Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm wondering what people construct their lids from?

I know that Mantis uses modwood.
I've seen nets and metal grates.

I was thinking about pallet wood but not sure thats a good idea for run off (pine or hardwood)

I want to make it so I can walk on it.

Jay

As long as it is not treated timber, my sump has a hardwood frame and corrugated tin lid. If you want to walk on it use your judgement on material available. Cheers

Mine is similiar two lengths of solid timber that sit across the top with roof cladding , nice and light , put a couple of thicknesses on and you will walk on it ok .

Roof cladding 'duh' why didn't I think of that!

But what about just timber? too heavy I imagine.

I like the idea of timber for some insulation properties.

Or am I being silly?

I really want to know what pallet timber is made out of - I'm pretty sure its not treated.

am I having a 'blonde' moment, if I make the following statement...

Wouldn't insulating the top of the fish tank (basically enclosing the tank fully) reduce significantly the amount of oxygen in the space that's left inside, and any DO exchange inside isn't going to be very effective?

Most of the pallets I've seen have been made of untreated pine.
They are pretty much a disposable item and have a fairly short service life. To make them out of treated timber or hardwood, makes them too expensive.

There are hardwood pallets but not used as much in Aussie as it is cheaper to make pine disposable ones.

I can hear the folks lining up to have a go at this.

CCA Treated timber is fine, as long as its not in the water. I wouldn't use it if water is flowing over it, but occasional splashes fine. Its the only timber I use.

There is no proof that there is any leaching of C, C or A once the chemical has fixated. There is a heck of a lot of bad publicity about treated pine, but unfortunatly, most of it is not based on fact. It is not used as handrails and childrens play equipment any more because of the percieved risk to children.

There is more arsenic in a can of beer than in a 4 x post 1m long. The chrome changes state when it fixes to the timber.

CCA treated timber is still the best treatment for exposure to rain. If in doubt, give it a wash down first, and then paint it. Thats what most of us do for patios anyway.

Untreated pine pallets will rot. Do not burn CCA treated timber in you fire place, or in a BBQ. Very toxic either inhaled or eaten once burnt.

The bad publicity of CCA absolutely destroyed a lot of the huge playgrounds I use to play on as a kid. Those places were awesome. A-holes had to go destroy it all. I mean I haven't heard of anyone getting arsenic from those playgrounds. Then again its been a long time. It could be just old news. But as for the leaching.....

http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/2889/is-the-arsenic-in-treated-wood-dangerous

Granted that was using CCA treated wood in grow beds and testing the vegetables that were grown in them for just arsenic for the University of Minnesota study. Direct soil contact with 10 year old beds. Then again the EPA also did a study (albeit not an in depth one) that made a conclusion that applying some sort of seal or coating can reduce the dislodging of Arsenic, Chromium, or Copper from CCA wood; but only for several months.

http://www.epa.gov/oppad001/reregistration/cca/



This one just didn't make any sense. For CCA treated wood, that is not consumed, compared to beer, which is consumed........ You're going to have to show me some sort of study for that. I find it hard to believe that a beer company would sell a can of beer that contains more arsenic than a 1m long post of CCA treated wood. They would probably start losing customers to arsenic poisoning. Selling a product that kills your customers quickly is just bad business. Not only that but other potential customers would most likely not purchase their beer, due to the fact that it poisons them.

If using it in a greenhouse where prolonged contact with water is unlikely, pressure treated wood (other than CCA treated wood because its heavily regulated or banned in most developed countries) is a good idea. I use PT wood for my growbed supports.

Anyways, talking about the use of CCA treated wood is just plain outdated. Its been banned/heavily regulated in most developed countries. Now most pressure treated wood is ACQ. Contains lots of copper but no arsenic. Now with ACQ there is increased leaching of copper. That's a whole nother story.

Sorry out here about all you get is CCA treated timber, AQC cost to much and most place do not stock it.

Ditto in Darwin ccBear, we can only get treated pine or rediculously expensive hardwoods. anything not treated gets turned to dust by the termites in a few months.

I have no problem in using CCA provided there is a barrier between it and the soil, Used treat pine sleepers for the wicking beds and seems to have worked a treat, and was about the only cost effective solution i had.

Zeknix, Sorry, I should have re-read what I wrote before pressing the submit button.

I am aware of those studies, it was alot of that evidence that got the changes happening. Some of the studies focussed on wipe tests, and determined that if children were to lick their hands they would ingest too much arsenic. Others were on increases in chemical found in the ground. I know we always say that it never hurt us playing on that equipment, but maybe it did and we don't know it.

The levels of arsenic in beer used to be alot higher than it is now. Diatromascious earth used to be used to clarify beer. It had traces of arsenic in it. It would be a problem if we drank beer like we do water, cups of tea, cooking... but we don't. Would we eat a block of wood, of course not, but the amount of arsenic that is in a post was the same as what was in the beer.

Fortunately the type arsenic in the wood gets passed out of the body when ingested. Some studies were done with cattle being fed sawdust mixed into their food, and it all passed through. Who thinks up these studies. Did the cow ask to be a lab rat?

CCA is still the most common available treated timber here in Aus, just not the volume of the alternatives produced - market demand I guess.

Durable hardwoods not common now either due to forests getting locked up, but thats another topic.

I used a piece of heavy duty coreflute - plastic sign stuff
Cut square to the dimensions of the IBC, the corners clip it to hold it in place
Lift in the middle they pop out and sort of pivots on back two corners
Bit of a trick to getting it back clipped down - have to flex it a bit from the middle- but easy once you work it out
Mines been like this for 3 years

I lost 3 dozen comet goldfish recently. My chemistry all seemed right, pH levels, ammonia, etc. They were fine for the first few months, but then within weeks, belly-up. The only thing I can attribute it to is the AC2 treated lumber lid and heavy rain run-off into the IBC. I cant be sure, but just sayin'.