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View Full Version : Poly Greenhouse water heating /indoor setup



mharmon0011
12-14-2013, 12:27 PM
BACKGROUND: So I have finished mocking up my system. 2 IBC, 1 Sump 1 Fish Tank, 2 IBC growbeds and 4 cut barrel Grow-beds.. I ordered the Laguna 1350 water pump, just FYI you can get a free $30 Laguna Airpump currently when ordered with a 4 year warranty for $169, I thought it was a great deal considering warranty. I am using Blue Tilapia, claim that they can handle colder weather if needed down to 45F. I have found a quality breeder that is going to set me up. Luckily he is local so I am picking them up myself, gotta get a battery air pump, will be good for backup anyway. I plan on keeping indoor 2 regular 30 gallon heavy duty plastic tote tanks as fry holder (may only need one at first) and a 50 gallon aquarium for my 2 breeder sets to start off with. My original plan was to get a cycle of moving most of them outdoors when weather permits here on the North Carolina and Virginia border, and always leaving 2 breeding pairs indoors to allow them to replenish my stock when I harvest my outdoor aquaponics fish going into every winter. I have bought a 12x12 Rhino Greenhouse with 20 mil polyethylene to put my aquaponics system in. Electricity here is some of the cheapest there is, I feel for some of you that have 5-10x the electrical cost. I will be able to run a very efficient blowing space heater to maintain things from freezing in the winter with hopefully no real issue.

Do these submersible water heaters actually work (esp if you use a couple)? If so any recommendations?Any other simple water heating options for a fully covered 20 mil greenhouse in winter in Virginia/Carolina? Having control over water and air temp I feel will give me the greatest odds in Winter. I would like to keep the fish in the system year round to grow winter able crops, and will probably keep some goldies in there due to hardiness as well. If I convert my indoor breeding and fry sets from typical aquarium setups to a small indoor aquaponic setup, are there any recommendations on cheaper light systems?

Thanks for all the help, I will be sure to unveil the final system when completed, and hopefully in time will be able to give quality information to others since so many have helped me.

mharmon0011
12-25-2013, 07:59 PM
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JCO
12-27-2013, 02:41 PM
I am using Blue Tilapia, claim that they can handle colder weather if needed down to 45F That's usually no lower than 50F and it all depends on how deep the water is and how long the temp stays below 50F. I raised approx. 300 Blues in my swimming pool last year and temps dipped into the 20s numerous nights but were always back up into the 40s and 50s during the day...never lost any but the water is 9' deep.

Yes submersable heaters do work but they are tircky because you can set them high enough to keep the water warm during the low temps at night but they tend to overheat the water when the temp comes back up during the day. But there again, it's according to how much water volume you are heating and how deep it is. Close monitoring is the only way to not cook your fish. :mrgreen:

foodchain
12-27-2013, 02:45 PM
I use a 1000 watt stock tank deicer for horses/cattle from Tractor Supply. Works great.

Roger L.
12-27-2013, 04:30 PM
Seems that I read about someone using some heating element that was metal and the coating started flaking off and killed all of his fish. Be careful what you use. I keep about 150 gallons in my fish tank and use a small submersible with a built in thermostat. It keeps my water very steady at about 70 degrees. My system is in the basement that stays in the mid 60's. Not sure how well it would do outside.