Pond Boss Forums INTRO Questions & Observations RASers anonymous

I would like to call a meeting of RASers anonymous.

Hi my name is cray and I like to RAS. It all started innocent enough with a 10 gallon fish tank. But soon I found myself eyeing those 800 gallon stock tanks in the local tractor supply. I told myself I would just get a few feed trained bass and see how they did. But soon I found myself buying a 20000 gal pool. My wife tried to step in, but I told her I would be fine with this I was not going to get sucked in any more.( and she believed me) it didn't take long before I was drooling over a 1200 watt viper uv filter, and she found 30000 bio balls charged to her credit card. Now 160,000 gal in and I get the giggles when the new fluidized beed filter gets dropped off by ups. My wife says I am addicted but I'm not I can stop any time I want!!! I just don't want to stop.

Any one else feel the same way?

I do but I prefer to build all my own components. 5 tanks now and an aquaponics raft tank system with a combination of tilapia and bluegills going up any day now outside. Been waiting for temps to go up. Going to put together a yamabuki airlift for the aquaponics system. I'm really excited to see how many watts I can reduce by not using a water pump and possibly using an rbc vs an mbbr.

How about some pictures? I'd love to see your system.

A PHD friend that raises hybrid striped bass for the gourmet market in Chicago warned me it can become an expensive hobby!

I will try to take a few pics tomorrow.

Here is the object of my obsession.

Yeah Cray I'd say you have it bad!

Can you explain what we're seeing pictures three and four?

How does your mechanical and biological filtration work?

Are you still raising bass or are you doing other species?

Pic 3 is a DIY solar heater. It is 8000 feet of black irrigation pipe. I use it to heat the pools in the winter. It has the ability to raise the temp 20 degrees on a sunny day. I also use it to cool the water in the summer I run it at night with a sprinkler the evaporation helps speed cooling.

Pic 4 is my mechanical room on the left is four 3/4 hp three phase pumps three are running continually recirculating the water. One is dedicated to the solar heater. Over the pumps are the phase monitors for the pumps. On the back wall is the transfer switch for generator and automatic disconnect. On the right you see the airiator blower and emergency backup.

As far as how the system works. The water is picked up by the pumps and sent through a uv filter. From there it goes into the protein skimmer that acts as a gas exchanger also. Inside the skimmer is 10 gallons of bio balls that also do some bio filtration from there the water enters the pool. It exits the pool by way of the overflow, and is gravity fed back to a settling tank then through mattela filter pads then through 30,000 bio balls that are airated. From there the cycle starts over. The wate is turned over four times a day. I know that is not a lot but my fish load is not that high.

Amazing

HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!!!!!

You got me scared now. I have been thinking about messing with this stuff a little bit, but geesh, if this is where it leads............

What do you currently raise? (besides a lot of eyebrows!)

Would a heat system like that also help out in northern climates?

I am raising LMB I started two years ago when I fist heard about pellet trained bass. Like I said I just got a cow trough and 300 bass. When I got them to 8 inches in 6 months I was hooked. I am trying to see what I can get them to in three years. My plan is to sell them to local plantations at 5+ pounds. My two year olds are currently 3+ pound on average.

And yes that solar heater would work for you but it would work better if you had it enclosed under clear plastic that would trap the heat and amplify it's effects.

And that is why I've decided to not get an aquarium.

Do you have arteasian wells on the property or ground water wells? DO you pump additional "clean" water into the system to help with evaporation and water changes?

I have seen HSB farms here in FL that have canopy/shade over the tanks to help keep the fish/water cooler during the summer. Im not sure if LMB migh benefit from this but just an idea.

You could look into Redfish, HSB, lots of other species could be pellet trained . Although Your idea of getting Large LMB to offer could be a real niche market.

I'd would love to check out your set up one day...

I have a deep well that I use for topping off and partial water changes.

Any pics of the fish?

I will be sampling the fish next week and will post a few pics. This is from last year. 10 months old

Very nice plump bass for only 10 months old. Be proud.

Florida or northern?

F1 but I did get 200 florida strain last year to compair the growth rate.

I am playing with stocking densities now to find the best ratio.

Wow, that really is a nice fat fish. That thing looks the perfect size for the food market. You could market them simply as Black Bass.
wounder what they would bring per pound? I could see NY restuarants having Black Bass on the menue.....

Nice Fish!

Yeesh! And I thought I had too many obsessive hobbies.

You should be able to charge a premium price for them. After my father-in-law retired, he worked for some people in Mt. Kisco, NY who organically raised most of the food for their restaraunt. They sold RAS-raised tilapia for out-of-site prices.

Our WV Extension Service did an experiment to see what the market would bring for very fresh trout and hybrid striped bass. "In the round" (head on) -- they sold out every week. I believe that when they stopped the experiment they were at $7 a pound. One of the things they found was that selling the whole fish was more profitable than selling filets, plus it was a lot less labor.

Anyway, great postings.

Ken

I find get a better feeding response at .25 to .50 pounds per gallon with the species I raise. But with my experience with largemouth bass in cages I got aggressive pellet feeding at low densities. Do you find that in your tanks?

Anymore I crowd the fingerling bluegill, yellow perch and tilapia in a small 100 gallon cone bottom circular tank that is self cleaning with an external standpipe connected to a center drain. The inflow is directed to the outside of the tank to create centripedal flow. Then when they get larger they go into a larger tank that still has a center drain and external standpipe but no cone bottom. The size of the fish and their density helps solids move to the center drain.

Unlike a Cornell drain the center drain flow is static. I have a gate valve I pull twice a day to clear solids.

The cone bottom tank is an advantage in tanks with smaller fish where you can't produce a higher centripedal flow.

Cray,

What do you think of the matala for mechanical filtration? I've considered using a series of different size mesh for the future in my aquaponics set up followed by a horizontal mbbr in lieu of my clarifier tank in a barrel with a siphon and my mbbr in a barrel. Both work very well (water stays gin clear) but the latter would allow me to decrease my watt signature even further with my airlift due to less lift needed.

Are you aware the Dutch are moving water at 66 gpm on only 10 watts of electricity with the use of an airlift in their high end koi ponds?

The matala is good but it does not have a mesh small enough for me and will need another smaller mesh to satisfy.

Are you using the smallest mesh size now?

Yes and I am still getting a thick silt passing through to bio ball tank. I may be overestimating what this should remove. I plan on adding a DIY 100 micron sieve before the settling tank to help out. My biggest problem is that I did not put in bottom drains. But when I drain and clean after the third year I will be putting them in.