Hello from Wa State

[Scupper]

Greetings from another newbie.

Here in the NW (Gig Harbor, WA) our winters are a little colder than our southern neighbors, so I'm looking for different ways to heat the greenhouse AP system I'm building in the backyard. The system is flood and drain with wood tanks lined with pond liner.

I've leaned a lot looking through this forum and look forward to meeting some of you.

Dave

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Dave....There's something I like about you already ... must be the great name...:lol: Welcome to the forum... :D

[urbanfarmer]

LOL

Welcome!

[stucco]

Welcome!

[gosmith]

Hi Dave,

Nice to see another member from WA. I believe there's 3 or 4 of us now. I'm up north in Skagit County, but grew up in the Hood Canal area. Looking forward to hearing more of the details on your system and possibly comparing notes. I'm in the designing stage of a 10' x 20' GH and also planning on using a wooden tank with liner. I'm thinking about doing the GBs the same way as well.

As for heating, my current plan is to use a biochar stove of my own design that uses wood chips courtesy of the county road crews. It's kind of a work in progress, so I'll have to wait to see if it works out. Been doing a lot of cooking on a smaller version over the summer and it's pretty nice. I really like the idea of all that free fuel if I can get enough of it dried.

Best of luck on your AP project and please fill us in on the details.

Gary

[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:

[Scupper]

Thanks all for the greetings. I feel right at home.

Gosmith, what kind of fish are you planning to raise? I originally considered Rainbow Trout but have since switched to Tilapia. The plan right now is for a 4' x 8' FT, 18 inches high with a GB to FT ratio of two to one - Flood and drain system with a sump tank.

My biggest concern is heating and knowing what the right temp. should be. The green house will be double walled clear tarp with a PVC pipe hoop frame. I'm going to put waterbed heaters beneath the pond liner of the FT and put a layer of styrofoam beneath the waterbed heaters. The greenhouse will be 30 ft long, 10+ ft wide and heated with a woodstove, as I have a large supply of wood now. I know this is a pretty large system to start with but since it takes so long for a system to season, I decided to go ahead with that size.

There are a lot of unknown vaiables here. I seriously doubt waterbed heaters willl be enough to handle the job, even with a nice warm greenhouse, so I am anticipating the need for stock tank heaters.

All this raises the the questions;

1. What is the ideal temperature for a Tilapia system that size?
2. Is the temperature a trade off between the best fish temp and the best temp for plants?

I know I have a lot to learn, but it sure sounds like fun.

[urbanfarmer]

Those are some very complex questions; so, I will give as simple an answer to each as possible, which I believe encompasses the general idea behind what any answer would be:

1. Warm. (Don't try make fish and vegetable soup)
2. No. (In most cases not)

8-)



Thanks all for the greetings. I feel right at home.

Gosmith, what kind of fish are you planning to raise? I originally considered Rainbow Trout but have since switched to Tilapia. The plan right now is for a 4' x 8' FT, 18 inches high with a GB to FT ratio of two to one - Flood and drain system with a sump tank.

My biggest concern is heating and knowing what the right temp. should be. The green house will be double walled clear tarp with a PVC pipe hoop frame. I'm going to put waterbed heaters beneath the pond liner of the FT and put a layer of styrofoam beneath the waterbed heaters. The greenhouse will be 30 ft long, 10+ ft wide and heated with a woodstove, as I have a large supply of wood now. I know this is a pretty large system to start with but since it takes so long for a system to season, I decided to go ahead with that size.

There are a lot of unknown vaiables here. I seriously doubt waterbed heaters willl be enough to handle the job, even with a nice warm greenhouse, so I am anticipating the need for stock tank heaters.

All this raises the the questions;

1. What is the ideal temperature for a Tilapia system that size?
2. Is the temperature a trade off between the best fish temp and the best temp for plants?

I know I have a lot to learn, but it sure sounds like fun.

[davidstcldfl]

Dave, How about installing some tubing 'under' the fish tank (maybe even your growbeds). Have the tubing run to/from your wood stove, with some type of a heat exchanger.
It would'nt take a very big pump....the flow would need to be on the slow side :D

You might be able to hook up a tempt controller to the pump.... that would normally be used to turn on/off , an electric water heater used for fish tanks. (?)
There's different makes/models....here's one, just to give you an idea.....

http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/j ... oller.html (http://www.northernbrewer.com/brewing/johnson-controls-a419-digital-temp-controller.html)

[gosmith]

Hi Scupper,

I'm toying with the idea of Talapia too, but will probably start with yellow perch until I know I can maintain those warm talapia temps through the winter. Trout water temps seem a little too cool to mix with growing warmth-loving crops like beans, cukes, and tomatoes.

Don't know how warm waterbed heaters get, but some kind of insulated cover over the tank would certainly help hold the heat in. Look into David's suggestion of a heat exchanger with the wood stove. Maybe something simple and home-made inside the stovepipe.

I used to live in an old Victorian house in Seattle that had a built in heat exchanger in an old Monarch wood-fired range. It was connected to an 80 gallon uninsulated galvanized water tank. The water could go to 160 F in under an hour with a good hot fire. Had to take a couple of showers, do the laundry, and run the dishwasher if you wanted to do something like bake a turkey in the oven.

Gary

[Scupper]

Well guys,

That is definitely thinking outside the box. I had not even remotely considered heating the system water with the wood stove, assuming the result would be Tilapia Vegetable Stew.

I’ve seen those temp controls used for stock tank heaters, which seemed like a great idea. I’m not sure how I would set up a heat exchanger with the stove but it certainly is worth looking into.

Thanks for your input

[davidstcldfl]

Don't know the shape of your your stove .....could be as simple as setting a roll of copper tube on top of the stove....maybe wrap it around the stove pipe..???

[gosmith]

Yeah, it would definitely be nice to be able to remove the heat exchanger from the heat source so you can continue heating the GH without boiling the fish. I like the idea of a simple coil on top of the stove, maybe connected with flexible hot water hose. If the heat exchanger was low enough in the system, it would thermo-siphon automatically and not even need a pump. Maybe start a new thread in the "How To" section and kick the idea around a bit, see what others think.

[Scupper]

Good idea, I posted it in the "How to Forum" We'll see what happens.

[urbanfarmer]

Don't forget the PICTURES!!!

[Oldandfound1]

Hi Scupper,
Have not looked in new members for a spell and find you up new. Welcome.
I too started a hoop house this summer in Maple Valley, Wa. Also plan to heat with a wood stove using a coil heat exchanger. Plan was to have a working covered 23'x32'' green house by Jan 1 2011 but now have postponed till late Winter covering with single layer.
We have a 4.1 acre farm with 3 sheep, 2 goats, 60 chickens, 10 Muscovie ducks, 20 rabbits, dirt garden. In other words plenty of chores.
My "Oldandfound1" link is on systems page.
Dennis
Oldandfound1