Jackalope's 475 Gallon FT

[jackalope]

OK. I finally got time to get back to the big FT ..... I put the liner in it today (now I gotta take some more pics), I'm going to buy a 3000GPH sump pump to run the water .... it will change the water at about 950GPH because of the 3/4" discharge adapter that it comes with ...... when I figure out how I want to connect both the large tank and the small pool, that will be about 750 Gal, so then I'll increase the GPH by going to the 1 1/4" discharge and then it will be closer to 4 water changes per hour.
I've got the small swimming pool ready to go for the Mossies except that it gets too warm, 100F, I don't have the Do-re-me for a thermal controller, so I'm going to try to keep the temps more constant with a timer ..... it got up to a little over 100F with that bucket heater, so I'm going to try 6 hours on, and six hours off, then I'll taper off or add to from there. It's a 250 Gallon pool, and a 1000 watt heater ...... if anyone has any advice on a better hours on/hours off cycle, please don't hesitate to let me know ..... this is going to be a practice shot for my big tank which will have my Blues in it.

[davidstcldfl]

I don't know what type of timer you have......?
Seems like it would be better to have the heater cycle more often. Maybe an hour on, then off for an hour....repeat for the next 9 1/2 months of winter.... :P

[dwaller]

Is there no better way to heat the FT? With a guesstimated price of $.12/kWh, that heater (if run 12 hours per day all year) is costing you $525/year.

I wonder if a solar collector with a hot water storage tank would be a better route to keep the tank warm.

[jackalope]

Is there no better way to heat the FT? With a guesstimated price of $.12/kWh, that heater (if run 12 hours per day all year) is costing you $525/year.

I wonder if a solar collector with a hot water storage tank would be a better route to keep the tank warm.

We're still in winter here ..... we might get a summer of two or three months, but solar is only good for the hot days .... right now it's freezing (32F) wind is blowing, snowing out, and a wind chill of 22F ...... I gotta get outta here

[badflash]

Check my post Sun Grabber

If properly protected and covered with glass this has real possibilities, it is just a lot of up front costs.

[jackalope]

Check my post Sun Grabber

If properly protected and covered with glass this has real possibilities, it is just a lot of up front costs.

I've got some old thermal patio sliders that i could put over them, but even then, they would be worthless with the weather we've been getting

[jackalope]

Well, after a few days (almost a week now), I'm really not impressed with the swimming pools that Wally World sells .... the side walls aren't holding that well, so the edges sag and the side walls tend to curl under at the bottom. On a fairly level concrete floor, i've got one edge that is dangerously close to leaking over the edge because the bottom of the sidewall has curled under about an inch or so. I'm not sure that I want to put fish in it ..... I think when they made these sidewalls out of tin, that would have worked much better, so it looks like my only option will be to try to get some flashing and wrap it around the pool and hold it there with tie-down straps ... which will make these pools more expensive than I originally intended them to be ...... I guess you learn as you go .......

Of course, I could just pump all the water out of the pool into the large tank, (2x4x8), roll up the pond after drying it out and give it away to some deserving family , and build another large tank so I have two of them side-by-side (that was the original plan) , and count the pool as a loss ...... my problem with that is that I hate to take losses if I can figure out a way to avoid them

[davidstcldfl]

Jackalope, I don't know how rigid the sides are...(?)
I was thinking ....How about taking some PVC, maybe 1/2 inch, form a 'circle' out of it, to what ever diameter would fit 'snugly' inside the top edge of the pool. That size pvc bends pretty easy...doesn't cost a lot. A coupling or two and some pipe.....It 'mght' keep the sides up.
Not sure how you could hold it in place...? Maybe drill a few small holes near the top edge and use wire or tie wraps....?

[jackalope]

Jackalope, I don't know how rigid the sides are...(?)
I was thinking ....How about taking some PVC, maybe 1/2 inch, form a 'circle' out of it, to what ever diameter would fit 'snugly' inside the top edge of the pool. That size pvc bends pretty easy...doesn't cost a lot. A coupling or two and some pipe.....It 'mght' keep the sides up.
Not sure how you could hold it in place...? Maybe drill a few small holes near the top edge and use wire or tie wraps....?

Actually, the top isn't as bad as the bottom ..... as the bottom sidewall curls under/expands, the top gets lower, causing the top of the water to get closer to the top edge of the pool sidewall. I'm thinking that if I can put something around the outside to pull the bottom back in to where it's supposed to be, that it might make the grade for a year or so

[jackalope]

Well, we sold our Mossies, small pool, heater, and all - lock, stock, and cookie cutter! .... I gave away all but 4 of the feeder Guppies, gave away the remaining Marmorkreb, now I've gotta start over .

My son wants us to go to Tennessee with him for a month to help him get things set up for his in-laws and his family (If we have time, we may put a mobile on there for my family too!). It was going to be impossible to take care of the Mossies for that month, so we decided to sell out until we find out whether or not we are going to be moving down to Tennessee permanently or not. He seems to think he has enough money to put in a mobile for his in-laws and one for us as well on his 20 acres, so it won't matter if we sell the place here right away or not. He wants to take care of us in our old age ..... I keep telling him that I'm not getting old, it's my wife that's getting old, but he doesn't believe me