Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

A neighbour is doing a big council cleanup as they are knocking down their house.

In the pile are 3 kids body boards and heaps of thick old sofa cushions...

Could I recycle these as insulation around the FTs in my shed?

You could, but it sounds like it would be a bit messy! You'd have to put some sort of shroud around it all, and minimise any gaps for it to be most effective.

it will work just fine, the pillows will no longer work if they get wet (when they are wet) so keep them dry and all is good.

I was thinking I'll just squish the sofa cushions between the FTs and the wall of the shed where they'll be more hidden. Can't hurt right?

Going on the theory you need to turn over your water every hr as soon as you pump your water out to the grow beds your water will take on what ever temp the outside air is anyway
Just go with the flow and use fish that suits your temp
Getting into heating and cooling costs big bucks
The only way to heat or cool is if everything is in the same enclosure
And that's mega bucks

The shed my FTs are in is made of zinc alums and gets pretty damn hot in summer.

Insulation is a must I'm afraid.

I'm thinking - use the body boards as floating beds??

Are you using an air pump and where will it be

F&F.... it doesnt take on the ambient temp in one pass.
insulating the tank will help slow down temp changes in both directions.
she never said anything about battling the elements to stock fish she shouldnt.

she just wants to put something that will be thrown out to good use, i applaud her.

I am all for putting stuff to good use you want to see my sheds and yard
As I have said before great innovations have been made in aquaponics over the last 10 years by experience
Not knocking the girl just saying what I have found over 10 years

Missed out on the sofa cushions but I got the boogie boards before council got there. Kids love them - especially as one features Nemo... Now I just need 20 more boogie boards exactly like that one lol

Unless you can form a full layer without big gaps, they wont do anything, other than be annoying when you want to uncover the tank

What sort of temperature range are you seeing in the water between early morning and late afternoon on a typical day, with the pumps running?

Sorry I mean by experementing