Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

People who have perused the forum for any reasonable length of time will have seen at least one post from me and me desire to avoid the human hormone analogue chemicals in flexible PVC products that are endocrine disrupters (ie nasties).

Unfortunately these chemicals are everywhere and the most common use is as fire retardants. The vast majority of foam products are heavily laced with fire retardants in a vain attempt to prevent what is essentially solid petrol from burning in the event of a fire. The fact that they don't do this very well and that there is growing evidence of using them is placing at risk of a whole new class of health risks seems to be immaterial.

I have finally found a manufacturer who is willing to do a run of polystyrene for me which will not include the standard fire retardants. This was not easy. For them to do this they need to be willing to clean their lines of their machines to remove the fire retardant residue mix. Then they had to be willing to buy a non fire retardant premix because essentially it comes from the manufacturer of the base ingredients with the fire retardant already mixed in. Then of course they had to be willing to clean their lines again so they could go back to producing fire retardant polystyrene again.

Obviously to make this economical I have to order a reasonable quantity at once. Is any one interested in buying some off me? People who pre order can have material at cost because they will be helping me with my cashflow. Afterwards I'll need to make some money on whatever I sell.

I haven't decided what density to get yet so would appreciate some input on this. Lighter densities are cheaper but less durable, more dense mixes are more expensive but are stronger.

Why don't you just buy the regular stuff and paint it with pond liner?

There is still the substantial risk of the chemicals leaching out. If I didn't have a choice then sure.

Its a risk management strategy. Why contain a poison when you can eliminate it?

Hello Stuart

I am very interested in keeping chemicals out of my food.

I am just starting the build of my first aquaponics system and interested in sheet foam as follows:

1 x insulation cover for my fish tank (3,000 ltrs) Diameter 1,830 mm
(I would put this sheet into two or more smaller pieces - whatever works best)

1 x insulation / raft for my sump tank (2,000 ltrs) Diameter 2,145 mm
(I would also put this sheet into smaller pieces as I plan to grow duck weed and the like in this tank)

1 x raft for one of the growbeds (500 ltrs) 1,000 x 2,000 mm


Being that this is my first aquaponics build I understand something of the challenge you have overcome in finding manufacturers prepared to produce this product in this way. - Thank you very much for offering the opportunity for me to benefit from your work.

I am however controlled by my budget and will have to consider in that light should your offer be still current.

Thanks again
Rodney

Well done! How big an order do they need?
I would say the denser the better. Makes working with it and cleaning easier.
You could ad value by drilling holes and sell them with baskets.

I'd be happy to let you have some but shipping may be a bit expensive.

That aside the sheets will be cut from a block so that they will be 0.6m by 1.2m. You have given me the sizes of the tanks but you would need to tell me how many 0.6x0.1.2m sheets you would want. The reason I would need to know that rather than just the dimensions of your tanks is because you could get away with less sheets if you cut and trimmed to get the most out of any off cuts or if you wanted to use larger sheets you would have a less cobbled cover of foam but more off cuts.

I'd also need to know how thick you want the sheets.

See next post.

More is better because its means the cost of cleaning the machine before and after can be spread over multiple blocks. I need to order a minimum of 3.6m3 at a time. That translates into ~140m2 of 25mm sheet, 112m2 of 32mm sheet, 72m2 of 50mm sheet or any combination there of that adds up to 3.6m3.
The manufacture has said they will cut whatever thickness of sheet I want and within reason whatever mix of thicknesses I want.

I think that I will go with the denser foam if I can get either enough cash or enough people to come in with me. I've crunched some numbers and I think I can offer (have to confirm with the manufacturer):

25mm sheets for $7.5/sheet;
32mm sheets for $9.5/sheet;
50mm sheets for $15/sheet.

In the evil green box the heavier foam sheet is about $12/sheet and the 50mm stuff is about $22/sheet. I am not sure if this foam would be the same density but the high density sutff I would be ordering is apparently the highest density grade of foam so if not equal it would be denser than the evil box stuff.

When I had a chat with the manufacturer we disscussed that once I've established a market I could get a mold made so that they can come preformed.

I've also investigated getting them professionally painted. A friend of mine from church has a lot of automotive painting experience. We will be doing a number of trials on different paints and different ways of painting.

On selling the pots I'll probably be ordering a box of them as well. They are not too expensive but they come in boxes of 6000/box.

Hello Stuart

Thanks for that.

I have decided to aim at utilising foam for just the DWC part of my system. Just 3 sheets of the 50 mm product would be ideal to cover most of the 1 metre by 2 metre grow bed for this.

If that is helpful for you I would appreciate being part of what you are arranging. As I live in Condobolin I would have to figure how to transport the product - as you say that may be an issue.

Thank you so much for the opportunity.

Kind regards
Rodney

PS I am going to run my system as hydroponic initially - the fish won't take up residence until twelve or eighteen months down the track. So no need for a lid on their tank at this time.

Thanks again.

Well I know I am offering an introductory deal an all and I will be charging more on subsequent deals but I don't think I'll charge this much:

https://freshbydesign.com.au/products/aquaponic-floating-raft-foam-sheet

Your deal will always be more competitive Stuart as you are not including the nasties that come in the fire retardant of the others.

Thanks again for the opportunity.

Rodney

Well that is interesting the price just went from $118/sheet (bigger sheets than mine) to $88 a sheet.

And there is a new photo.

Hi Stuart,

I'm possibly looking for 14 sheets at 50mm also, with pots or other, preferably at a 200mm spacing and HD. Would need a freight quote though.

Interesting to see your link had dropped further.

Kind regards

Foam is ordered.

If anyone wants to specify a thickness different to 50mm now is the time to speak up.

Foam has arrived



Also got the 50mm pots and hydroton.

Nice. Do you go for themore dense foam? We used standard density and it was a bit weak, had to make a special raft lifter.