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  1. #1
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Building Gary's system

    Hi, I haven't posted in awhile....computer issues, and now I'm moving... so I've done away with the internet conection too. But I've been busy working on building a few sytems.

    This system I'm building for a fellow in Orlando. The tank is an IBC...



    The pipe on the left of the swirl filter will be going to the 2 rows of media beds. The pipes on the right of the ibc is comming from the (clean water) sump.
    The air pump on top of the ibc puts out aprox 2 cu ft/min.

    The system will have a series of media beds which will drain into a few raft beds and also through some troughs with grow bags.
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  2. #2
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    In the foreground is the sump. In this case it's a 'clean water sump'.
    Past the sump, there are two 4 ft x 8 ft raft beds.
    Past the rafts are four 40 gallon stock tanks, made into media beds.


    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  3. #3
    Members dead_sled's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    Very nice. Good use of the space. Will it recieve enough sun? Have you started cycling the system yet? Fishless or fishful cycling?
    Less irritating avatar since 02/27/14.

  4. #4
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    It gets full sun at about 10- ish...then most of the rest of the day. We will install shade cloth above, just gets too hot in the summer here.

    We brought the fish as soon as the ibc was set up. We have a large air pump set up and the fisdh were happy with that for awhile. We didnt feed them, till we had part of the system up and running.
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  5. #5
    Members samtheman's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    That's a very nice setup. ...I wish I had that kind of space.

  6. #6
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    Thanks deadsled and samtheman
    This set up is between his neighbors fence...and the west side of his building.


    Here's another shot of the 4 - 40 gallon tubs (media beds)...




    I tried to have 2 of the beds share a drain. The drain kept up, but, when 2 were draining at the same time, there was a little splashing...



    ...so I made separate drains for each one.

    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  7. #7
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    We set up some of the mixing tubs as media tubs with bells. The 6 of them drain into a common header. They seem to be working very well...





    Here, you can see the end of the common header. It's draining into a metal trough that we'll be putting in 5 gallon grow bags. The trough, then drains into the sump....



    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  8. #8
    Members samtheman's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    That's awesome job! what type of gravel are you using? I am using lava rock but the edges are too sharp to work with and would like to switch it to something else like what you are using…..

  9. #9
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    Thanks Sam, those are 'river rocks'...about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch.
    Yeah, those lava rocks are tough to work in...

    You might think about setting up some new tubs, filling them about 1/2 ways with the lava you have...then top off 'all the tubs' with some river rocks.
    It's win-win for you Sam.... :P ...you get to expand your system and get rid of (or hide) the lava.
    We dso that at Sahibs...the lava keeps the weight down.
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  10. #10
    Members samtheman's Avatar
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    Re: Building Gary's system

    Thanks man, sounds like a great idea. One more question....what size water pump are you using for this set up?

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