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Comment by Jim Troyer on July 24, 2012 at 12:37pm

Sorry David, but I have to report my first fish death in over 3 years...

This was one of the granddaddies of the group could be upwards of 10 years old.

This morning while making my rounds, I discovered a dead fish in the sump area of my pond.  It is not unusual for the larger fish to jump the filter into the sump side of the filter to graze on the other side of the fence.  The only thing I can come up with is the water level.  The water level was a little low so maybe the O2 level got too low while he was trapped in there for a 3 hr pump resting period.  Guess 'll have to put in the auto fill float I've been thinking about....  May just be old age too...

Seems as though nature was cleaning this up nicely,

those must be turtle bite marks to be that large.  This time of year I can only see about 10 % of the water due to water plants covering the surface so I don't know if this happens in the main tank side or not, but the system is big and healthy enough to take care of things on it's own, thankfully.

So I checked out all the numbers and everything seems good, water temp is at 81f only one degree warmer than the indoor tanks, the shade screen  made a 4-5 degrees difference.

all the best,

Jim

Comment by Jeremy K on July 24, 2012 at 11:40am

I hate the auto correct feature on this thing. (tested last night epoxied this morning) the pump does 2150 gph

Comment by John Malone on July 24, 2012 at 11:39am

@Jeremy

Wow!

But we need photos!      Please....

Comment by Jeremy K on July 24, 2012 at 11:37am

Went down to Phil's place off of Ironwood in east Mesa yesterday and picked up 3 , 55 gallon drums and built a swirl filter. I tested it yesterday before I epoxied the joints together (tested last night exposed this morning) when I get home from work tonight I will plug it into my 5 part filter system. One 55 gallon swirl filter into one 55 gallon course media mechanical filter with course filter pads for an evap cooler pad wrapped into a spiral cylinder with the inlet in the center and wire to keep the outside edge about 1" from the side of the barrel where the water exits and goes to the next filter. #3 is the same as #2 except the media is a lot finer. #4 is the same as 3 and #5 is a 42 gallon Rubbermaid trash can with a 1.25" pipe split into 2 then 4 with tons of 3/8" holes drilled into it raining filtered water onto 40 or so gallon of course lava rocks . The bottom of the tank has two 2" drain with a ball valves on each and a maze of 2" pipes covering the bottom of the tank, above that is a sheet of lexan I cut to fit with a million ( not sure how many but lots) of 3/8" holes in it to keep the rocks away from the pipes for easier cleaning. The system is powered by a harbor frieght 2150 pond pump and before adding the swirl filter worked perfectly . Fingers crossed that I won't have to be cleaning those nasty pads as often any more.

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on July 24, 2012 at 10:28am

Greetings @Brian and welcome. Amongst a few other things I am working out the production details for converting 10' x 30" mini-swimming pools to cost effective aquaponics mini-farms.  Currently I am holding about at 1,200gallons water at 84F and going into my 3rd round of growth tests (Winter/Spring, Spring/Summer, now Summer/Fall). The concept is 60ft2 of deep water floating raft with tilapia. The large amount of water acts as a heat sink preventing rapid temperature changes. Naturally it would be better buried and/or in a green house. All good things in time.

The estimated fish carrying capacity at any one time is currently about 40 lbs. All species are rotated on a seasonal basis. Here is a pic of one of the test units: http://bit.ly/N3LDXq

Have fun with this. Just by getting into aquaponics you are on the cutting edge of aquaculture.

Comment by John Malone on July 24, 2012 at 9:21am

@Brian

Welcome to the forum.  Join in, ask questions and come up with crazy ideas like the rest of us.  It's fun and you are definitely welcome.

As to water temperatures.  I have a 6'x4' x 3'deep fish tank which is around 500 gallons.  This has been sunk in to the ground to try and alleviate some of the temperature concerns.  The highest temperature I've see so far this summer is 83F, which I'm extremely happy about and is right in the middle of the preferred range for tilapia.

In winter I have plans for setting up a solar water heating system to keep the temperature at a level that is acceptable, if not optimal for the fish.   I have lots of plans.... 

Comment by Dr. George B. Brooks, Jr. on July 24, 2012 at 9:10am

33 pounds of edible product so far. That just $10 a pound (amortized over 2 years that is). Wow I'm getting good at this!

Comment by Larry in Casa Grande on July 24, 2012 at 8:38am

Hi Brian and Welcome!

I am really new myself. One of the big concernes I had comming into it was the summer heat. I built my Grow Bed Table over two 300 Gallon tanks to shade them,and have had water in one of those tanks all summer. My temperature seems to hoover around 84.5 F. which I think is about ideal for tilapia.

You have probably noticed that there are some seriously experianced and knowledgable folks on this forum. I trust their real life experiances even more thatn a lot of what I read in the books, and on the other forums. Arizona weather and soil does bring a new element into the hobby. There is no substitute for the experiance of others living right here in our unusuall state. They also happen to be some really nice guys, and exceptionally brilliant gals. You will not be disappointed.

Comment by Brian Perkins on July 24, 2012 at 7:12am

Hello everybody!  I'm new to the group. we are in the early planning stage of our project, Hope to be up in the next couple of months.  Quickly, I have lots of experience with salt water Aquariums, none with aquaponics.  Our planned system is an outside 440 gal grow out Tank, with flood/drain beds.  My single biggest question is Arizona temp. range.  Winter doesn't concern me (Heating water is easy if needed)  But cooling is more problematic.  My grow out tank is made of wood and EPDM liner.  My plan is to bury it about half (18") in the ground.  It will be shaded... but I'm still curious if anyone has experience and/or advice.  Will it be possible and feasible to maintain the the water temp in the range I need for Tilapia and Prawns?

Comment by Robert Rowe on July 23, 2012 at 8:06pm

@Bob Campbell

How deep do you keep the water in those pipes? 5"

Why did you glue the pots into the pipes? Cutting the holes for the netpots results in the sides of the holes being lower which allows water early overflow. I cut the tops of regular pots about 1" into the pipe to ensure the top 1" of hydroton stayed dry.

What size are the pipes and how much do they cost? $1.41/ft end caps $6.14

My design encorporates a stand alone biofilter again in 6" PVC which is solid filled with lava stone and populated with red worms. This to my way of thinking should allow me to use a 6"  bed instead of 12". 

The path I am on is not an accident. My present garden has been very successful in 12" pipe and using 6" pipe is a smaller investment. See my page photos.

I realize I may be on the wrong path but I am just about ready to close the loop.

If this doesn't work out, I'm not sure if my next choice would be larger pipe or a more conventional grow bed.

I chose the pipe because my previous efforts with container gardening wasted a lot of water. If this works I plan to attempt aeroponics in a similar manner.

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