Jackalope's 475 Gallon FT

[jackalope]

This tank will be the foundation for my AP system for this spring/summer. I've built a box, 4' wide, 8'long and 2' high - which translates into about 475 gallons of water. I'll put up pics soon, but first I've got a few questions for anyone who has ever used PVC pond liner. How long should I have the water in the pond liner before I put in the fish? I've got some Mossies that need a new home .... a much bigger home. I've got the biofilter already cycled, heater and air pumps are all ready, the water will be charged up with about 70 gallons of used fish water plus about 400 gallons of fresh water, I should have the pond liner in place tomorrow morning and then I'll start filling the tank ..... the only thing I have to determine is how long it takes to season the liner so the fumes of the liner won't affect the fish! Any Ideas?

[davidstcldfl]

Hi Jackalope, Cool to hear that you've got a good size FT comming along...

I remeber reading somewhere about conditioning a new liner. I'm in info overload....sorry.... ....????

I think I remeber them saying, to soak it in a fresh body of water for a few days....of course, that's out for you , even if you did have access to water....which is now frozen.

Don't hold me to this....all two brain cells are shrugging... BUT...I thought, I remember 'something' about washing it with salt water, then rinsing it ...????

I've tried to find where I read this......???.....sorry Jackalope, at least I was thinking of you ...

[jackalope]

I went on a couple of pond forums and I got the impression that the liner doesn't need to be conditioned, just as long as the water and the bio filter have cycled, everything should be OK ...... I'll give it a try with the few Mossies that have survived the winter .... I think I have about 20 or so left

[davidstcldfl]

I'll put up pics soon, but first I've got a few questions...

46 days and holding... .. :P ......any many more questions... :P ...?......

[jackalope]

I'll put up pics soon, but first I've got a few questions...

46 days and holding... .. :P ......any many more questions... :P ...?......

I bin gon ...... is that enuff excuse?

Actually, the tank has been on hold becuz I had to work on my son's motorhome so I could drive it to Oregon, when I got there, I had to tear the rear-end apart to put rear brakes and cylinders on the pickup he was trading me, then we had to slaughter 5 goats and a sheep, then I had to bone all the meat and grind it for hamburger and freeze it, then I had to go up to the Seattle area and see a niece I haven't seen in about 18 years, then I broke down in E-burg on the way home and had to fix the truck some more, then I got home and had to put in a hot water tank, then I had to take the wife to Billings for our once-monthly shopping trip to the big city, tomorrow I have to clean the biofilter pump hose, replace a light switch in the house, scout for some more firewood for the rest of the winter, Monday I've got to go to Lewistown for some more spring water - now that I've got a pickup, I can get 60 gallons instead of 30 then I've got to put the kowboy kaddilack up for sale (I converted my wife's 4 dr Sedan de Ville into a pickup), plus, now that the weather is better, I've got to go under the mobile and fix all the freeze-cracks in the plumbing so we can stop living in water-bucket heaven .......... I guess I'm out of excuses now, so I guess I better get busy on the tank one of these days ......

[davidstcldfl]

Good Lord...... ...now I feel bad for poking you in the ribs....

I guess we can wait a little longer for some pics......

Hang in there....

[jackalope]

Well, when I went in to the saloon to clean the biofilter hose, I found that the biofilter had gone TU and was anerobic .... it killed 8 of my biggest Mossies ..... so it took me most of the day to clean it up and set it back up again ....... I did find some firewood, so we're sitting pretty for another month or so ..... it snowed yesterday, so I only got a few little honey-do's done ...... got a filter and a headliner for my pick-m-up today, so I've got some more stuff to put off the FT ....... can't win!!

[davidstcldfl]

Sorry to hear that, Jackalope...

[badflash]

I feel your pain brother. Do you have an air stone in each tank? That will buy you time when things get clogged up. The down side of aquaponics is it needs constant attention. Nothing about it is automatic. We are the major part of the feedback mechanism. One day without the farmer's shadow spells disaster.

[jackalope]

I feel your pain brother. Do you have an air stone in each tank? That will buy you time when things get clogged up. The down side of aquaponics is it needs constant attention. Nothing about it is automatic. We are the major part of the feedback mechanism. One day without the farmer's shadow spells disaster.

I had one of those large shell-shaped airstones, plus a power filter, but when the biofilter goes anerobic, it turns to sewage, so nothing can help the tank then ....... I had just got back from a two week trip and didn't take readings right away like I should have ...... I also didn't pay close enuff attention to the filamentous algae in the biofilter fill hose, which was so clogged, that it was just dribbling, not really running ..... I still have about 10 Mossies left to put into the big tank, should I ever get the time to finish it

Yeah, I wasn't minding the store close enuff When the biofilter went down, the ammonia went thru the roof ...... my fault completely!