Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey guys & gals.....

If anyone says aquaponics is not addictiing, then they haven't really tried it.....

I got an email yesterday from a previous sign customer... they had a 2' (.60m) x 5' (1.5m)
galvanized round stock tank.......and said I could have it for the low low price of FREE!!

So I couldn't turn that down.....

I went and picked it up today and it's in great shape.... the sides are thick with a solid
bottom on it.....

it has a little surface rust on a couple of places on the inside and zero on the outside

It comes out to about 275 gallons (1041L) and will make a great FT.

my question is aimed at the U.S. people mostly..... I will need to coat the inside and not sure exactly what I need for this to make it fish safe... as this is my first galvanized tank.....

also... If I decide to sink it in the ground a little... whats the best coating to put on the outside and the bottom to protect it... we have a high water table here and it will stay wet for weeks at times....

Thanks
JT

Keep going JT!

There is Sanitred Permaflex that may be good for this, not too expensive either.
http://www.sanitred.com/WaterFountain.htm

There are epoxy coatings but they are too expensive IMHO. In Australia they can get bitumen coatings i.e. asphalt and that would work too I think but I haven't been able to find that in the US that looked safe - would be the same as driveway sealant I think.

thanks Dave....

bookmarked their site and asked a couple questions also...

jT

+1 on the bitumen emulsion, although it is probably a bit different to driveway paint

Try this stuff it is available in the US ..

http://www.rubberizeit.com/

In fact if and whn I want it I will have to order thru the America company..

Juergen

Thanks snow

I bookmarked that site and also asked a few questions....

I'm planning on using an indexing valve and 3 - 50 gallon stock tanks.... in a semi-circle
around the tank...

will probably sink the tank about a foot or so...

got to get my outdoor system sump tank in first ....

just a quick update....

plans change as now I am going to pout 4 100 gallon rubbermaid stock tanks around

the FT in a radial fashion.....

got my pump in and air pump on the way... now to get the stock tanks... and find time to
work on it...

will post a design when I get it....

jT

JT... I used a bitumen emulsion on my cement tanks and I think I would not try and use it on a galv tank. It comes off! I would prime with a galvanized primer followed by a epoxy primer and then epoxy paint. IMO. You wouldn't want it peeling off and then your fish start pegging. Another thing is that it is black so not ideal for seeing your fish in the tank. I know from experience...

I like the idea of a radial arrangement...

I was looking at epoxy paint as well as the rubberized coatings....

my worry with the epoxy paint is how it would hold up on seams and such since the metal
tank will most likely expand and contract with the heat and cold...

I had some one here suggest powder coating..... anyone know if this is safe?

Im trying to get more info on that now...

jT

Here's a first proof...

this is a plan view and shows the 100 gallon stock tanks in a radial
position around the 300 gallon tank. the FT will be burried about 12" into the ground
to keep the GB tops from being to high....

jT

Nice score. Free is always good.

If I ever did something like this (thought about it from time to time) my thoughts would be to run one bed constant flood at a time, and switching to the next bed using manual valves (four of them) at feeding time. So with your four beds one is constant flood and the other three are empty but moist, and the longest one would have to wait would be 12 hours * (number of beds(4) - 1) = 36 hours to the next flood. Add as many more as you would want, using another tub and valve and standpipe. No timers or sequencing valves. One downside I've thought of is that the nitrifying bacteria might not be optimized if they go too long between flooding.

Might fill at one end of the tub and have the standpipe at the FT end instead of the center of the tub.

Edit: Or maybe just have a hose that you hang on each tub in turn, only pipes would be for the drains.

only downside I see for doing it that way is in the summer time, the GB's would probably dry out with the heat we have here in southeast NC......

also.. If I wanted to go away for a week, I would have to set it up a different way... and then change it back....

It's still in the thought and design stage....

JT

Another thought, have water running to all of them, have only one standpipe overflow installed into a tub at a time. At feeding time or whenever the mood strikes "pass the baton" to a different tub to flood it. All of the tubs would have some water running through the bottom continuously, one would be flooded all the way up at a time.

Edit: Might be fun to be able to mix up just watering the bottom by removing the stand pipe, constant flood (by adding a removable standpipe), and flood and drain (through a removable bell/Affnan siphon?)

Continuous Flow/Constant Flood would simplify the system (no indexing valves), keep the water volume up and stable in the fish tank, plus the plants would not get to hot in the Summer.