Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Has anyone tried pool covers over their tanks? My pond is down to 14 degrees and the sp dont like it. Any ideas about heaters would be welcome.
Just had 18 solar panels put on the roof so electric should be the way to go , we can now sell excess power back to the grid and are reducing carbon emissions in our little way!
AP versus lawn has to help as well
Tandanus (catfish) are supposed to handle cold better than sp .I s that right ?
Thanks for any help offered,
Colin

Hi Colin, don't know that anyone has specifically tried pool covers, but as their intended purpose is to retain heat it would seem a logical choice.... think any cover is probably better than none.....

Out of curiousity, what are you panels rated at, individually and collectively..... any projections how much you may generate/consume on average??

Do you mind if I ask how much it cost all up??

Good to hear you have solar panels

My silver perch are currently at 10 degrees and are happy, and feeding, however are growing VERY slowly due to the temp, havent had any experience with tt's though

Thanks Rupert,think its 2200 watts whatever it is my meter goes backwards when the sun is shining!
Thats with the house running as normal and 2 ap pumps as well.

Your AP pumps 12 or 24v??... or 240v, everything through convertor

guess, being that it's all new, you can't really tell how it'll go through winter, rainy (lol) days etc...

real keen to look at systems like this myself.... can you PM me more info...

The main thing I would think you might have to keep an eye is the O2 perfusion level. The pool cover might raise your tank temps, but it might also retain the CO2 or the N. Hopefully, someone else can provide more intelligent information on this than me. My only knowledge is that people here who use solar pool covers to keep the water from freezing in thier swimming pools end up having to dump all kinds of chlorine into it in the spring to get rid of the nasty septic looking soup that is in there.

Kevin

you could still run an air stone in the water under the cover, i guess

Rupert theyre 240 volt.
Kevin and Steve,Ihave a 30 watt aerator running through soaker hose in bottom of pond ,running 24 / 7 should look after o2 needs .Another advantage is it should cut down on algae buildup in system.
Any comments greatly appreciated!
Maybe someone can give me an idea of heaters to add to system? Been looking through old threads but cant seem to find anything.

Colin
I have Tandanus and Silvers in the same tank which currently has water temps of around 11c. The Tandanus definately seem happier at that temp than the Silvers.

Bubble wrap may be a cheaper alternative...JP made a special model for her tank, with patent pending

You can get a very thick and stiff version of bubble wrap. I saw some today ... it was blue and stood up on its own ... stiff as a board!

If I was using a pool cover to conserve heat loss, I would also make sure I had air input using pumps or compressors to have reasonable Dissolved Oxygen.

But I would also consider using black poly pipe systems and / or cheap second hand solar hot water systems to increase temperature. Maybe controlled using time switches and temperature control systems to heat the ponds.

I guess it depends on how far you want to go and how much you have to pay for them?