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Rex,
I was able to check for two days and the net increase was 1/10 of an inch per day (notice my calibrated stick in the foreground at the edge of the water). I did not want to add too much water, but I wanted to slowly bring Extratopia back up to full pool over time. I did check the O2 levels before and after adding the well water and I can see the benefit. Also, the well water is cooler and it is causing a slight circulation while the water flows.

When I get back to the farm this week, I'll know if what I am doing is making an impact or not.

As for using big pond water, I am okay with doing that, but I did not have my pumps available because they are being tasked elsewhere so the well was the next best idea. ALso, I am unsure about how much filtering I will need if I use big pond water. I want to protect from cross contamination.

Dave,
I knew you would have my back, thanks!!

George,
I like it!!!!!

Scott,
I did that already. The well water straight from the well was almost zero mg/l of DO, while after just two feet of travel through the air the O2 levels were at saturation. After three feet there is no appreciable difference. I have the nozzle set the same now as I had it when I did the test. Also, I used my meter to check and the water at the site of impact is cooler by several degrees and the O2 levels were at saturation. I know I have some pictures from back when I first got the ODO. I'll post them later today.


Brian

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Another advantage to using big lake water is it is infused with plankton and fertile.
















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Excellent point ewest!!

Brian, if your reasons for raising the pond "slowly" are water quality changes, no need to be concerned. The volume may be large, but the fish will more than acclimate easily as it fills, even if you used a 2" trash pump at full flow. Your fish would like it far better at full pool sooner than later!

As for filtering the lake water, using fiberglass window screening on the intake and out flow would be plenty adequate for fish, and still allow the good stuff to enter. An intake I made was a 2" PVC 'T'. I drilled a couple hindered 1/4" holes on the 10 foot long cross of the T and covered it in several wraps of the 24" screen material. The extra wraps were fairly loose to allow the entire surface to be drawn from rather than the holes drilled only...it never clogged in 60 days of use in an FA laden pond. Black vinyl tape held it on well.

Last edited by Rainman; 07/14/14 06:09 PM.


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Eric and Rex, good points,

Thanks for the info.

Rex, any chance you have a picture of your device? And the reason for slowly raising the level was because I was not there to check for a few days. Also will your filter catch eggs/seeds? I don't want any unwanted fish or plants in the topias.

I am about to go bigger on the solar side and I will setup my pumps asap!!

The cool thing will be using a float to keep the level right. But I will have to consider O2 levels and temps. Of course, I'll test before use.


Brian

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Okay, The water levels in the Topias has come up very nicely with the rains this week!!

The fish are taking food anytime it is offered. And the water looks great. Temps are 84ish with extratopia being a coupe degrees cooler because of the well water. And the O2 levels are very good in all the ponds.

On another note, TP&L is up and running!!!!!!

Here is the test site getting ready to run the pondlife aeration system!!




The system is making 27 amps in this photo even with only partial sun!! 30 Amps is the limit of the charge controller, so far.....




And here is the temporary setup out at the topias!! Everything is tied together in case of bad weather. Next, I add the aeration system for the topias. With any luck, I should have aeration in the topias in a week!!!



I have a 140mm fan running with two exhaust ports to cool the setup, and after two hours, the setup was only two degrees above the ambient temperature.


Brian

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I love your toys! Very cool Brian!



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Nice work ! Is that enough power to keep things going if you have a few days of clouds?
















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Eric,
I was very encouraged by the amount of power I was able to make even during cloudy weather. It will be enough for several days of overcast weather. I will also be adding a third panel to the mix when I bring out the stand for the panels which will give me even more power. On a side note, as Beta tester for the controller, I will be getting the ability to "overpower" mine to 40 amps very soon. This will ensure my batteries are fully charged even with overcast weather and the aeration station running using the third panel.

It is a good thing to have power out at the Topias again!! I also have a new pump on the way to use big pond water in the topias. That pump will also use the solar power as I have plenty of extra power now!!

Rex,
How dare you call them toys!!!!


Brian

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This is a exciting project. I'd be interested in seeing the system functioning. Also the cost of getting something similar setup.


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SB,

I am having fun with the topias. I figure some one else might be able to take a few good ideas and keep the process going. I have had my share of failures, but in the end I chalk them up to a learning experience. All I know is that I am learning, having fun and making the topias better all the time.

So, what would you like to see? I'll be glad to share any info about my stuff.

About the costs, the old adage of "It Depends" is true. How much power do you want to generate and how much do you need to store? For me, I want to generate something better than 500 watts from the panels and I want to store enough power for the needs. I also over built the system for cloudy days. I want to have the power I need regardless of the weather, so I added another panel and used the best solar charge controller. It can take advantage of any power the panels can make even in lower light which gives me an advantage during cloudy days.

I have made DIY single disk aeration stations for the topias which will be installed soon. I'll post that part of the project as well. I know my O2 levels and stratification depths, so for me, this will be all about the data. Better water means better fish habitat, and with CB LMB and OTS CNBG, I want maximum results!!


Brian

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Originally Posted By: highflyer
So, what would you like to see?


Now that you have power, you can run a watering system. I'd like to see lush green grass on the banks of all the topias to prevent more clay from washing into them. wink grin

(You should have seen that one coming!)

Last edited by esshup; 08/07/14 02:04 PM.

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I agree - get that grass going.
















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Scott and Eric,

The grass is on the list for next week. I am going to use an area approach. This way I can use my solar power to water the areas and see how it goes. Then I will step it up. By fall, I should have a good grass cover in place around the Topias. smile


Brian

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... and you will not be slipping around in the mud as much.
















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Okay, I got out to the farm with a bunch of parts and ideas yesterday! A friend came over to help and we got started.

The first thing to do was to finish building the aeration stations. I went unconventional for several reasons, but the biggest was portability.

The bases turned out great! They came out of the buckets very easily, and the shape makes them slide on the bottom with minimal effort. In the end, I made the diffusers 10 inches tall. this approximated the height of the Vertex diffusers, and it brings up very little turbidity if at all.



Once I had the diffusers ready, it was time to head out to the Topias.



As it turns out, I was able to use one of my 100 foot bottom line for two of the Topias. I cut the line in half and was able to run air to Georgetopia and Moretopia from the central location with a little line to spare! Getting to Extratopia was easier than I thought as well. It turns out that 100 feet of bottom line makes it from the pump's manifold to the bottom of extratopia. This way, I don't have to cut that line and will be able to use it in the future after I plumb PVC to the pond's edges.

So how did we do? We did well. I now have a boil in all three Topias.

Being so new, I did not smell any off gassing, but to play it safe, I have the aeration system on a timer for the next week.

Here is how the Topias look:


Extratopia



Moretopia



Georgetopia



When I return back to the farm, I'll get out my ODO meter and see how the aeration system is doing. By then, I should be able to run it longer without any concerns.

So are the fish happy? I would say so!!



Now to get the water going so I can get some grass around those topias!!


Brian

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way cool


Fishing has never been about the fish....

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This is what I was looking for highflier, to see how the lines were run and what the boils were pushing with your setup. Very impressive. I can imagine those fish just giddy with their new aeration.

Last edited by Snakebite; 08/12/14 11:07 AM.

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Well I got out to the farm today and I got to see the Topias less than two weeks after adding bottom diffused aeration and I could not believe my eyes, the Topias have NEVER looked better.

Bob Lusk said is an article a few years ago that air has magical properties, and he could not have been more right.

All three Topias have very nice green coloration and a secchi reading of around 14-20 inches. The water temps are down a few degrees and the O2 levels are great all the way to the bottom. Further, the PH readings are now 7.4 to 7.6 and the ALK levels are 95-105 between them.

Needless to say, the fish are feeding whenever food is offered.

I'll post some pictures later this weekend.


Brian

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Okay, we made it back to the farm this weekend and had a lot of fun!! As it turns out, we have been too successful growing Tilapia in the Topias so we seined a bunch of fish from the Topias.

Here we are running the seine through Moretopia.



Here we are sizing and checking the health of the fish in the Topias.





Here is one of the stockers.



Here is one of the early collections.



And another.



And here we are setting them free in the big pond.



In the end, we took out somewhere around 200-230 LBS of Tilapia, FHM's and some CNBG (mostly Tilapia) out of the Topias and set them free in the big pond. I'll be checking to see how they do against the Algae problem we have this year.

As always, I'll post the results.....


Brian

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Great results and documentation. Any idea what capacity you are running in the Topias (lbs. per acre). Moving out most of the large tilapia?
















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Thanks Eric,

We left most of the larger Tilapia (six pairs per Topia) in the Topias so they would make more for my overwinter project. (They come out at the end of OCT).

The Topias are about 1/8th, 1/8th, and 1/11th of an acre.

If I had to say, I would expect we were near 600 lbs of fish in the three Topias and now we have something less than 350 LBS left in the Topias, but that is only my best guess (using feed after the seining). This winter will see a drawdown of the water levels in the topias, so I should be able to get a really good count and weight for each Topia.

I will say I was worried about the carrying capacity of Extratopia so it was seined twice this weekend. I would say we took out around 90 Lbs of fish from it alone. And to think I only put about 6Lbs of Tilapia into it back in April.

I can also report that I found a crap load of spawning beds in all of the Topias mostly around the edges, so this fall's checkup should be very interesting indeed.


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Man that looks better than Christmas morning to me! smile

I have no reference point for any of those numbers( never worked with Tilapia)..was it what you were expecting? 600lbs/.34 acres of water?!?

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I think I had way too many Tilapia in the Topias especially Extratopia. So many, I was worried about a fish kill. Besides, the Algae problem in the big pond really needed a solution, so it is a win win!!


Brian

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Well I got back to the farm this past weekend and I took a few pictures of the algae in the big pond. I believe I can see a reduction in several areas. I also see a lot of Tilapia swimming around the pond. These are the Tilapia we transfered several weeks ago.



I am seeing opening areas in the algae in deeper water and the new beach areas.



I'll be back to take another look this weekend and I'll report on any progress.


Brian

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Brian, you did good on the Topias. You got a lot of production out of them.


AL

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