Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all.

I'm really new to this so please forgive the asking. I've been looking at this site and am really impressed with the amount of knowledge that everyone has and how helpful everyone is.

I've purchased 1 IBC but, I've been in contact with Gemmel who's put me straight on blue barrels and the high costs of the piping needed to set them up as GBs. He was suggesting old bathtubs but, I must also please She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed (Happy wife - Happy Life ) and she wouldn't let me have anything that looks bad.

So I have two options that I can think of. I need to purchase some inexpensive containers for GBs or maybe build a trough like box that will have a liner.

Anyone have any good suppliers for one or the other? I do make frequent trips to Buffalo and Erie PA so I could pickup in the US and bring back over the border.

Thanks in advance for your helpful advise.

Hey all.

I just sourced a local company that sells IBCs for $65 but, it had water based paint in it. Do you think that this would wash out and be able to use for GBs?

Please let me know.

thefishingangler

I don't know about the IBC's that contained paint. Remember the IBC's need to be protected from the sun as best you can and I'm not sure they look much better than bathtubs.

I've taken to using Stock tanks from tractor supply for grow beds. If you have an in ground sump tank or fish tank, all you need is some concrete blocks as a stand for the 100 gallon stock tanks. Sure they are extra deep as grow beds but that isn't a bad thing. My big system now has 6 100 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks tied in as grow beds (and my front porch has two more tanks (one is a fish tank and the other a grow bed.) I will soon be adding two more 100 gallon stock tank beds to replace the last of my original lumber/liner grow beds that is still hooked to the main system. I've found that lumber and liner can have issues in termite territory.

Thanks for replying TCLynx.

What's the cost you had on the tanks? Do you have a link that I could take a look at?

Thanks again,
thefishingangler

http://www.tractorsupply.com/livestock/livestock-equipment/stock-tanks-accessories/stock-tanks/stock-tank-100-gal-2229901

The 100 gallon and the 300 gallon seem to be the best deals per gallon.

About $70 US plus tax for the 100 gallon and about $210 US plus tax for the 300 gallon.

If you really want to go with shallower grow beds like the standard minimum 30 cm or 12 inches, then the 50 gallon stock tank can work but costs almost as much as the 100 gallon stock tank.

TC!

I thought of your stock tanks when reading the first part of this thread and was going to make the recommendation, but you beat me to it!!

CB

That funny countryboy, because I thought of you (I think it's you) and your very nice looking, homemade GBs.

thefishingangler, you should click on the link for his system.

edit - look on page 9

my fishtank is a 110 gallon stock tank from tractor supply, it happened to be the best deal at the time..
if blue barrels won't cut it, i saw a system on here that had a long water tank, like 8' or so.. look on craigslist under farm and garden..
i'd love to find growbeds like BYP has..

don't get us wrong, blue barrels can work a treat. Just remember that for each 1/2 barrel you are only getting about 20-25 gallons of gravel bed. If you are spending much money for the barrels and also having to build stands and buy plumbing fittings, blue barrels are suddenly not as cost effective. And some people don't like the bright blue, personally I think the bright blue barrels are great.

If you cut blue barrels around the middle so they are round beds, they don't require special supports to keep them from bowing. When cut the long way, blue barrels need extra structures to support them nicely.

So I guess the moral of the story is, blue barrels are great if they are free or at least really really cheap. But as soon as you are spending $15 or more on the barrels themselves, they are suddenly not quite as cost effective anymore once you figure the costs of support structures and the extra plumbing.

Thanks for all the quick replies.

I think that I might go towards the IBC ($100 for a used food grade) cut in half which would give me a surface area of 24 square feet. The 100 gallon tank would be great except that the surface area would be significantly less and another $40 right?

I will probably setup like stretch viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7382&p=229208&hilit=chop#p229208

Do you think that this is the better option? Maybe it's worth if for the difference in getting a quality container?

If the IBC's are acceptable to the wife and you can get them for $100 and don't have to do a bunch of special cleaning of them, I suppose the price comes out good since for 200 gallons of grow bed you would spend $140 plus tax for stock tanks.
Just gotta cut the IBC's and dress them up to protect the plastic from UV.

Good luck with it!

Thanks for the info.

This will be located in my garage and I will use grow lights. I didn't think that they put out UV but, I'll investigate. Any idea on how long it would take to have the plastic break down normally outside? If it's a couple of years I probably would have setup something better by that point.

Thefishingangler

Metal Halide lights emit UV while High Pressure Sodium does not. Neither do fluorescent.

Hey I had this Problem with my Wife when i first started.... she was all up on the mess side of things and how its going to look etc.... then if u start showing her pics on here of ppls systems, she will see how good it work, and how cheaply you can do it with Recycled items to have such good outcomes.... she will prolly get over it... as mine has now she is just interested in when "We" will have fish hahahahahaha i can see her wanting a GB of her own Etc.....

Ps. My Wife is an obsessive compulsive Clean freak.... like if the kids leave a book on the table and i leave a paper and 1 pair of shoes out.. she will use the term OH MY GOD look at this Pigsty... and will proceed to disinfect the house.

so maybe iv taken this overagsaturation a little far but it gets a bit like that.... now u should see my yard with AP stuff hahaha its GREAT!

Wives convert when friends start taking an interest when you have fish and plants no one takes notice of what they are in, and when people start saying "what a wonderful idea and setup" wives tend to make out it was their idea all along...... trust me from experience you will find as I did that you will need more grow beds to grow what you actually want it's the nature of the beast