Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Can talapia be raised above ground swimming pools?

Ebb and flow as I know about it, is a good substitute for VERY low flow pumps and is essentially a self flushing toilet and used to flood growing beds in an aquaponic setup. In these systems, solid waste should not be removed from the water per se, but added to the plant section where the nutrients can be broken down and taken up by plant matter. The turbulance created would, I think, be counter-productive to a clarifier being similar to a settling tank. This works okay if you want a system that is "off the grid" and use solar pumps.

I wonder about "the more flow the better" thought also. Too much flow and there is not enough time for seperation ...again, turbulance.

Just my opinion and first thoughts based on a lot of input from customer's experiences.

I can comment about algae in the bio-filtration process. Algae is a substrate for beneficial bacteria, and I main food source for nearly any species of tilapia. It can also clog nearly anything it enters. Your goals and system will determine whether algae growth is a good thing or a bad thing.

No, I was not, but does not surprise me, they are hardy buggers, and I think often overlooked as a potential aquaculture genus. I would think with some selective breeding one could really get some fast growing lepomis strains started.

According to the fish geeks over at NANFA that has been disproven via research. They even provided me with links.

My local grocer was out of nonionized, and I used ionized for a while. Didn't have any problems whatsoever. I do use unionized if I can get it though as I feel better using it.

Another wives tale shot down!

The rotating filter keeps them wet but they are out of the water just long enough so they are not oxygen starved. There is a specific rpm that is best, but off hand I don't remember it specifically. It's something like 2 rmps give or take.



You'll still get algae in the tank itself, which will end up in the deer netting filter material. Apparently the algae in the netting does not render it useless as the system in the book Small Scale Aquaculture has plenty of algae in it. In fact the more clogged the filter gets the getter it holds in particulate matter to a point.



You really need to get the book Small Scale Aquaculture. It will answer all your questions and more. I don't have an issue with algae in my indoor set up so I can't answer your questions from experience.

If I didn't qualify that statement by saying there is a limit I should have. Yes, there is a point where too much flow too fast could defeat the purpose of trapping the particulates. The book specifically told me what size pump to get for the 55 gallon claifier drum, and I strictly adhered to that.

The point I was trying to make is you want clarification to take place 24/7 and an ebb and flow wouldn't do that. At least I don't think so.

I was on my way to buy a 10 x 3 foot pool and mentioned it to my neighbor and she sold me her 15 x 4 foot pool instead. It's going to take forever to fill. I'm going to add about 300 gallons of greenwater from my kiddie pond that I been hauling with buckets by hand and add 5 tablespoons of miracle grow for tomatoes to start it. I called a guy in Oceanside and he's agreed to sell me 100, 3 to 5 inch tilapia for $150. I'm planning on picking up my 55 gallon barrels on the same trip and making the filters. I ordered some deer netting but I will have to order some more because of the bigger pool. I thought this weekend was kind of soon to add fish but the guy swears they will be ok. I tried to get more time but he will sell them to someone else if I don't come and get them this weekend. I'm going to insist on Sunday to get maximum time.

What do you guys think about making a filter out of a 275 gallon tote instead of several 55 gallon drums? I wonder if I can get one of those on my geo and still have room to strap a 55 gallon drum on top that for my kiddie ponds. Probably just one tote or three drums is the max I will be able to fit up there.

Also I ordered the book on Amazon.com

If I may ask, where by Oceanside? I used to live there.

Boy I don't know Steve. That's not enough time to get the bacteria cycled. I think you're going to kill your fish.

I would prefer to use two 55 gallon drums for filtering myself but the tote may work fine. With my present system I only use one drum.

Not enough time for bacteria to cycle but he might get by due to the low stocking density and relatively small size of fish stocked. 15' X 4' pool will be around 5200 gallons so 100 shouldn't stink up the water too quickly.

I must add as well that you are buying dead fish swimming. Your ammonia level will spike for two weeks. You will need to do 75% water changes daily. This will do much damage to your fish, Then nitrites will spike, and you will need to do 75% water changes daily for another three weeks, and even more damage will be done to your remaining fish. You are going into this way too gung ho. Send me a PM in a month, and I will ship you some Tilapia to replace your first batch. I am not joking. Without established biofiltration, your fish are going to poison themselves.
Wait! Get the filter cycled, and order some fish at that point. There are plenty of online distributors. Tilapia are crap machines. I have kept lots of fish in big tanks, and I have seen few fish put out this much waste. Your system needs to be eating close to 10 ppm ammonia per 24 hours before you put that amount of fish in it.

Edit. Saw your gallonage, and density, and it may not be quite so bleak. At least get a test kit, and be prepared for massive water changes.

SRAC Article: Tank Culture Of Tilapia

check it out

http://www.thefishsite.com/articles/136/tank-culture-of-tilapia

Oceanside is between LA and San Diego.

That was a great article to a great thread Bender! You guys have probably saved me years of experimenting.

I kind of agree with you guys on waiting. Some bad news I discovered is that my 5000 gallon pool is leaking. I only paid 35 dollars and I would have paid that for it leaking or not but I wish they would have told me it leaked before I started filling it. I went everywhere in town looking for a decent cheap pool. Everyone was sold out. Will try again tomorrow and also inform my tilapia supplier and see how long I can stall him off for.

My reason for wanting to use the 275 gallon totes as filters is because one tote will replace 5 of the 55 gallon drums. I'm thinking I'm going to start with about 55 gallons of filter for every 1000 gallons of water. I've read that one drum will filter up to 3000 gallons but not for tilapia if what you guys are saying and the article that was posted above. If I have to I will even double the filtration as the fish grow.

The plan is to go to locate a pool in the city tomorrow and set it up the same day. I think 100 fish will be ok in a 1250 gallon pool for a few days while my big pool is aging after I fix it. I have mega pumps both circulation and aeration. I will also probably cut down on their food till the filter(s) kick in and start doing their job. Hope that doesn't stunt their growth.

Check out the air pump I ordered.
http://www.amazon.com/Active-Air-Commerc...4599&sr=1-2

Good old Amazon! I also got some 2500 GPH magnetic drive water pumps that run off 265 watts of power for about the same price. Here's the link if anybody is interested.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018CE6DQ/ref=oss_product
Only problem is if you read the reviews they are for dog food. Yesterday when I ordered them there was a picture of a pump and today there is a picture of dog food but the description still says pump. Guess I'll find out in a few days if they sent me the right product. The price does sound a little too good to be true.

I also drove by a feed store that was closed and noticed they had 55 gallon drums and they are used. They also had some plastic round watering tanks. Going to call and find out how much tomorrow.

These are good air pumps, but will only last about a year before you need to change diaphragms. They will become loud and clacky. Don't know if that is a word. but that's what they do. You can buy replacement diaphragms for a couple bucks, and they are good for another year or so. Rinse and repeat. I use similar pumps, and have changed the diaphragms several times, only takes a few minutes, and a phillips screwdriver.

As for the pondmaster pump, they are decent as well, as long as you are not asking it to lift much, or do long runs. Also be on the lookout for stray voltage with them. I had one in a tank, and the fish were not acting right, Then I had a small cut on my hand, and stuck my hand in the tank, and could feel the juice through the cut. Changed pumps, no more tingle in cuts, and the fish started eating well.
Also I will reiterate again that water, and your system will not simply age, you must feed it, monitor it with a test kit, and most of all be patient. Fishless cycling can be pretty fast if you start with some media full of bacteria. Go to a fish store, and ask them for some used filter media, fresh out of the filter. Put it in your filter, and feed ammonia, and follow the directions in the link that I provided above. You might if you are lucky, and the stars are aligned, make it happen in two weeks. More likely 3, but I have achieved 2 before.

I've have this pump in my pond going on it's third season, in the winter it runs nonstop, no problems with it.
http://www.aquariumspecialty.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=139_267_532&products_id=1187

I found and patched two leaks in my pool today. I read everything I could about pools and seam leaks and the best thing for them is Plumbers Goop. If getting it off my fingers is any indication of how this stuff is going to work, I'd say it's going to work good.

I had planned on buying one 10,000 gallon pool, one 5,0000 and several 1200. Seems like the best deals for used pools are 15 and 20 footers. I wonder if I can use netting to build some sort of cages for dividing up the big pools instead. I can tell right now it's going to be useful to have plenty of back up pools for when they spring leaks. I've got a feeling I'm going to get pretty good at fixing them if I stay with this long enough!

There is also several brands of pool leak stop that is reported to work well on smaller leaks. Does anybody know of any pool leak stop solutions that are safe for fish?

I am planning on setting this pool up again tonight. Sure hope I got lucky and found all the leaks. The rest of them should be small. Perhaps I can patch them while the pool is full. Why do leaks always seem to be at the seams? Regular patch kits are useless over seams. One guys says the goop will work by putting it on the outside for small leaks while the water is still in the pool. I've got a feeling it will work great for fin punctures on the sides of the pool and that fish wont be as abusive to the bottom of the pool as human feet are.

Surfsteve, You are a wild man! I have to say, I love your enthusiasm.. I can tell you with 100% certainty that "Goop" will not stop leaks by applying it to the outside of a full pool. Not for any duration. There are some two part epoxies that are made for underwater repairs. Some are designed for PVC, which I assume your liner is made from? They come in a stick, and you knead them, mixing the parts. Home depot, or Lowes carries them, you will find them with the glues, usually near the paint department.
Oh, and the fin punctures in the pool will be a non issue.

Thanks!

I'm filling up my pool so far and no leaks. It was really windy just before sunset and it took me a while because I spent most of my time trying to hold the pool down. It just got to the shallow side which is about 4 to 6 inches difference. If I lived in sand I would have leveled the pool but I have solid clay and rock soil that takes months to drain and is a nightmare to excavate. Since this is the first pool I chose not to level it so I can see if the ground slope is going to be a problem with future pools.

What about fin punctures from catfish or claw punctures from freshwater crayfish? Can they be raised in soft pools as well?


I also forgot to mention that I carried three 55 gallon drums home on top my Geo today. I bet it was a sight going down the road.

Do you guys think it would be better if I threw my deer nets into my goldfish pond for a week or so till I get algae going in the new pool? I'm planning on leaving them rolled up so that they don't get caught up in it. I could run some mega air through it as soon as my new pump comes.

Gotta go check the pool for leaks...

Have you thought about rasing prawns (fresh water shrimp)? Check this out for more info http://www.freshwaterprawn.org/

Why would you do that?

I have the sense that he's talking about getting the deer netting to start some bacteria growth as a way of helping the new "ponds" get cycled prior to adding fish. At least that's how I read it.

It would make more sense to but his biofilter material in the pond than the netting as the netting will be periodically scoured.

Yeah, I agree that the filter material would be best to help the cycling of the pools as opposed to the clarifier. But if he's not going to be scrubbing that stuff right away, it would probably accomplish the same goal as all of the water is going to cycle through that material just as much as it would via the filter - being a closed loop system - and so what's on the netting from the clarifier is going to end on the biofilter material just as well and will stay there once he scrubs the deer netting. Of course, again, I'm just kind of taking a stab at Steve's intent, though that is the reason that most readily comes to mind. Hopefully he'll jump in and share what he's thinking.

Here is another article on filtration.

http://www.aces.edu/dept/fisheries/education/documents/LowCostBiofilters0305.pdf