Raft bed design and the lining

[Jovan Johnson]

Greeting All

Does anyone have any design specifications for the design of the raft beds such as the size of wood used and the lining use in them?

yours truly 

Jovan

[Earl ward]

my rafts are 12in deep and 16 mil derma schrim plastic liner 3/8 plywood for sides and 2x4 top rails

[Jovan Johnson]

Thank you Earl for your response 
do u use anything like 2x4 or 4x4 for posts to strengthen the raft?
and is the derma schrim plastic readily available ?

[Michelle Silva]

Earl, are you sure you didn't mean dura skrim? I ordered that, but didn't use it, went with used billboard liners.

 

[Michelle Silva]

also, I used 2 concrete block high for the walls, but w/ 3 raft tanks each 40' long seemed WAY too labor intensive..I like the wood idea.

 

[Jovan Johnson]

Hi Michelle

where did you get the used billboard liners? and are those safe for the fish

Michelle Silva said:

Earl, are you sure you didn't mean dura skrim? I ordered that, but didn't use it, went with used billboard liners.

 

[Earl ward]

Your right dura skrim, I used 2x4 where the plywood pieces meet every 8 ft and at the top and bottoms at the ends. I was going to use used bill boards but the ones I have had cracks where they were folded for shipping didn’t want to take the chance of it leaking and have to rebuild.

 

typing and spelling are not one of my strong points

[Jovan Johnson]

By the way is it ok to use adhesives to hold the PVC piping together? or will it cause a PH problem or be toxic to the fish
Thanks fof the advice so far

[Michelle Silva]

there's been much discussion here on the safety..can do  a search and read the thread. I did a lot of research as well and feel they are safe or wouldn't be using them. I got them from a billboard company, but unfortunately, when I called again recently was not able to get any.

Jovan Johnson said:

Hi Michelle

where did you get the used billboard liners? and are those safe for the fish

Michelle Silva said:

Earl, are you sure you didn't mean dura skrim? I ordered that, but didn't use it, went with used billboard liners.

 

[Jovan Johnson]

Thanks a million Michelle 
Ive been doing some additional reading and my understanding of DWC is growing exponentially
I am currently writing a business plan/implementation plan for a medium size system but i and experimenting with a smaller one first. This site has hepled and encouraged me on days when i though this was hopeless :) 

Michelle Silva said:

there's been much discussion here on the safety..can do  a search and read the thread. I did a lot of research as well and feel they are safe or wouldn't be using them. I got them from a billboard company, but unfortunately, when I called again recently was not able to get any.

Jovan Johnson said:

Hi Michelle

where did you get the used billboard liners? and are those safe for the fish

Michelle Silva said:

Earl, are you sure you didn't mean dura skrim? I ordered that, but didn't use it, went with used billboard liners.

 

[Jovan Johnson]

Thanks a million Michelle 
Ive been doing some additional reading and my understanding of DWC is growing exponentially
I am currently writing a business plan/implementation plan for a medium size system but i and experimenting with a smaller one first. This site has hepled and encouraged me on days when i though this was hopeless :) 

Michelle Silva said:

there's been much discussion here on the safety..can do  a search and read the thread. I did a lot of research as well and feel they are safe or wouldn't be using them. I got them from a billboard company, but unfortunately, when I called again recently was not able to get any.

Jovan Johnson said:

Hi Michelle

where did you get the used billboard liners? and are those safe for the fish

Michelle Silva said:

Earl, are you sure you didn't mean dura skrim? I ordered that, but didn't use it, went with used billboard liners.

 

[CliveP]

Hi All,

I'm thinking of using cementitious board to construct my troughs - I reckon that it will be more durable than plywood and definitely termite and rot resistant. As an alternative to using a plastic liner would it be possible to just put some silicone along the seams and use some type of swimming pool paint?

 

Thanks in advance,

Clive

[Jovan Johnson]

Hey, do you still have the dura skrim linners? would you mind selling them to me?

Michelle Silva said:

Earl, are you sure you didn't mean dura skrim? I ordered that, but didn't use it, went with used billboard liners.