. But I painted two feet up the walls so I only needed one kit to do roughly 320 square feet of floor space. These products change names so much that I think my kit is now called something else by Sherwin Willimas. It was called Epoxy Shield. I googled it and couldn't find it:(

OMG what did i start !!! was supposed to be a joke

Delgrade, we don't joke about such things. Nothing shall stand in the way of AP.

It's okay Del! But when you think of it in practical terms, a carpeted basement floor is just asking for problems.

Joel, how is the system doing? Have you got any pics of the giant Alaskan Cabbages to share, yet?

Kevin

no pictures yet. I do have a good sized tomato hanging on one of the vines.

Re the cellar: One would hope that moisture ingress from the soil is prevented via.
a waterproof membrane, ie builders plastic, installed during the pre-lay.
These days we use a slurpy (sump pump) to prevent ingress where the ground is higher than the slab.In Oz anyways.
C1

It depends here on how old your house is as to whether or not they used plastic under the floor when they poured it. In most areas the sump pump is not required if at least one side of the basement has a walk out or if it is not intended to be finished out. Besides the floor allowing weeping to occur you also have a problem with the joint between the wall and the floor as they are poured seperately, and there is the problems of improperly installed trench/footing drains, and wall sealing.

Joel, I saw the "Epoxy Shield" stuff at WalMart. It is put out by Rustoleum and was available in the automotive department. I've also seen similiar products at Lowe's and HD. It might be under different names and being produced by different manufacturers. The ones I like give you a base color coat and then a package of color chips that you spread onto it. The end result is a surface that looks like a terrazo floor.

I hope you get a bushel basket of them soon! Nothing like fresh tomatoes in the summer time!

Kevin

or in the winter time (according to Axl ) we've picked more than 13kg in the last 4 weeks