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Comment by Jim Troyer on March 7, 2013 at 9:59am

thanks Lynn

Comment by Lynn Engel on March 7, 2013 at 9:31am

Hi, Been gone for awhile. Noticed all the conversation about Ph levels. Thought I would share some info ihave learned in my healthrecovery process. Blessings, Lynn

pH Balance: What is pH and why does yours matter?

pH is one of the most important things your need to learn about in terms of health or disease.  In order for your body’s cells to function at peak capacity, your body needs to ensure that its pH levels-especially your blood-are in a slightly alkaline state (that means with a pH of slightly more than 7). 

Ph=the measure of hydrogen and oxygen ions (electrically charges particles) in a solution.  Your blood, urine, saliva, digestive juices, mucus, and the fluids inside and outside your cells each have an optimum pH level.  While your digestive juices are quite acidic, your blood must be slightly alkaline.  Why should your blood be slightly alkaline? 

One of its jobs is to carry oxygen-the basis for most of the biochemical reactions that sustain life-to cells in your body, so your blood has to be alkaline.  Your body will buffer the acidity of your blood at all costs-your body won’t let your blood become acidic and therefore unable to carry oxygen-or you won’t survive. 

Your body does this buffering by pulling alkaline minerals (especially calcium) from your saliva, soft tissues, and bones.  Despite the constant buffering, many of your body fluids may be more acidic than they should be. A shortage of buffering agents, particularly dietary minerals, can make it a challenge for your body to maintain the pH it prefers. Alkaline conditions maintain your body’s ability to rebuild and repair itself, while an acidic environment ensures that your body will break down faster. 

Comment by Bob Campbell on March 6, 2013 at 11:40pm

I get the boxes from Smuckers.  I've never seen the aluminum bag that the juice comes in.  Those are recycled for the metal.  They have stacks of barrels, drums, pails, and these boxes.  Every Friday we get to go down there from 08:30 - 10:00 and buy what ever we want for a ridiculous price.   People come with huge trailers.

Check with large manufacturing companies in your area to find out what they have too much of..  I filled these boxes with 55 gallon metal drums on this load

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 6, 2013 at 11:11pm

John/Bob, we've gotten a lot of free 3/4" plywood & 2x4s - enough to build a milk shed - by breaking apart skids. Check Craigslist, and sometimes good shipping crates/skids are posted. Just a thought from a re-purposing tightwad. :)

Mike, Well, there are a number of "rules of thumb," but no formula is perfect in calculating fish. There are too many variables, including types of plants or fish, sizes of plants or fish, water temperature, water quality, how much/what the fish are eating, etc. We have about 75 sf of grow space counting our duckweed trays, and we have 40 large tilapia, but we could easily double our beds.  I would recommend about 1 fish/10 gallons of fish tank for starters. Most systems have enough water flow and aeration to handle that. In the right conditions you can crowd them more. For example, we have 40 in a 300 gal tank, and commercial systems are able to keep the ratio at 1:5 gallons, but it's best to have a little experience in aquaponics before pushing it. We prefer to keep closer to 30 in our tank. It'll take a while for your little fish to start having much impact, so 16 SF is good to start. Then, as the fish grow you can add beds to match their output.  We'll talk more when you're here.

If you want to see the big fish, mornings are best because they come to the surface for food and the lighting is best to see them (our tank is in the ground so it's dark).  You can see the other fish any time, though, since they're in aquariums. :)

Comment by David Schwinghamer on March 6, 2013 at 11:05pm

My new aquaponic addition video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=BN4J4s...

Comment by Matt Miskinnis on March 6, 2013 at 8:06pm

@Bob, can you seriously get those for 5 dollars?  I would love to get a few, it would save me a fortune for my next grow beds

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on March 6, 2013 at 7:47pm

@Jim. Thanks for the idea. I shall give it a try! Re a tour. I like the May 5th Tour de Tanks proposal. That will give me the to get my systems cleaned up. If not then we can plan a date afterwards.

Comment by Bob Campbell on March 6, 2013 at 4:25pm

@John - Here's what I've been doing.

http://chicoaquaponic.blogspot.com/2013/02/building-plywood-tanks.html

Comment by Jim Troyer on March 6, 2013 at 1:46pm

@ John

I get my resin from sticky stuff in the west valley at ~$125 for 5 gallons.  You should also gel coat the resin (like a boat) for it's anti-leaching properties.  You'll need to spray it with PVA before it cures so the gel coat and resin are hardened and won't out gas into your water.   You'll should wait 7-10 days for final curing before using, again for out gassing.  On the other hand, I'm impatient the FRP sheets are ready in 2 hours start to finish.

consider:

$15   4'x8' plywood (if you get Bob's price)

$40   gal resin (Bob's number)

$30   qt. gel coat

$15   gal. lacquer thinner

$10   supplies - several brushes/mixing containers/protective gloves/etc

$110 per finished sheet (inert after curing)

or

$33   4' x 8' FRP sheet (inert)

$20  assorted PVC tube/fittings/ SS hardware (inert)

$53 per 4' x 8' sheet (inert)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with FRP, it is found in the shower enclosure aisle at Home Despot or bLowes.  FRP will require a couple of stiffening supports for uniform height above the water.  The supports are commonly fashioned from PVC tubes screwed to the underside of the panel.   Your hole pattern can be modified at anytime with FRP.

HD says this about FRP: Fiberglass Reinforced Panels are an ideal wall covering, for use in restaurants, kitchens, restrooms, break rooms, car washes and any locations that require low-maintenance, washable walls. Made of a durable polyester resin and reinforced with fiberglass; these panels provide a nonporous wall surface, for superior sanitation, that resists moisture, mildew, stains and protects walls from dents and scratches.

Your plywood will require 2 coats of resin top and bottom which will take a day per side for hardening.  The holes are much harder to cut in plywood than FRP.  The hole  locations will need to be determined and cut before sealing with resin so the sheets cannot be modified unless you repeat the coating process. Polyester is very nasty to work with and will cause permanent blindness, please be careful, wear your eye protection.

Both will last indefinitely...

I have been working with fiberglass over the last 6 months and while it is something I can do, it is something I don't want to do...

 

Jim

BTW: Happy Birthday  

(it's always someone's BD)

Comment by John Malone on March 6, 2013 at 11:36am

@Bob

That's EXACTLY what I am thinking of doing.

I'm interested in the resin coating.  Can you provide a link to an example of what you are referring to?

I also kicked around the idea of using composite decking planks, which would be great, but they are pricey.

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