Hello from Northeastern Ohio

[Big Al]

Hello everyone i am currently in the build stage of my system inside a 20 x 48 greenhouse when finished there will be 3 systems each consisting of 2-275 ibc's 16 blue barrel grow beds gravel filled & 1-110 gallon sump tank. glad to be here been lurking for months. were looking helpful comments. And i'm glad to admit to my addiction :D pictures to follow in future thanks

[JCO]

Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers :mrgreen:

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Big Al.... :D

We need to see your pictures......it helps with the addiction !..... :lol:

[Big Al]

Hello sorrry about the slow response trying to deal with 1.8" of rain. Ive had since 8:00 pm sat night plus the 2.6" tuesday. And it just started raining again :evil: Hopefully its to clear up tommorrow so they say :roll: So little headway was made this weekend. I got the lumber for the barrel stands today. hopefully will start building them tommorrow & start plumbing them this week. now that school is out ive got a few extra hands. I'll have them work on trying to post photos this week. Thanks Big Al

[Ironfish]

Hi Big Al,

You're in my neck of the woods. Grew up in Huntsburg. Lived in Chardon for 20yrs. Live in Smithville now.
Are you from Orwell?

Ironfish

[Big Al]

hi ironfish, yes im in orwell. been real busy since our visit. finishing greenhouse and setting up system. lots of work. how are things in smithville and how are you. how are things growing. we should be up and running by wednesday. cant wait were getting excited. so ill probably start bugging you on thursday,hahaha. its nice to here from you. thanks

[jackalope]

Hi Big Al, welcome to a great AP forum .... glad to have you aboard!

[Big Al]

Hi Jackalope, its nice to be here thank you.

[Big Al]

we started our system last night finally. we got the 2- ibc's tied together flowing to 18- 55 gallon barrel halfs into a 110 gallon sump tank pumping back to the fish tanks were running CHIFT PIST. flowing really nice. today we added pea gravel to the barrels we washed the gravel, but its really mucky so my question is how long does it usually take for the system to settle down and clear up. can anyone help me out thanks Big Al

[jackalope]

It depends on how much muck is in your pea gravel ..... normally, you would wash the pea gravel/clay/hydroton or any other media before you put it into the GBs, otherwise, it will end up in your sump and FT and possibly cause trouble for your fish ;) You say you washed it first, but apparently it had more mud in it that you realized! I just built a screen box and put some of the gravel into it a couple of shovels full at a time and sprayed a hose full blast on it until it ran clean, then put it into the GB. I think you should build a screen box (Use window screen and then some galvanized "hardware cloth" screen to give it strength), take all of the gravel out of your half-barrels, and then clean the mud out of them and the IBC's and start over .... it could be much quicker .... might save you a week or two and some fish losses ;)

[keith_r]

you could beat a couple eggs into a bucket of water and add to the fishtank to remove allot of suspended solids - i did this, shells and all when i first fired up my system, i was sorry i left the shells, but now that the sucker is in the tank, and the cray's there aren't any pieces of shell that i can see on the bottom anymore.. anyways, the eggs (2 in a 110 gallon tank) did clear up the cloudiness in a day..
i used humonia to start my system (for the first week or so, 1 good dose a day, if aged, it's already converted to ammo) then added minnows after about a week and not seeing any readings, it was still kinda cool and i think that held me a up a little bit, i'll have to check the timeline but it took about 3 weeks before i started getting nitrite/nitrate action

[Big Al]

hey thanks guys, my son and i worked on that yesterday we sure thought the water was clear but i guess not. keith i'm going to try the egg trick hope it works for me. i'll keep my fingers crossed. thanks for the help very much appreciated. thanks Big Al

[Big Al]

hi all thanks keith for the tip on the eggs worked great. planted 2 tomatoes thursday they look good, planted 6 peppers also they have grown another set of leaves planted onions they have already sprouted green beans & peas planted thursday also have sprouted. :D this is great ive read that things happen quick but man i cant believe how fast it did. waiting on spinach, carrots, squash, & okra to sprout im sure it wont be long :D anyway thanks everyone Big Al

[keith_r]

glad the egg trick helped! it should help your system start cycling as well since it will convert to ammonia as it breaks down..
have you started testing the water? what are you using for media? i have half hydroton, i'd definitely plant carrots differently next time, lots of small seeds washed away in the clay balls..
any news on your fish yet?

i might be able to get 30 or 40 yp shipped to me, i put another dozen cray's in my tank yesterday, water is looking good after giving up on the duckweed in one of the top overflow tanks and just covering it up

i've been thinking about bigger systems, and making them more self sustaining, reducing the amount of feed that has to come in from the outside. i think a "mixed" system would work good for this but then harvesting can become a bit problematic, but..
crays breed fairly easily, i think the addition of a small group of breeding tilapia would help keep algae down, and provide more food for the "main" fish of the system, in my case, i want yp, but any game fish would eat the tilapia fry.. only the strong survive out of the tilapia - and with a little "breeding managment" enough fry could be raised to keep it going..
i spend a little to much time thinking about this stuff..

[keith_r]

hey Big Al, I'm traveling for my job tomorrow and if possible I will be stopping at a fish farm on my way home, did you still need yellow perch? i'm only getting 30, but if i picked up some for you, you'd just have to come to get them in fairport tomorrow evening

[Big Al]

hi keith, weve been out of town for a little while just getting back home and settled. so i just got your message sorry about that that would of worked out great. maybe next time. how are things going. ive got to start testing water today. but everything is coming up real nice. while i was gone 2 pepper plants lost there leafs but the 4 others look preatty good though i dont no. i'd like to come check out your system sometime though. let me know anyway have a good trip. Big Al

[keith_r]

hey Big Al, sorry i didn't get more warning, i'll be making a few more trips to detroit for my job, and will try to let you know ahead of time..
i know i'm going up for a weekend in a few weeks, but not sure on the dates yet..
FinFarm had a nice selection.. i want a bigger tank! ha

this weekend is fairport's big "mardi gras", i'll be going down to the beach to get my share of fair food, but will be around this weekend.. you're welcome to come check out the system any time, would probably just need a day or two notice, since we're usually home..i can send you my phone number if you'd like

still experimenting.. i took a cutting from a basil plant and put it directly in the gravel, it seems to be doing good, did another basil cutting on the float raft.. trying a watermelon cutting on the float raft too..
transplanted some tomaters from the dirt into a gb, 2 of 3 look pretty good..
got a few beans now, and a couple cukes.. corn's doing ok...
brocholi is doing real well
having trouble with aphids but applied a home made pepper spray so i'll see how that works.. got lots of sunflowers getting ready to flower, so we should be attracting some "good bugs" pretty soon..
i'm just glad i got more fish = more fish poo! i got 30 3" to 4", for 1.50 each.. probably more like 2 to 4.. they had 4 to 6" as well, for 3.00 each..

[Big Al]

hi keith, maybe sunday or monday if your off work. so yes if you send me your # we'll see about this weekend or maybe next. anyway have fun at mardi gras dont eat to much or give out to many beads haha. how are the fish doing good i hope. yes our veggies are doing ok lettuce,green beans, zuchinni,onions are all looking good tomatoes are looking better peppers not so good. checked ph its 8.3 but when we were gone had a algea bloom i guess i have to cover the tank. so that is going to happen this weekend. ive got some bluegill in the tank there doing ok. hope to see you soon. later Big Al

[keith_r]

got home from work yesterday (first 24 hours for the new fish) and there was 1 yp swimming slow near the top, he looked like he got chewed on on his back.. , i had a 5 gal bucket of water that had been sitting out, so i added some salt, and an air line and put him in for about 30 minutes, (someone told me yp don't tolerate salt, the young fella at the fish farm said they use salt on stressed fish, including yp, but the yp don't get stressed like other fish.. anyways, after sitting in his salt bath for a bit, i put him back and he was swimming stronger.. this am i didn't see it, so.. we will see..
i'm off both sunday and monday so either day works for me.. i'll pm you my #

i'd really like to see your system some time too!

[Big Al]

hi keith, good morning glad to hear all is well. we'll try to get together this weekend later Big Al

[Big Al]

hi keith, i got your message thanks i know where pickle bills is but thats about it. i'll call you thanks