Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A funny looking catfish, and these cool megbins they use in the saltwater area. Their setup is made by RK2; all the saltwater aquariums each with just a few fish were sitting on top of their own megabin full of bioballs.

Glad you enjoyed your shopping trip. That place is awesome. I ended up ordering 2 50gal acrylic tanks from PetSmart for breeding and fry. Filters, heaters, etc from That Fish Place. I just mail order most stuff because it's too dangerous for me to go to the store. Too much stuff I would see and have to buy!

Hi Dave,

You already know how I feel about mega bins so the photo with them all lined up is a real teaser for me. With that set up, it would be fish for dinner three times a week.

I like your concentric tank idea. On a similar theme, have you considered a raceway tank.......a long narrow tank perfectly suited to your 'basket' idea.

A long rectangular tank might be a little easier to engineer than the concentric version.....and it would be a more efficent use of the space.

Fish don't need to swim in circles but they seem to like riding currents which you can replicate in a long tank. A raceway tank can be sectioned off using dividers......to enable you to keep different ages and species within the same tank.

With all of that, however, I have to say that the idea of a concentric tank (or tanks) is appealing.

Gary

Those megabins would be so awesome to have!

Hey DT:
I'm going to try to source one or two, just in case.

http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/pro ... y=30002122

http://www.globalindustrial.com/gcs/pro ... gridAnchor

https://trorderonline.thomasregister.co ... rchstring=

The new fish (from Janet) are doing really great right now. They are perky and hungry. I have been feeding them three times a day and the ammonia hasn't metered any increase so that's good. I am feeding them about 1 tablespoon of crushed Bronze feed from Zeigler Bros whose mill is about 20 minutes from here and like three pinches of goldfish flakes per feeding.

The plant growing side hasn't been hooked up yet as the wide spectrum fluorescent lights appear to be woefully indequate. I am looking at ordering one of these which should work great until the plant growing operation can be relocated upstairs in the Spring:

light

I bought Janet's 70 gallon Rubbermaid container from her for a steal, and that will be the new sump. When that is hooked up I can add the other two growbeds and the other pump.

Have been sick as a dog for the past week, the outside temperature is supposed to change by 30F/19C tomorrow afternoon and the heating load should be a little easier.

Will look forward to your progress with the new fish. Mine are growing like gang busters now. It is so much fun just to watch them grow.

Hey DT:
Yep, it is a blast just feeding them!

They were extremely hungry tonight and it was gone in like two seconds. I got new test kits today and the ammonia and nitrite are still fine, so things are going along great right now, temp is 82/83. I ordered the grow light yesterday so when that comes the high nitrates can be dealt with too and we can get some salads going.

The strip-style test must be way off, because with the drip test tonight the pH registered like 7.6. The strip has been saying less than 7 so huh? I guess the shells actually did move the pH but I couldn't tell from the crappy test kits.

I'm also getting very different readings from strips as opposed to a drop test! My strip says 6.8, but the drop test is reading about 7.4. My drops are very old though, and the colors are hard to read over 7.2. I was blaming that for the differing readings. I have a new test kit on order that will be much cheaper to use, and we'll see what readings it gives.

I am believing the drops instead of the strip, because I had been trying to get the pH up and it kept saying 6.2 or so, no matter how much shells and dust went in. I had started wondering if high nitrates somehow made it impossible to move the pH up or something. Since my test kit seems to be topped out at 7.6 I am going to get a high pH kit to see where it really is. I am hoping this isn't a repeat of my experience earlier where the shells got the pH above 8 and I couldn't get it back down no matter what. Anyway the fish seem fine and I am not going to try changing the pH except by topping up the water from week to week.

There are pH meters less than $50 that are much more accurate than strips. I have trouble reading the strips accurately. The meter is on its way. A merchant I found to have name brands at very good prices is e*seasongear at eBay. I went high end and got a multimeter that reads pH, ORP, EC, and Temp for $140(HANNA HI98204). And a DO meter for $170(Milwaukee SM600). Both are name brands with good reputations.

That light from ebay looks excellent. I think that will really do a good job. I am tempted, but way over budget now.

Aren't we all hahahahaha

I added up the costs of everything that makes up my current system:

The second number is for any items that are being added on to complete the full system with four beds, two pumps, bigger sump, etc.

($ US)
Tub: 60
40 watt pond pump(s): 40/80
PVC fittings:
-Sump Drain: 15
-Siphons: 20
Beds: 20/40
Sump: 15/35
Drain screen (to keep the fish out of the drain pipe): 5
Heaters 700 watts (300 & 400 tubes): 80
Lights (MH/HPS switchable light from eBay): 210
Metal Shelf (from Sam's Club): 60
Tests pH, Ammonia, Nitrite drops: 30
Food 33lb bag of tilapia pellets 15, tiny cichlid pellets 10, goldfish flakes 0: 25
Seeds: 10
Crushed oyster shells: 10
Bubbler: 20
Gravel 100 gallons (gravel place will give you about 30 gallons for $2): 10
Scotch Brite pads box from Sam's Club: 5
PVC pipe: 25
Foam, blue board and white with reflective backing: 50
Batt insulation and garbage bags: 0

So, the totals are $710 for the current system and $790 for the "completed" system with 100 gallon/400L fish tub, 70 gallon/260L sump, and 100 gallons/400L of gravel beds.

I guess I forgot the fish! They were about $125. So that makes it $915!

You will be making some expensive salads for a while!

Tomorrow will be a big day. I got 40 gallons of gravel for $2, then got a new pump identical to the other one, also the PVC fittings to hook up the pump and two new siphons, and my new grow light came tonight! I will be finishing up the system with the new grow beds, pump, sump, and grow light, hopefully all up tomorrow!!! Really looking forward to start growing plants again, it is going to be really neat to do when the weather is below freezing. The Summer system grew a lot in three months; if this system can grow some lettuce, tomatoes, and peppers that will be a victory over the darkness and cold!