AAARGH! Another Newbie system.

dlf_perth

$550 good price.

If round then options are to cut panels out and leave braces (ie. take pieces of pie and leave some bits).

Cut off and then either - use star irons to brace into ground, put something around the top of the lip/rim to hold shape (PVC will sometimes work - just like they do for above groundswimming pools), or put cross members in - all have been done on various posts around the traps. A lot depends on the quality and thickness of the build.

boss

I like the idea of leaving part of the top for a cover. Sounds like a win win to me.

Liney

I believe a member in Tasmania had a larger plastic water tank as his fish tank build and did remove a little bit of the lid. Just enough to get the fish net in and. He mentioned bottom not truely flat so if the case then maybe if water comes in on angle to make a slight current then the SLO could be on outer edge opposite to pick up the waste?
Hoping to call into factory for a look soon but am heavily leaning this way.

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dlf_perth

if you can mount the tank on sand with a bit of a sink in the middle then some tanks will depress slightly as the centre is the weakest point. Tank manufacturers often assume that the tank will be on concrete or a compacted hard-stand (usually says that in the instructions).

you need a decent hole so you can get access and catching fish through a small hole is not easy.
You can cover it. But it will depend on how high the tank is - anything over 1m above ground will start to get hard to look into anyway.

Liney

I was thinking of mounting on top of my pavers and to keep it around 1.3M tall to help with gravity flow to grow beds. I’ve got milk crates and I’m 6’2 so should be able to see ok. Just reread Hobart adventures system where he cut a rain water tank for ideas so now down to choosing colour. Fence colour is a dark gray/green but thought of same as grow bed (sage green) so it won’t get as hot in summer.

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joblow

If you want to admire your fish choose a light colour, you can paint or cover the outside.

Liney

So after growing through the winter I've found that I have planted way too close together and that trout are sooo much bloody fun to grow- like piranhas at feeding time & fairly robust but very messy.
I've added my larger growbed to the system this weekend mainly 12mm pea gravel with 3 x 50L bags of hydroton on top and added cherry tomatoes capsicums and a couple of strwaberries and a few plant cuttings to see how it goes.
Never grow theses before so like I said to the wife we'll see how it goes( bl@@dy celery went berserk but mostly hollow) so I've composted a few plants. Might add a few more lettuces but need to harvest a huge amount of silverbeet and rainbow chard so there will be plenty of room for other stuff as we progress. Bit of a learning journey for me as I've no idea of crop spacing or the size of how it grows lol.
I might get another 10-20 silver perch for the sump to carry over after I harvest the trout until I get around to installing the water tank/fishtank.
Really enjoying it and might even introduce a frog or two to look after any bugs in the beds if they'll stay, just need to source some more irrigation pipe to build some more hoops to keep it all the same height and then get one long piece of shade cloth. Always something to do aye. And maybe a small radial flow and MBBR but space is tight.

Liney

So it looks like I'll be adding a radial flow filter and a MBBR(100L barrel) and want to know a couple of things-
- how much k1 media for a 100L barrel to allow it to move with airstone and be productive and,
- does the radial flow filter need to be the same size barrel as the MBBR?
I am space limited but have sourced a tall/skinny 100L barrel which helps with space but I still might have to move my Fish Tank sideways 600mm after I harvest the trout.
I'm also leaning heavily on having 6 silver perch and a few koi in the sump tank through summer to keep the system ticking over when the trout are gone and with the 1200L of grow beds plus the MBBR I'm hoping the system should be able to cope with it as I'll have 30 trout in winter plus the sump fish.
Ive now found my system has hit pH 6-6.2 so am having to learning about buffering to get the pH up and see why people do lots of water changes to monitor levels etc. Was hoping to keep the hobby less scientific but will see what way works easiest for me. I don't really want to be adding lime and potassium carbonate every few days so will try and see what the general consensus on here seems to be. Also have removed all celery and nearly all silverbeet and chard from system but still no nitrates and wonder as my ammonia has been steady since April @ 0.25 how to increase 1 value without hurting another. Any ideas or opinions are welcomed.

danny

for buffering the pH, a typical trick is a sack of sea shells, crushed is better because of greater surface area, in the sump perhaps. It will dissolve into the water at a rate relative to the pH, keeping it in check. If you cant get sea shells then crushed limestone.

Liney

Cheers Danny
I wonder if removing 3 large clumps of silverbeet and 2 celery clumps allowed the ammonia to rise after theneds were disturbed?

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Liney

Another question- does a RFF and a MBBR have to be the same size and do they need to be at the same height as the fish tank or grow bed to use gravity to push the water into growbeds or will the pump pressure still force it up a little?

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Liney

Another question- does a RFF and a MBBR have to be the same size and do they need to be at the same height as the fish tank or grow bed to use gravity to push the water into growbeds or will the pump pressure still force it up a little?

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DoctorFish

Hey, Liney. My RFF and MBBR are the same size, but I don't think it necessary. The water heights are the same as the are effectively linked passively. I think this would be the norm. You are welcome to have another look at my set up and I'll try and post a video.

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DoctorFish

Hi Liney, see link for video

https://youtu.be/BvNxg0a3Qo4

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Liney

Thanks again DOCTORFISH unfortunately my bio filter won't be going into the sump as it'll be flowing into the grow beds and I will be needing the height to allow gravity to assist water flow. But in saying that I only have room for 100L tanks after I move the fishtank after trout harvest and even then I'll probably have to stuff around with moving flow pipes around the drums in that space for it to work but still looking forward to its completion and next years trout should be a little cleaner, I've noticed a bit of muck in a growbed after removing silverbeet and celery so they must have been holding it together.
Where did you source your media as I recall you only had netting to start with- I might need to buy 50L worth.

cheers again

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