Pond Boss Forums STOCKING A NEW POND Raising Forage and Bait heres my forage tank system

Please bare with me I haven't posted photos in a long time so it may not work the first time.

Well I guess it worked so there ya have it 3 100 gallon tanks plumbed into a 55 gal filter. I hope it works good for raisin forage !!!!!

I'm assuming you are gravity feeding from fish tanks to your 55 gallon filter, and then pumping water back with that single external pump. If so, it's often called a "CHOP" system (Constant Height, One Pump). It's a nice and relatively simple to use and maintain RAS design. Now you need to add an RBC for additional bio filtration! Really helps keep things stabilized.

Good luck with the Tilapia!

What's an RBC,is it a Bog filter ?

What PH level do they prefer?

RBC = Rotating Biological Contactor. It is basically a water wheel with tons of surface area for bacteria to grow on. If you've ever seen those biowheels on aquarium filters, it's essentially the same thing, just much bigger. It spins slowly in the water, "detoxifying" the water while it does. Since much of it is actually out of the water during the spinning, the bacteria get the benefit of O2 from the air, and then get "dunked" back into the water to do their thing... over and over. It's actually a lot more complex than that, but this is the general idea. They aren't terribly hard to build... I mean Cecil recently built one, so how hard could it possibly be? Just kidding Cecil! Hopefully he'll chime in on this. He's done a lot of work on his RAS this Winter, so is a great resource.

Tilapia tolerate a pretty wide ph range. 7.0 is a good place to try for though. Honestly, I haven't tested ph in a very long time in any of my tanks because things have just worked out fine as is.

I have about 3500 bio balls in the 55 gal filter. I thought the Bio balls were supposed to do that very thing as far as growing bacteria to cleanse the water is concerned.

You are correct John. You've got yourself a capable biofilter with those bio balls. I was thinking your drum was strictly a mechanical filter. Sorry about that. Does this filter also remove solids?

I placed a rack on the bottom to allowfor 7 inches of just water. Then I placed 2 layers of the filter media onto the rack. The filter media is 1 inch thick and is course on the bottom 1/2 inch and finer in the top 1/2 inch. It is supposed to catch solids and the little stuff. After the 2 layers of media is a thick pile of bio balls and then 2 layers of filter media and another thick layer of bio balls. Then there are two more layers of filter media and on top of that is a bunch of media cut into small squares and just piled in there. Then I added the grate on top to keep the media below my pumps out line. I put the water in the filter about a week ago and added the bacteria starter liquid. The water has a little bit of a funny smell kinda like fish with some stink added. I hope that's the bacteria growing like crazy and that it's the good kind.

I was thinking about placing some floating Bog plants on top. I think the foating ones have short fat roots that won't get sucked up or grow down through the filter pads. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad thing for the plant roots to grow all through the filter. I hope to never change or clean the media pads. I am hoping it works like the skippy filter where the man said he never cleaned it for 8 years and all was well until the stock boy in his store decided to clean it. The inlet tube into the filter comes to a T inside and a 90 degree elbow was placed on each end in opposite directions to make the water swirl in the bottom.

JohnK, look's like a great little set-up you have, those bio-balls should work well, I have a bubble bead filter which is similar in operation to your filter, the 100gal tank has 10 large PS's and 1 big GSH who are fed heavily and my ammonia and nitrites are zero.
I imagine some bog plants would be nice in the filter if they get enough light.

What type forage are you gonna put into the tanks and what is the GPH of the return pump your using? Also have you checked the ammonia & nitrites with a test kit?

Give us all feedback on how it works!

John,
I would probably be more apt to put a growbed or a separate "bog" tank between the filter and the pump, or even better, divert a small portion of the water flow from the pump to a growbed or bog tank, and then overflow it into one of the fish tanks.

Healthy bog plants could potentially become root bound and restrict flow. Also, some of the plants could potentially root into the filter media. Additionally, you will have a little plant debris (roots, leaves, etc.) from time to time, and it would probably be better to keep that out of the pump. Plus, the biofilter likes darkness, conflicting with your plant's desires for light.

I do not have a kit to check ammonia or nitrates. I will have to see if they have one at the local pet store. The pump is 350gph and I am wondering if low oxygen levels or something wrong with the water would cause the fish to not want to eat. I have about 30 3-4 inch Tilapia in the one tank and it just doesn't seem like they are eating much if any. Weissguy, I will look into your bog plant idea it sounds good. I have spent a lot of money so far so I am running out for now. There is a window that faces south just above the tanks on the wooden work bench. That would probably be a good place to put the bog set-up if I can afford it.

oh, the thing that makes me think oxygen is low is that the fish are all stacked on the airstone. It is one of those green 10 inch traingle stones.

John, thats about the same size pump I have for my one 100gal. tank, you might want to consider 1000gph to be safe.
Here's 2 test kits similar to the ones I use. Also besides ammonia, Nitrites and O2, keep an eye on the PH, I have to add small amounts of baking soda to the tank to keep the PH in range cause of low alkalinity.
http://www.petmountain.com/show_product/...utm_term=502167
http://www.google.com/products/catalog?s...ed=0CCYQ8gIwAg#

Well I only have the one tank going right now. The PH tested at 7.0 to 7.5. Thanks for the links.

If you do put floating bog type plants in I would recommend hyacinth or frogbit. But the key is harvesting them as they get bigger and keep the smaller new growth in there. You would be amazed how much crud those roots collect. But they will get long, and go to places you don't want them and overcrowd if you do not harvest often. Both types will send off multiple runners. Snap the runners off and toss the mother plant. Nice set up, I'm working on something similar but a bit larger scope.

I guess you could always just put the plants in your shrimp tank for now. They won't mind at all. In fact, they'll like the plants in there.

It does sound like you may have a bit of an issue with low DO John. That, or maybe temperature is too low. Water is properly conditioned right? No chlorine? If the tanks were brand new, did you rinse them really well before filling? Some residues left on the tanks can cause issues. What temp are you running at right now? Those guys should be eating like crazy. Seriously, they're pigs. If they aren't eating aggressively, something's off.

I added two more air pumps and they seem to be moving around the tank more ,but they still arent eating. The little ones I have in the house are tearing it up ,but the bigger ones don't seem to be interested in nothing. The temp is around 83 degrees. There may be chemical residue from the glue used to plumb the sytem. I figured if it was a problem it would have killed them ,but they seem fine accept for the eating issue. I also used some oil in the water pump as per directions for the initial start up and I know all that went into the water, about a tablespoon or so. Should I shut off that tank and move them to the second with fresh water? Not sure what to do, I guess I will have to get a test kit and see what it says.

I doubt you have a DO problem. They are hanging over the bubbles because of another water quality issue. Remember, DO (Dissolved Oxygen)is not a bubble. I also have some concerns with your filter set up and pump sizing.

Keep us posted. It is not hard to kill everything the first time around.

John it would probably be best to test the water as soon as possible then let Weissguy know what you found, he's got the experience with Tilapia.

Yea, let me know as soon as you can John. If there is something bad enough about your water to keep your tilapia from eating, it's likely bad enough to kill most other kinds of fish. Tilapia are tough fish.

Tilapia are the easiest and most forgiving fish to raise in "yucky" water. I know a bit about this, but give it to Weissguy.

I would be interested in knowing how long it took the filter setup to kill everything.

Hope that was not too harsh!

Usually takes a couple days plus, to get fish to feed in tanks.

It will probably be sometime this weekend before I can go to the pet store. I have to work this weekend starting tomorrow and I am at home with the 1 year old now. I hope it get's better for them.