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yellowbellied
08-03-2010, 12:01 PM
This is the set up i am working on any help will be more than appreciated.

http://i922.photobucket.com/albums/ad63/yellowbellied/aquaponics/th_build.jpg (http://s922.photobucket.com/albums/ad63/yellowbellied/aquaponics/?action=view&current=build.jpg)

I have everything except the pump laying around and pea gravel )
The grow barrels will be on a 2x4 stand.. ( strong )

Since i live in Cold land. I will be starting Tilapia ( F1 male Hornorum and a female Mossambica )
inside my house, in my 75 gal tank. I am hoping that in the spring i can clean my filter out and help jump start the system since it will still be to cold for the tilapia outside. but not to cold for plants to start. may throw some other stuff in that is cold weather acceptable to help system start. I am thinking i will need a water heater as well. making a solar heater and if it works well enough will use for fish instead of my cabin shower. really want to be able to take showers up there. ( no running water ) so week at a time no bath.. just jump in lake :D

*Also as a side note.. I need to harvest about sept. as i am not for sure if I will be staying in this house ( i rent ) and leas the is up in sept. plus thats when it starts getting cold again. so the system has to be easy enough to tear down /store/ move.


The reason for this tilapia is because they are within my state and i need an importers permit otherwise.http://rdaquafarms.com/OurFish.html.
not gonna lie using their basic idea for my system because it happened to be exactly what i had laying around..
Thanks

jackalope
08-06-2010, 08:03 PM
Check this one out! http://www.mybackyardfishfarm.com/catalog/item/7135777/7275454.htm

I may have another one, but can't find it right now!

Found them! I'll try to post them Sunday!

yellowbellied
08-06-2010, 08:48 PM
thats an interesting design. i would really like to see an actual picture of it operating..
thanks for the design.
I love seeing all the different barrel designs.

yellowbellied
08-06-2010, 08:59 PM
So i have been trying to figure that picture out of the system..
looks like pvc runs to bottom and the bubbler goes to bottom of pipe. should help pick up solids? move water up? and into the next tank. or they are just a little lower each way around the tank.
the pump is in the bottom right tank. and then it flows in a circle.(square)
the tube has got to help with solid matter.??
what you think?
then the pump in the last tank would spread the solids onto the grow beds.
and the wire looking stuff would make sure the solids stay in that tank and flow to the bottom to get picked up by the pump. allowing the return water and the dirty water to enter / exit same tank and not get "dirty" again..
nice :x
that would mean that one day..
i could expand this system into however many barrels i have?
more info is needed. as my plumbing knowledge is not as great as i would like it to be..
nice find jackalope..
have you seen any of these systems anywere?

jackalope
08-08-2010, 12:29 AM
So i have been trying to figure that picture out of the system..
looks like pvc runs to bottom and the bubbler goes to bottom of pipe. should help pick up solids? move water up? and into the next tank.
the pump is in the bottom right tank. and then it flows in a circle.(square)
the tube has got to help with solid matter.??
what you think?
then the pump in the last tank would spread the solids onto the grow beds.
and the wire looking stuff would make sure the solids stay in that tank and flow to the bottom to get picked up by the pump. allowing the return water and the dirty water to enter / exit same tank and not get "dirty" again..
nice :x
that would mean that one day..
i could expand this system into however many barrels i have?
more info is needed. as my plumbing knowledge is not as great as i would like it to be..
nice find jackalope..
have you seen any of these systems anywere?

No, from what was explained to me, this particular system does not have a water pump, as it is not an aquaponics system, it is strictly for raising fish (aquaculture) - there is an air pump which is sitting on the top in between the barrels ..... it is a 4 port air pump ..... the air is pumped down each of the pipes that go to the bottom, there is an air-stone or bubbler on the end of the air-line which causes the water to rise up the pipe and circulate to the next barrel (a kind of passive flow system w/o grow-beds, but which can be adapted to an aquaponics system) the water circulates around to all of the four barrels in this manner. The coil of plastic netting is the biofilter where the bacteria will work it's magic and clean the water for the fish in tank #1. I have plans to try this out with a couple of my barrels (without the fish) just to see how well it works and whether or not I can pump the 'dirty' water out of tank #4, through the GBs, and empty them back into tank #1 - the water shouldn't overflow any of the barrels, since water always seeks it's own level, and the pipes don't go above the top rim, but through the sides somewhere below the top rim. All this requires either drilling and silicone, or drilling and bulkhead fittings, so it's off in the distance for me right now. If you attempt this, please keep us up to date on your failures and fixes ..... I 'Redneck' most everything I do, so don't feel bad if things don't work out the first time, just keep at it! And yes, I believe that you could continue to add more barrels and GBs as you go, which would make this a great expandable system to fit just about anywhere! the 4 barrel system takes up about 4-5 sq.ft. depending on what barrels you use, and with approx. 200 gallons of FT, you should be able to have about 800 gallons of GB, what a great farm you would have! As soon as I can figure out a way to take a couple of pics off my HDD, and put them up here, I will post a great graphic that ernie one of our members, made for me of this system, but that won't be tonite!