Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hmmm... so where can you get it

500g sounds like fun.....

For the fire bugs get the anodes from a hot water service put one end in a fire till it lights and then hang it in a tree burns for nearly an hour mate from the tip went to the murry for 5 days with 20 and lots of drums of kooking oil

Over here, steel barrels used for engine oil, hydralic fluid and anti-freeze are marked and have a deposit on them, so we can not get one time use barrels of this type.

One thing a friend of mine recommended in making a barbeque grill/smoker out of a used steel oil drum/tank is to build a fire in it to burn out any residue. If properly done, after the drum/tank has been cut into two halves or a door opening has been cut into it, it can be safely done.

Kevin

Thinking bout dropping a lit firelighter into them to see if anything burns. Picked up 3 barrels earlier in the week for 10bucks each, will clean them, bitumen paint and give it a fly. Results on my thread down the track.

I wish we could get them so reasonably priced here, even the plastic ones go for a lot more than that.

Kevin

Hey moke. Find a local lube shop, go in and ask 'em what they do with their empties. They will have them 4 sure and be glad to get rid of them.
I am finding them a fair bit of work, but pretty rewarding.
Cut them in half with a grinder, (bungs out first,) wash with warm soapy water inside and out, let dry, then coat with ur fish safe bitumen paint. I presume this is available in a range of brands. We pay about 10 bucks per litre. I am using Gripset here.
Stand em up and face them into the sun. You can recoat in an hour or so.
I have painted 20 half barrels inside and one bath tub with 2 coats. I still have about a litre out of my 4lt tin left. By the time i give the insides another coat and do the outsides 2-3 times it will cost me $85 to adequately do 20 half barrels. For simple sake, let's say 100bucks for 20 halves or 5 bucks per half. Barrel cost is 5 bucks per half, so for 10 bucks you get a fishsafe coated steel barrel GB that should last for yonks. Bit more plumbing than larger GBs but eminently suited to smaller operations. I will start a second system thread with pics soon and let people know how things go.

No good. Most of the lube shops here buy thier oil in bulk. It comes in a tanker truck and they pump it into storage tanks. The used oil goes into another set of storage tanks and gets pumped out into tanker trucks that haul it back to be re-refined. If they don't use bulk oil, they use oil in 5 qt or 1 gallon jugs or 1 qt bottles. Then they put the used oil into used 55 gal barrels or bulk tanks for removal at a later time.

Kevin

Hey guys with the magnesium thing epson salts is magnesium sulphate which is available to the plants straight away. It's what we use in hydroponic nutrient mixes. Also what about the leaching of the bitumen and being absorbed by the plants and then the person who eats them? Just because it doesn't kill the fish doesn't mean its not bad for them. Just though i asked as i'm a newbie and it's probably worth adding that I'm really paranoid about leaching. :-s

Cheers

Mokevinb,
I can get steel barrels here for $7 each, and as the volume goes up the price goes down, as low as about $4-5 each. How many you want?

They were all used for fruit juice concentrate.... clean... they either smell like Apple, Grapefruit, Orange, Grape, Mango,.... etc.

I can get them by the houndreds, and with a week or two notice by the thousands. If anyone can use them let me know.

[quote="Mathew"]Mokevinb,
I can get steel barrels here for $7 each, and as the volume goes up the price goes down, as low as about $4-5 each. How many you want?

They were all used for fruit juice concentrate.... clean... they either smell like Apple, Grapefruit, Orange, Grape, Mango,.... etc.

I can get them by the houndreds, and with a week or two notice by the thousands. If anyone can use them let me know.[/quot

what part of the usa are u in?

I think Mathew's in Texas, almost in Mexico. Bit of a haul from Nevada. Worse from Pennsylvania.

Yes, I am in South most Texas,

You might be surprised at freight. If you think you might want some, let me know how many and I will try to find out how much it would cost to get it to you.