Fish Run or Tank

[Bob Murray]

Greetings  

I live in WV and have no system or experience YET with aquaponics on top of that our temperatures here going from the high 90's in the summer (high humidity) to the low single digits in the winter.  I say all this because i am pondering whether or not to put the trout in a race way built in the ground (15' L  x 4'w x 4' d) under the GB or just use a 9' x 3'-4'd tank.    both are viable for me to do but maybe people out there can give me insights to problems I haven't foreseen.  Any and all information on this would be helpful to me as i am just starting to plan this ALL out before i even try to build it. 

[Leo White Bear]

Bob-

  The difficulty I see is that you didn't say where your water source is coming from.  Do you have to pump the water to the raceway, are you using well water or any other replenishable source or diverting river water to the raceways and discharging it back into the river?  With the temps in the high 90's your fish may suffer from the heat.  Remember the warmer the water is the less oxygen it can hold.  So you need to consider the O2 levels.  Many raceways have a cascading ramp built in so the water has to flow over the terraces to be oxygenated that way.  

  Here in Wisconsin, our temps do reach that high at times but we also get -20 to -35 below in the winter so we have to be mindful of water freezing and killing our fish.  I have been toying with the idea of a 3000 gallon tank buried in ground with a circulating pump to keep the water moving and a high volume air pump for oxygenation.

  Keep us posted on your progress, I am sure that we all would like to know how things turn out.

[Bob Murray]

I guess I should had clarified that I will have the option of well / creek water both tested already and i'm good to go there.  No matter which way i go tank or raceway I will have air pumped in and water injected from above for added aeration, im leaning to the raceway under the grow bed to save DWC/GB area - i know the sump is going inground....lol 

Leo White Bear said:

Bob-

  The difficulty I see is that you didn't say where your water source is coming from.  Do you have to pump the water to the raceway, are you using well water or any other replenishable source or diverting river water to the raceways and discharging it back into the river?