Comment

Comment by Leo White Bear on May 11, 2014 at 2:37pm

Steve-

  That is the main reason I don't put anything on the bottom of my totes.  The fish do just fine without it.

  If you are wanting to get into breeding your own fish, you may want a designated tote just for this pourpose and then many fish build Redds, a shallow depression in the botton of the tank. 

  This will have to be designed with a different type of drainage system, exiting out the side of the tank so as not to disturbe the Redd.  Along with its own grow bed / filter.

Comment by Steve Armeros on May 11, 2014 at 2:00pm

Hello Again all.

Out of curiosity what does everyone put on the bottom of the Totes?  I put river rock, and I wonder if that is a mistake since it collects all the waste even though the siphon is at the bottom into a swirl filter. That could be why my nitrites are remaining high.

Steve....  Happy Mothers Day to all the Moms out there.

Comment by Jim Fisk on May 11, 2014 at 8:30am

On the other hand if you are going to raise Trout or Tilapia you can just leave them in. They will disappear. You can count on it

Comment by Jim Fisk on May 11, 2014 at 8:29am

Hi Steve. I gave a detailed answer at your new topic above.

Comment by Steve Armeros on May 11, 2014 at 6:03am

Hello All

Has anyone an easy way to get goldfish out of a Tote?

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 23, 2014 at 8:55am

I came upon an old Trout raising book and thought this quote to be of interest. Source at the end.

"I think it is safe to say that sluggish flat water at 70 is dangerous,
if not fatal, to trout ; while they will live in vigorous
rapid water which occasionally runs to 80. I have
found 85 to be fatal to them in all kinds of water."
Source:
JAMES R. OSGOOD AND COMPANY, LATE TICKNOR & FIELDS, AND FIELDS, OSGOOD, & Co.1873

Good stuff. Keep your Trout water rolling!

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 11, 2014 at 12:57pm

Black pipe is the right one. It comes in various gauges but the thicker the longer lasting.

Comment by Jeff S on April 11, 2014 at 12:19pm

Jim, Thanks for the info. I am reworking the heater this year. Your system sounds cool but complicated to a simpleton like me. Can I use the black stove pipe and be safe with proper clearance? I built a fireproof closet for the stove but it wasn't emitting enough heat to have been a problem probably because it's an incinerator and not a stove and has a double wall.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 11, 2014 at 10:06am

Jeff, I would be negligent if I did not point out that that is not a "duct" in your photo but a chimney that WILL load up with very flammable creosote and when (not if) it catches fire you are going to be in big trouble. Even that metal duct tape is meant for hot air ducts rather than chimneys. All that flammable material around it can easily catch fire. Take it from a veteran volunteer fireman who has been heating with wood for 50 yrs now. I have had a chimney fire split a new lined brick chimney right in half. 2000F in that "duct" will set everything around it on fire.The more you cool the air in the chimney the more it will form creosote. And that galvanized hot air duct pipe is also not safe for a chimney. When it is super heated in a chimney fire situation it gives off very toxic fumes. Please do your homework on heating with any kind of solid fuels and the appropriate materials that should be used. You seem convinced that you are dealing with "hot air" and take my word for it: you are not. Be safe.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 11, 2014 at 9:48am

Hi Jeff, sorry I got no notice of your post.

My stove design is capable of a good 100K btus and that chamber on top is more complicated than it looks as it extracts most of the useable heat before it exits the GH. I can get the entire stove glowing red should I desire, so it must have room around it or PUFF goes the GH.

Before the flue gases leave the stove all the syngas (wood gas that normally goes unburned in the average stove) is burned at around 2000F in a ss chamber at the back of the lower barrel. The super heated exhaust then hits a replaceable baffle as it enters the upper chamber. Then it is directed to the front end and then up over a second baffle and toward the rear and finally into the flue and out of the GH into a metalbestos stovepipe chimney. You must have some heat left to drive the exhaust up and out unless you use a draft inducer at that end.

The heat output is controlled by a digital thermostat that drives an inlet fan that goes on and off depending on demand. The inlet fan air is preheated before it hits the syngas burner tube and the resultant burn can sound quite impressive. The next gen design (I have been designing these wood gasifiers since the mid 70's) will be even more impressive and clean burning. Hope to have that one on line for the house by Fall. I will reveal more on that in the future. Wood gasifiers are all the rage now. Ben Franklin was actually the pioneer on them and pretty much never gets any credit as everyone reinvents the wheel. Nothing new there.

If you do decide to heat the water as I do in this stove be sure to have a valve to control the flow of cold water as the resultant condensation can wreak havoc with your stove if not throttled back so as to stay warm. That very acidic condensation will eat thru most stoves unless made of ss.

As to pics, just go to your home page and load them up. Start by clicking on this button:

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