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Thread: The farm

  1. #1
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    The farm

    Jumping into the tilapia tank with both feet....

    We found a defunct greenhouse to set up a commercial aquaponics system. It hasn't been used, since the 3 hurricanes blew through ('03 ?) They use to raise boston ferns in it. It's located just out side of town by a few miles.

    Here's a shot before we started...


    The size is 70 x 165. The length runs east to west. We are starting in the south half, on the west end....

    If you look close, you can see my little truck and trailer hiding in the weeds. We thought we would need to replace the ground cloth, but once we cleaned things up, we realized we could just patch a few spots.

    We are going with a raft system. I'll be setting up a couple swirl filters to remove some of the solids...then we will have 3 - 4' x 8' media beds. In this picture you can see the concrete blocks, each bed has 16 piers. That's more then enough for the weight, I'm more concerned with settling....


    With that many blocks, were just using PT 2x4's for a frame with 3/4 inch PT ply on top...

    In the picture , to the left, you can see the ply, it has a coat of the white rubber mobile home roof coating. The sides will be made from corral boards, which are also PT. They too, will be coated on the inside. That might be a little over kill, coating the wood. But if it adds a little more life, it's worth it. Once built, we will line it with 20mm dura-skrim.

    We plan on covering the arch of the green house...I guess it's actually a 'shade house'....with 50% alumi-net. The ends and sides will be screen. For cooling...Were trying to keep as much natural airflow as possible. The alumi-net is supposed to be 20% cooler underneath then traditional shade cloth.
    For heating (the water) as we build, we will be installing some 'pex' under the troughs.

    Once we have the rafts/troughs, fish tanks and filters up and running, we will build more troughs in the east end, and then tie them into the west end.
    To start off with, the fish tanks will be 4 or 5 IBC's. That will give us the ability to grade the fish. Plus, adding more tanks will be pretty easy.

    Hope to be posting more soon.......
    "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
    Members samtheman's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    Wow that's going to look awesome!

  3. #3
    Members cedarswamp's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    Congratulations and good luck in your endeavor.

  4. #4
    Moderator JCO's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    You Devil you.... so did you buy this property or are you renting....what luck.... I envy you..
    JCO
    Irish eyes are always smiling but
    • "In the eyes of the world, you are only as good as your last success"
    so never forget
    • "MAN IS ONLY LIMITED BY HIS IMAGINATION"

  5. #5
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    Re: The farm

    fantastic!

  6. #6
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    That's great David, reminds me of my system, LOL! Can I stop by at look?

  7. #7
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    Thanks for the words of encouragement and compliments guys....

    We worked a deal, long term lease....where the land owner will get a percentage of the profits. This way, we don't have any 'rent', at first.....and it leaves more cash for materials, lots and lots of materials... ...and did I mention lots and lots of work ?
    Once this 1st stage is installed, what I have in my backyard will become 'a part of' the 2nd stage.


    @UF.....there isn't much to look at right now, just what's in the pictures..... but your welcome to have a look....and anyone else in the central fl area. I just have to keep the amount of people, at one time, to a minimum, out of respect for the owner's privacy.
    "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
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    I took a few days off from working at the farm. My grass was getting pretty high...I think my neighbors had already cut theirs twice, before I cut mine. Man, I hate to waste fossil fuels...
    The home system needed some maintenance too...

    Well, I did finish installing the sides of the media beds. You can't see it in the picture...I also roughed in some of the drains.



    Now I need some duraskrim, a couple bulkheads and about 4 yards of river rock.
    "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

  9. #9
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    Looks great David! I will PM you when you get a little further down the road

  10. #10
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: The farm

    Here's a little update....Well, things are slowly happining. We did get a load of sand in, which we are spreading some in the troughs. It's doing two things...one, it will help protect the liner. Second, the liner is only 6 ft wide. The bed is 4 ft wide and a foot deep. The sand will give us a little more material, to secure to the 'top' edge of the troughs.
    In the 1st picture, you can see the screed board, used to level the sand...



    One of the rows with sand....



    Picked up some river rock for the media beds. It's 3 yards, but by the time I'm moving it in the summer heat, I might be singing the song about ..16 tons, what'd ya get ? Another day older and... ...


    Let's see....the 1st batch of duraskrim should be here in a few days. The bell reducers are on their way to make the Affnan type bell siphons. Making aragements for 10 IBC's to be picked up. Got the pex tube ordered to put under the troughs (for heating). The electric panel is being replaced today....'if' I turn off this computer..

    FYI...We recieved lots of help from Chanel Gomez @ Global plastic sheeting on our purchase of Dura Skrim. He was able to figure out a way to save some $ on the shipping...
    Hope everyone has a great day...
    "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

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