A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

How do i know if i have enough air

I'm in the design/building/gathering parts phase of my construction. I am trying to get it right the first time. I'm not a fan of trial and error.

I dont have any grow beds yet and the greenhouse may be another year away.

Right now i'm working on the fish tanks, and i want them to be the best fish tanks ever. I have designed and built air powered water circulators that will create a constant current and aerate the water in my 5 IBC totes. These cost about $25 bucks each to built, But i believe they will make the fish much happier and healthier in the long run, and at this point its all about the fish. Later on when its time to build the grow beds, it will be all about the plants.

OK as of right now i have 5 air lines going to my tanks, I'm using 1/4 plastic line with a stainless steel threaded insert to inject the air into the circulators, because the water will be touching the fitting i am using stainless steel. These cost $12 bucks each. Don't get me wrong im not complaining about the money. Like i said before, Its all about the fish at this point. If i have to buy 50 more fittings, I will. But i'm trying to spend the money where it is needed.

My question is how do i know if i have enough air? Is their a test that i can do to measure the air content of my water? Is their a tester that i can buy to do this. I'm sure my fish load will change and thus my oxygen requirments will vary as well. How can i measure oxygen need?

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Permalink Reply by Tony Gilliam on August 27, 2012 at 11:57am

Phil, Man i dont have a clue who made it, I bought it from an old biker / stoner type guy on Craigs List. I had to cut small trees down and deal with bee's and poison oak to get it. Sorry i can help any more than that. I will let you know that it was $1000 bucks to get it here and about 3 weekends of digging it out and several weeks if itching and scratching. It has taken me 2 years to get it to this point. It was originally 20'x48', I spaced the rafters 5' instead of 6' to make it 20'X40'.

Right now the sides are 4'. I am considering making them taller.

The greenhouse is about 1' lower than the tanks but about 200' away. I hope i can get a trench dug between them before winter.