Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Are there many low-price retail bio-filters avaliable or should I consider building one myself?
My most likely choice for for a tank is this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=4634028
At $99, I can barely pass it up. It also appears to be built sturdily, and because it will be indoors I'm not too worried about it.
I believe that I will be growing rainbow trout because they are by far the easiest for me to get and they wont mind my cold basement conditions.
Is it worth the hassle to build an incubating system and trying and grow these trout from egg?
I don't mind the idea of buying fingerings but I am enthusiastic about the savings involved in raising the fish from eggs.
I'd also like to set-up a system so that I get staggered harvests to supply myself with fresh fish every one or two weeks. Would separating the tank using mesh nets and then separating the fish by their size be a practical way to accomplish this?
Also, what capacity pump do you expect I'll need with a 1,200 gal tank? Same question goes for aeration. If anything, I'd like to over-aerate this tank. What power air pump would be required to achieve high levels of aeration for a tank this size?
Also, do you think it will be necessary to heat the tanks (assuming room temps will remain around 60 F)?
Thanks for the time and patience in answering these questions.
What I'm really curious to know is: How much would it be to put together a shoe-string trout operation using the above tank indoors in a basement in Chicago?

Correction, it appear this pool is: 1,800 gal

Actually trout from egg is not easy for a beginner in fish farming,they are really fragile, i'd say to start keeping juveniles alive to plate size for a start. But you'll be capable of doing it one day for sure, but better learn the basic fish maintenance before.
And doing only a few eggs to fingerlings will cost you more than buying some fingerlings every now and then.

Don't forget that a fish population is not homogen, it follows a gauss curb.
You'll have a few big fish, a majority of mediums and a few small in each batch, and the second batch big fish will probably catch up with the smaller ones of the first batch. All is question of growth rate and grading the fish. I've calculated that with 3 fish batches a year you can have more or less always the desired sizes in the system only the quantities will vary a bit but are still in the sale size.



Make cages from mesh or nets, net is better and easier to do and stock when unused. Do a floating ring with PVC pipe and attach to it the cage net. Don't forget to keep the density of fish in cages always around 3-5 kg/L, so small cage for fingerlings, and then few cages for growout (each one can be used to get a better graded batch). I believe that cages will be easier to use than separations in the pool because you'll be able to take them out and stock them, for fishing or checking the fish it will be easy to lift the cage to concentrate the fish and they will probably last longer than just pieces of mesh if well done from the begining.



The air pump would be around 20 L /min on a repartitor to have airstones in each cage or separation. It would keep you out of trouble for sure, i use one for 15 aquariums in my fish room. Plug the air on battery as they don't use much current, plug a battery charger from the mains on the battery it will make sure you'll have a safety system as trout can't live long without DO, 2-4 hours of power out will kill the stock for sure. Search for Resun air pump, they are cheap pumps from China, and they seem to work even if they don't look well finished.


Depends on growbed size and volume. Trout will need a fair big amount of biofiltration because there food is extremely rich in protein which will give a big amount of ammonia and are quite sensitive to it.



The principle of AP is to have a growbed for biofilter, even if there are no plants in it the gravel will always act as a biofilter. It will cheaper for you to get big growbeds full of gravel and plant them only in summer than building a biofilter that would be useless for plant cultivation.

And heating wise, i'd put a heater in it, they have a thermostat integrated in them and would only switch on when needed, than having a bad surprise in the morning and having to start everything from scratch.

Why don't you get eco light bulbs adapted to plant cultivation and grow low light demand plants in winter, it would be of good value specially if sold in winter. Nice lettuce could be sold for more than what it would cost in electricity. Have you seen Slicer Dicer's system, he grows indoor in his basement too, check the last pics and you'll see it can be quite a good bargain growing under lamps in AP.

Hope i've answered a few questions even if i know that each answered questions opens the way to ten unanswered ones.
Have fun and i'll keep watching your progress with great interest.

Re: the beginning of this thread: coincidentally, another of today's topics also deals with an above ground pool. But it seems the pool has a liner sprayed with chemicals designed to prevent the formation of algae or mould. The Walmart pool may have a similar "protection" that fish may not enjoy.

I'd ask before you buy.

Adrian

Every hatchery that I have seen or have worked at (back in the day) always had running water over the trout eggs. That in my mind makes raising trout from roe a little more difficult then other speices.

Shawn

I just got off the phone with Intex and the rep said: "To my knowledge, our pool are constructed of virgin vinyl and should not leech chemicals into the water if taken care off properly". Then again, he also didn't sound very credible. Sounds like I need to talk to an engineer or something to get some real answers,

Here's some more info from their website:

Easy Set Pools have SUPER-TOUGH 30 gauge sidewalls that are made with 3 separate layers of material for extra strength & durability: 2 outer layers of heavy-gauge PVC are laminated to an inner layer of polyester mesh for extra reinforcement!

More durability - Made with SUPER-TOUGH Plastic, a high density molecular PVC plastic that is unaffected by gasoline, oil and salt water. SUPER-TOUGH Plastic is also highly resistant to damage from abrasion, impact and sunlight. This hybrid plastic allows more air pressure for rigidity thus the pool wall is very stable.

Does this sound credible?
The last thing I want is plastic residue in my damn fish. But oh my, I would love to spend less than $100 per grow out tank!

I'd say that for short term use (1-2 years of use) they would be better than eating asian fish or eating over medicated veggies. The dosing of chemicals will be lighter than commercial products.

If they aren't food grade there is no way it is good for long term use.
Every plastic leachate anyway but the leach is more or less important.
If you can get to an engineer in the company it would make things clearer.

If it doesn`t harm the kiddies..it`ll prolly be ok for fish
Most aquatic products usually state not harmful to plants or fish.. meaning it won`t kill them, but thats no guarantee it doesn`t leech stuff that doesnt actually kill them

I don`t think the pool would be any less safe than a normal pvc pond liner, which are probably rated for ornamental rather than edible fish but are generally considered safe for AP.

If your putting it in your basement you may want to seriously think about dehumidifiers. The humidity from that much wateran quickly cause major damage to the structure above it. I had to do some pretty decent repairs just running a 100 gallon for a couple years.

The liners are treated also in those ponds but I have seen several people use them as fish ponds.

Robert

[quote="loftyendeavors"]Are there many low-price retail bio-filters avaliable or should I consider building one myself.

It would be cheaper to build your own check into some of the saltwater reef site or cichlid sites for details on large filters.
_____________________________________________________
My most likely choice for for a tank is this: http://www.walmart.com/catalog/product. ... id=4634028
At $99, I can barely pass it up. It also appears to be built sturdily, and because it will be indoors I'm not too worried about it.

Need to make sure where you place it is very smooth and close to level might be smart to put carpet padding under it or foam sheathing for a good non abrasive surface.____________________________________________________
I believe that I will be growing rainbow trout because they are by far the easiest for me to get and they wont mind my cold basement conditions.
Is it worth the hassle to build an incubating system and trying and grow these trout from egg?
I don't mind the idea of buying fingerings but I am enthusiastic about the savings involved in raising the fish from eggs.
I'd also like to set-up a system so that I get staggered harvests to supply myself with fresh fish every one or two weeks. Would separating the tank using mesh nets and then separating the fish by their size be a practical way to accomplish this?
Also, what capacity pump do you expect I'll need with a 1,200 gal tank? Same question goes for aeration. If anything, I'd like to over-aerate this tank. What power air pump would be required to achieve high levels of aeration for a tank this size?
Also, do you think it will be necessary to heat the tanks (assuming room temps will remain around 60 F)?
Thanks for the time and patience in answering these questions.
What I'm really curious to know is: How much would it be to put together a shoe-string trout operation using the above tank indoors in a basement in Chicago?

Again look at a few Reef aquarium or Cichlid sites most have calculators to figure out air and pump needs for larger systems. Reef Central and the GARF site are a couple of good ones. Although they mainly deal with saltwater reef systems much of the info is easily used for this type application.
Robert.quote]