Comment

Comment by Jim Fisk on October 19, 2012 at 4:38pm

Hey Tony. Is that grow bed suspended by wire ties? If so have you ever filled it? Just curious. Filled with water and gravel it weighs 400 - 500 lbs. Could make quite a splash.

Comment by Tony Gilliam on October 19, 2012 at 3:14pm

Sorry TCLynx, im already at my limits with computer knowledge. I don't even know what a thread is.

Comment by TCLynx on October 19, 2012 at 2:55pm

Tony, might be worth it if you have a thread for your system you could post a link here and have people make comments to that thread so you can keep comments where you will be able to find it later among your system thread.

Comment by Tony Gilliam on October 19, 2012 at 2:55pm

i did find this pic of my 2nd system

Comment by Tony Gilliam on October 19, 2012 at 1:22pm

Technically this is my first system. It is a large system and since i started on it i have completed a single IBC and bed, that i was able to keep bait fish alive in this summer.

My thoughts on the flood and drain growbeds was to put them along the sides of the greenhouse and then the raft in the center. splitting them down into smaller beds is something that can be done but the overall size will remain the same. I hope to have the line trenched in from the fish room to the greenhouse soon. That will leave me all winter to complete the growbeds.

5 breeder tanks will be available to use, some may become display tanks when not used for breeding. 5 is not a magic number it is just the amount of space i had for aquariums on top of the IBC's.

I have limited light in the barn, this is great for keeping the FT's clean but really sucks to try and bloom zooplankton, Im not sure the best way to handle this problem but i could put a tank outside the barn in the sun??

I think i answered all the questions so far. If i missed one let me know.

Comment by TCLynx on October 19, 2012 at 10:41am

For flood and drain using a siphon, I doubt I would go too much more than about 4' x 8' for a grow bed.  I have done a monster bed that did drain with a pump, but even then the far end of the bed would still be flooded even when the float switch turned the pump off.  To do a bed that big flood and drain I'm afraid you would need to do it timed flood and drain.

I agree that breaking the flood and drain up into smaller sections is probably a good idea.  Then you can do timed or siphon flood and drain expand a section at a time.  That lets you 1, start sooner and work a section at a time while the first section gets cycled up you will be able to support a small amount of fish and as you expand the new sections will have a let up in getting cycled to meet a growing fish load.  2, if you do it a section at a time, depending on how you design, you might figure in sequencing so you won't have as much water level fluctuation and a steadier water supply to the rafts.

Comment by Jim Fisk on October 19, 2012 at 10:06am

Sounds great Tony. I would caution that those F&D GBs are very big and if anything goes wrong it will go very wrong. Why not start with IBC GBs and equal that volume by placing them on platforms as I have. That way you can isolate them individually if need be and you don't have to deal with such a huge vol of water at each drain cycle. Ck out my plan at my home page. Also, is this your first system? If so YIKES!

IBCs also allow you to start small and just keep growing. That is my plan. I have 4 of my 5 FTs up and 5 of my 10 GBs up and running. If I had waited to have everything built I still would not be enjoying all the great veggies that we are already harvesting. My 2 cents.

Comment by George on October 19, 2012 at 8:42am

Sounds ambitious Tony.  Good luck with it.

What are your thoughts about 5 breeder tanks, rather than a smaller number?

Do you plan to bloom zooplankton in your breeder tanks and, if so, do you think that will work well inside the barn?

Comment by Tony Gilliam on October 19, 2012 at 5:06am

I'm still building my system, and hope to have water flowing next spring. I love bluegill and am designing my system to breed them and grow them out to eating size.

When completed my system will have 5 275 gallon IBC's, 60 gallon swirl filter, 5 29 gallon breeder tanks, 2 flood and drain growbeds that are 3'x38', 1 deep water raft that is 3'x38', and a 500 gallon sump. My pump will flow 1300 gallons an hour. My fish tanks are in an insulated room in my barn and the grow beds and sump will be in my 20'x40' greenhouse.

It is my intention to stock the tanks using fish from a local breeder.

Comment by TCLynx on August 8, 2012 at 5:24pm

Yea, I wouldn't stress too much about it.  Aquaponics can actually be rather flexible on the fish stocking.  I've left systems fishless for a time without any loss of plant growth before.

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