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Comment by Jim Fisk on April 21, 2016 at 1:50pm

The composter and the hot tub are next btw. Everything else is done and operating for over 4 years now. My how the time flies. We have built and shipped over 1500 bell siphons now worldwide.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 21, 2016 at 1:47pm

Hey guys, I have not built the composter yet but had one for years and I sell the plans on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/151229959852

I grow the usual plants. Summer plants in warmer weather and kale, brocs, etc, etc in Winter. PH needs to be close to neutral for fingerlings but as they grow trout tend to be pretty bullet proof between 45 and 70F water temp. I now add about 1/2 cup of wood ashes at each GB inlet the day before we hit the hatchery.

Comment by Bernie Diesen on April 21, 2016 at 9:50am

Jim, what plants are you using to match the cool temps for growing salmon?  What about pH?

Comment by Jeff S on April 21, 2016 at 8:01am

Jim, Is that composter a new addition? I don't remember seeing it in your design before. If it is why have you been keeping it a secret from us lol.

Comment by Jim Fisk on April 21, 2016 at 6:32am

Bernie, Just as an example here is our layout. If you had a good bank to dig into on the North side you could put the fish room in there. We were backwards to that so it was not an option. We raise Trout year round with no problem and so can you. Add lots of Solar heat storage like black 55g drums but remember that the larger the system the slower the temp changes. Ours is about 2400g and I heat in the Winter with solar collector that heats the system water on auto pilot and a woodstove of my own design that also heats the water and the air.

Comment by Jeff S on April 20, 2016 at 8:20pm

Bernie, I admire your enthusiasm. I covered the lower half of my GH winter and summer so a half in-the-ground GH makes sense with the extreme seasons you have there. I would offer this advise though, if you're just starting out I would go small and expand as I got a better grasp of my ultimate design. I started with a 8x10 GH and expanded to an 8x22. The system in my icon was my ultimate design but Isettled for half that. Wish I had widened the GH though.

Comment by Bernie Diesen on April 20, 2016 at 2:52pm

Has any one tried a partial buried GH?  I live is the Colorado mountains - 8,500ft. winters can be long, up to 5 months - we had 3ft snow on Apr 18th. GH needs to be 12ft X 30 for a 2-275g IBC fish tank system, sump, and 3-3ft X 8ft GB, 1-3ft X 10ft DT, and 8-25g barrel GBs. I am thinking I could raise tilapia/bass in the summer months and trout in the winter months. Ground temps are 55 degrees year round. I know the seasonal plant selection will be tricky based on warm temps in the summer and cold temps in the winter.

Comment by David Gallentine on November 24, 2015 at 12:04am

Hello there, need tilapia?

www.tilapiastore.com

Comment by Jim Fisk on October 19, 2015 at 8:25am

Hey Jeff, it might be the species of fish. Some will dine on algae and some don't. Our trout don't seem all that interested while our cats and BGs are more prone to eat it. That's over 3 yrs of buildup as I try never to outguess nature, lol.

Mike, don't forget that bacteria will create organic compounds that are who knows what. Something went awry. I check almost daily for water level in my sump, water appearance, water odor, and surface appearance (from scum, oils, to dead fish). Takes about 15 seconds when I do the morning feeding. I have been planning a vid of the daily walk through for some time for what it's worth. It could even be your brand of feed as I ponder this. I use Cargill's Trophy Feed from TSC and it has been great. There will always be something to overcome I'm afraid. In a closed system like AP there are things that will sneak up on us from time to time due to concentrations that start out harmless. The larger the system the less likely the harm I would imagine. Our 2500g is very forgiving.

Comment by Mike Beckman on October 18, 2015 at 6:28pm

I believe overfeeding was in the mix but whatever caused the bubbles on top of the water I think was the issue.  I dont use any chemicals anywhere except to adjust PH from time to time so not sure what happened.  I overflowed the tank twice for a considerable time and let water drain from the bottom, cleaned the pump and pipes, changed the air stone and the water bubbles except for the air stone seem to be gone.  3 fish have survived. The chemistry is showing a PH of 6.9, 0 Nitrites and Ammonia, 20-40 ppm Nitrates.  Everything I read says to see how much food the fish will eat in 3-5 minutes but my fish never eat all at once even if I just put in a little.  Some would come to the area I am putting the food and some would stay in different areas of the tank and it didnt seem to be related to the size of the fish.  Down to 3, a small, medium and large.  Very upsetting especially since I am not sure of what happened.   I have a larger black plastic pipe with slots in it(not sure of the name) around the drain pipe and there dont appear to be any large pieces of anything on the floor of the FT.  I will post a picture tomorrow of the water and again thanks to all for your responses.  Jim convinced me earlier this year to stop "micromanaging" the process and it has been fine for many months.  

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