My 700 gallon basement system

[Breed]

Thanks Badflash for the information. Now I' m going to have to practice. I hope you guys are patient with a newbee.
The fish are Tilapia Blues. I have lots and lots of them. About 1400. And yes they will outgrow that tank. I'm thinking of getting a collapsable kiddie pool for them and their cousins - the 500 bunch born 10 days later. At least till I can get them outside in the Spring.

[badflash]

Without a doubt, kiddie pools get you the most bang for the buck. $15 for 300 gallons and they last for at least 2 years. Follow this link and scroll about 1/2 way down the page to see a REAL kiddie pool setup:
http://www.atlaspub.20m.com/rcfarm1.htm

[badflash]

Here are some details of one of the 90 gallon drilled glass tanks I used for grow-out. A friend sent me some fry a while back of some rocky mountain whites. These are a true-breeding hybrid of the Nile and Aurea and are one of the more cold hearty tilapia similar to Aurea (AKA blues). Some of these are snow white.



If you watch closely you'll see how the tank stays clean. Water comes in at one end and is removed from the bottom at the other end. Active fish make sure nothing settles. The T at the top is in case the bottom somehow gets blocked. It will overflow before the tank does.

Here is what feeding time looks like. They weren't very hungry. Normally I get wet.

[davidstcldfl]

I had bought a used 55 gal glass tank, to use as my breeder tank. Turns out, it has a sticker saying it's tempered glass and not to cut it...

So, I set up an air-lift siphon to take the water and waste out. Then I used a condensate float switch. Which I hooked to a contactor with a 24 volt transformer. The contactor feeds voltage to the (re-turn) poump. If the water gets too high, the contactor opens.

It was pretty easy to match the air-siphon to the pump. I just adjust the rate of air flow in the siphon. Hope this helps anyone that has a tank, that they can't bore a hole in.


I like your idea of having your grow out tanks sharing a common sump. I'll have to make sure the tanks I get, can be cut. Good grief, otherwise I'd have to have a pump and swithch set up for each one....

[badflash]

No, that isn't required. I have a 120 gallon tank that is tempered glass. You can set up a constant level siphon. That is what I have in that tank. It work like a siphon draining to a drain trap. The drain trap sets the level the system will overflow to. The part that goes into the tank siphons the water over the side to the drain trap.

Here is what a small one looks like:


The one in my 120 is made from 1" pipe. I added a top vent to that with a valve and some tubing so I can vent it if needed.

[JCO]

where do you get the black strainers?

[davidstcldfl]

Thanks Badflash. 'Trying' to grasp this idea....looks like it will help a lot .
The 'tee' (outside the tank) sets the 'heighth' of the water in the tank ? Or, is the height, set by the 'retun flow rate' ?

What happens 'if' the pump stops ?....I'm guessing the tank drains down to the black part of the pick up tube, then the siphon is 'broken' when it picks up air (?)

[badflash]

The black strainers are part of a reverse flow filter kit for an under gravel filter.
http://www.thatpetplace.com/pet/product ... e_flow_kit

No, when flow stops, the level stays within about 1" of where is normally is. This is a siphon that starts & stops by itself. The loop over the side of the tank always stays full of water. The drain port level outside the tank sets the level to be maintained. The picture is deceptive. The drain port outside the tank is 3" lower than the side of the tank. That is the level that is maintained.

Here is how it works. Water enters through the strainer and goes up over the side of the tank. It then goes down to the bottom of the loops seal and up to the T with the open stand pipe and drain. Because this is open to the air it does not actively suck like a normal siphon. Water seeks its own level, so if the tank water level starts to rise, it just overflows out the drain line.

Think oof a normal siphom hose. Fill the line with water and put one end at the bottom of the tank, the over end outside the tank, looping down then up to above the surface of the water, but outside the tank. Lower the end to below the surface, still outside the tank. Water flows out of the end of the siphon until the water level of the tank is equal to the top of the hose. That is how it works.

[davidstcldfl]

OK....thanks Badflash, I'll have to give it a try....

[catfish]

How much is an Aquacube?