Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations Starting an article for submission to Pond Boss

That makes total sense, but given my luck, I might miscalculate 2ppt by a factor of ten....or one hundred.

So 225 gallons would equal how much kosher salt?

Bruce:

Here's my idea on water heating. Buy a whole house instant water heater that runs on natural gas or propane. There's a thermostat in the unit that will allow you to adjust the water temp from 100 to 140 degrees. Yes, that's too hot for the fish, but bear with me.

It is turned on by water flow thru the heater. So, I was thinking of putting a thermostat in the tank that would turn on or off a submerged pump that would push water thru the heater, effectively turning it on and off. It doesn't have to be much of a flow, I believe the new heaters will turn on at as little as 1/2 gpm. That way the thermostat in the tank governs how long the water heater will run due to the water flow thru the heater. The water going into the tank will be too hot, but it will mix with the tank water prety quickly. Inject the water at the bottom of the tank and it'll rise. If you have the warm water discharge going the same way as the water flow going into the tank it should help dissipate the warm water thru the tank even quicker.

That's my thoughts on it anyway. Todd Overton is using a wood fired boiler to keep the Tilapia water warm during the Texas winter, but you won't have to keep them that warm.

Insulate the top of the tank or at least the majority of the top. Less heat loss that way. Good idea on insulating the sides. Cecil did that to his tank in the basement (sides) and that helped keep heat in the water. Don't forget to insulate ALL the water holding tanks/barrels/buckets in the system, and the pipes connecting them together. Heat escapes everywhere, and the less you let escape, the less $ spent on heating.

Bruce, regarding salt. I use non-iodized table salt. Cheep stuff from whatever big box store has a sale. Buy a Hanna pocket salinity meter # HI98203. Add the salt slowly, it's better to dissolve it in a bucket and slowly add it to the water over a day or so. Don't put it in the filter to dissolve and go into the tank - you'll kill the filter

While not exactly what you are doing, some interesting reading.
using salt to transport fish

This set-up under the garage?

Bruce the colder the water the fish are in,, the less solids they will produce due to eating less food thus water changes would not have to be as frequent nor as much. As mentioned earlier I would try to have the water mostly above 50F-55F which will keep the biofilter active and the fish will feed a little better and that may result in a little fish growth or at least they will maintain good body condition over the winter.

1800W is a helluva lot of heater for 240 gallons. In my 150 to keep a 20F rise I used 2 100W heaters. One in the filter tank, one in the main tank. Of course the tank was plastic, so it already had some insulation value.

Not to scare you, but don't buy cheap water heaters. I have had two Chinese-made aquarium water heaters stick with the thermostat on, roasting all of my son's fish. Hard to explain to him when he was 4 that that awful smell was his aquarium cooking his fish.

I've been using this salt in my RAS.

I don't know if it's as good as the other stuff, but it says it's all natural, derived from salt water and has no additives. You can get it at WalMart for about the same price as softener salt. It hasn't killed my fish.....yet.

I don't think the heater is too big if there isn't an insulated top on it, and it's kept in a cold ambient environment.

See if this link works.

Salt

Better for reference, and you'll have a copy.

It may sound like a lot of salt, but it is only initial. And you'll only do gradual additions.

None of the other links work that I wanted to put up.

Some use salt, and others don't. Each have their own success.

Bruce:

Here's my idea on water heating. Buy a whole house instant water heater that runs on natural gas or propane. There's a thermostat in the unit that will allow you to adjust the water temp from 100 to 140 degrees. Yes, that's too hot for the fish, but bear with me.

It is turned on by water flow thru the heater. So, I was thinking of putting a thermostat in the tank that would turn on or off a submerged pump that would push water thru the heater, effectively turning it on and off. It doesn't have to be much of a flow, I believe the new heaters will turn on at as little as 1/2 gpm. That way the thermostat in the tank governs how long the water heater will run due to the water flow thru the heater. The water going into the tank will be too hot, but it will mix with the tank water prety quickly. Inject the water at the bottom of the tank and it'll rise. If you have the warm water discharge going the same way as the water flow going into the tank it should help dissipate the warm water thru the tank even quicker.

That's my thoughts on it anyway. Todd Overton is using a wood fired boiler to keep the Tilapia water warm during the Texas winter, but you won't have to keep them that warm.

Insulate the top of the tank or at least the majority of the top. Less heat loss that way. Good idea on insulating the sides. Cecil did that to his tank in the basement (sides) and that helped keep heat in the water. Don't forget to insulate ALL the water holding tanks/barrels/buckets in the system, and the pipes connecting them together. Heat escapes everywhere, and the less you let escape, the less $ spent on heating.

Bruce, regarding salt. I use non-iodized table salt. Cheep stuff from whatever big box store has a sale. Buy a Hanna pocket salinity meter # HI98203. Add the salt slowly, it's better to dissolve it in a bucket and slowly add it to the water over a day or so. Don't put it in the filter to dissolve and go into the tank - you'll kill the filter

While not exactly what you are doing, some interesting reading.
using salt to transport fish

This set-up under the garage?

Bruce the colder the water the fish are in,, the less solids they will produce due to eating less food thus water changes would not have to be as frequent nor as much. As mentioned earlier I would try to have the water mostly above 50F-55F which will keep the biofilter active and the fish will feed a little better and that may result in a little fish growth or at least they will maintain good body condition over the winter.

Bruce something like this in the 1800 watt range would be good investment if this is a longterm project for mutiple year use.
http://www.aquaticeco.com/subcategories/3033/Process-Tech-Heaters-Single-Phase

For fish oxygen demands for emrgency with pure DO. We selected this to sell. We sell a bunch of these for transportation of fish. It is kinda like George system but ready to go. I suggest you purchase form local weldign shop your oxygen cylinder. http://lakework.com/cart/index.php?p=product&id=181&parent=16

Bruce I know you wanted to keep the water cool but if you wanted too keep a steady cool temp I know hot tub companies make in-line heaters that have a winter mode to keep above freezing and some have adjustable thermostats..

I don't think the heater is too big if there isn't an insulated top on it, and it's kept in a cold ambient environment.