Okay, we have been working on a better system for this winter. T4 will be better than T3, which was a great success. We have redesigned the layout to better use our space and we have upgraded the system to better move and filter the water. The heaters are the only thing we didn't upgrade because they worked so well.
Here are a few photos of the latest versions of the parts.
This is the solids collection system It uses a reverse direction flow model.
From there, we introduce the "cleaned" water to the bottom of the ammonia reduction tank which allows the waters flow with the airlifted water to cycle the water through this tank.
Here is the new airlift system before it was glued together. The 120 air inlet holes allowed for cleaner air flow and far less destructive interference. The chamber is built from two and three inch pvc pipes.
Here is the new airlift pump completed. you are looking from the bottom up.
This last picture shows the smoother water flow at a higher lift point. In several tests, this airlift system fills a less than one gallon bucket nearly three seconds faster, that is a 25% improvement. It was worth the efforts, and now our fish will have a better home for the winter this year. Meanwhile, its a 100 degrees at the farm today.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
Well now I have both of the airlift pumps ready and working great. I have been testing some new airstones for the bio reactive tank. The solar air pump needs to be able to run half the airlift and half the bio reactive tank. I will test the system as soon as I assemble it. That should happen on the next few weeks.
I am hoping I can keep the bio reactive tank flowing and oxygenated with gravity feed only during shore power outage times. Let me explain. If I can get a continuous churn in the bio reactive tank with the inlet water flow only without airstones running in that tank and the O2 levels stay high, I can use the solar powered air pump to run the airlift and move more oxygenated water when shore power is out. If not, I may try to get a slightly larger air pump and set my solar setup more efficiently to have the power to run the larger pump and one light.
Also, the setup has been re-arranged to make better use of the space to allow me to get to the far tank without going through 23 yoga positions. While the exercise is welcome, the waist of time that comes with it is not.
Now to get the system up and running.
Hopefully, I'll have more pictures of the running system soon.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
I have a few Tilapia in there getting started. The new settling tank is working well. The new bio reactive tank is also a nice improvement. The best time/investment I have made was the new airlift. I can lift water and move it nine inches above the water level in the tank. At five inches above water level it really move a lot of water. The returns are also setup better and allow for better movement in the tank and the area.
Pictures and a video or two are coming soon.
BTW, the solar systems got reconfigured as well. I am making more power in all light conditions which is good because I need the extra power for the new larger air pump.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
I use a seine net and collet them from a brood pond. I could also try to hook and line a few extra from the big pond, but the BG get in the way most of the time.
SB, I got better video and pictures yesterday and will be uploading htem shortly, stby for more.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
Brian, it looks like you have done a good job with your indoor system. Next time maybe you could explain (talk us through) the system. I know from last year, when I saw it up close and personal, you had an electrical system that was pulling most of the juice you needed to run the system, so how about now? Is it now run by 100% solar? And what kind of cost was it to set the system up and running? It looks to be a great setup
Do not judge me by the politicians in my City, State or Federal Government.
I'll try to talk you through it on the next video. As for the solar, it is running half of the electric load. It might be able to do more if I add a few more batteries for extra storage.
As for costs, that depends as well. The solar panels are around 50 cents per watt, the charge controller is around 300 dollars, the inverter was around 400 dollars, and the cabling and other items are around another 350 dollars.
SB, The first tank is the solids collection tank. It is filled via gravity. As far as the pumping goes, after the third tank is filled by gravity, the airlift return moves the water back into the habitat tanks, and the process continues.
I posted a picture or two earlier in the thread showing the new airlift return system. If you have any questions, ask away. I'll be glad to help.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
I'm trying to wrap my head around this. Sorry, I'm ignorant of airlift. I can't watch videos due to my internet connection. Is this for an Aquarium? Is so, How big? How many fish?
The air lift of ours is 5 feet of soaker hose hooked to our Thomas 2660 air pump. This is placed inside a 3" pipe then necked down to a 2" pipe. The T's you see lets the air out but the water keeps moving.
It then heads to a swirl filter. The whole 55 gallon barrel is the filter as the water enters there is a 90 that is shooting down and to one side. This makes the water swirl like a dust collector. The solids go to the out side of the barrel then settle to the bottom. At the bottom we have a tap to pull off the solids into a 5 gallon bucket. In the center at the top of this barrel the water then flows to the media filter.
Gravity takes it to the second filter our media filter. The water takes a 90 as soon as it enters this barrel and is taken to the bottom. It passes through the lid that was cut off. This lid is sitting on four house bricks keeping it off the bottom. You can see the soaker hose ring zip tied to the lid.
On top of this lid is placed washed red lava rock. There is 7 cubic feet of lava rock in place. The water then needs to pass through the lava rock lifted by the air from the soaker hose. Then gravity sends it back into the fish tank.
We have cut some solid filters that will fit on top of the two barrels before the water enters the next barrel just to keep it super clean.
With this one pump we are lifting about 20"s and 1 gallon every 7 seconds. We getting a full turn over every 30 minutes. This same pump is adding air to the lava rock and to five fish tanks where we are hatching out yellow perch.
Sorry I missed the question, I have been very busy lately.
Here is the basics.
We have two 275 gallon IBCs as the habitat ring. The two tanks allow us to have fish of different size classes. From the bottom of each tank, there is a drain. That water travels to a blue plastic barrel and enters from the center of the bottom of that tank. I use the first blue barrel as a reverse flow settling tank. From that tank, the water travels to the bottom of the next blue barrel and enters from the center of the bottom of that tank. This tank has the plastic media which "houses" the bacteria that reduces the ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate. This tank has six air stones which adds O2 allowing the bacteria to do their work. From this tank, they travel to the top of the third blue barrel. This barrel houses the Airlift return and the solar powered heaters. The heaters are powered by two banks of four solar panels. The airlift is powered by two 40LPM aquarium pumps. The heaters are installed in the bottom of the tank and heat the water to around 80 degrees F. The airlift draw water from the bottom of the tank and return it to the habitat ring.
I built the Airlift return system using several models and created my own version. I used a 1/32 inch drill bit to drill 120 holes in a 2 inch PVC pipe. I then added a three inch pipe over the two inch pipe to create an air chamber around the holes. I use some of the air from the two 40LPM pumps to supply the needed air to lift the water and return it to the habitat ring. My "up" pipe is 32 inches tall and I can lift water as much as 13 inches above water line using this pump. When I lift water the 4 to 5 inches needed to return the water to the habitat ring, I am moving around eight gallons a minute through the airlifts. And if I set it up to move water at the waterline, I can move around 20 gallons a minute per pump.
Does any of this help? I'll be glad to take some extra pictures if needed. Just let me know how I can help.
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
Sorry I missed the question, I have been very busy lately.
Here is the basics.
We have two 275 gallon IBCs as the habitat ring. The two tanks allow us to have fish of different size classes. From the bottom of each tank, there is a drain. That water travels to a blue plastic barrel and enters from the center of the bottom of that tank. I use the first blue barrel as a reverse flow settling tank. From that tank, the water travels to the bottom of the next blue barrel and enters from the center of the bottom of that tank. This tank has the plastic media which "houses" the bacteria that reduces the ammonia to nitrite and then nitrate. This tank has six air stones which adds O2 allowing the bacteria to do their work. From this tank, they travel to the top of the third blue barrel. This barrel houses the Airlift return and the solar powered heaters. The heaters are powered by two banks of four solar panels. The airlift is powered by two 40LPM aquarium pumps. The heaters are installed in the bottom of the tank and heat the water to around 80 degrees F. The airlift draw water from the bottom of the tank and return it to the habitat ring.
I built the Airlift return system using several models and created my own version. I used a 1/32 inch drill bit to drill 120 holes in a 2 inch PVC pipe. I then added a three inch pipe over the two inch pipe to create an air chamber around the holes. I use some of the air from the two 40LPM pumps to supply the needed air to lift the water and return it to the habitat ring. My "up" pipe is 32 inches tall and I can lift water as much as 13 inches above water line using this pump. When I lift water the 4 to 5 inches needed to return the water to the habitat ring, I am moving around eight gallons a minute through the airlifts. And if I set it up to move water at the waterline, I can move around 20 gallons a minute per pump.
Does any of this help? I'll be glad to take some extra pictures if needed. Just let me know how I can help.
Brain, That sounds like one heck of a setup. You're able to move quite a bit of water, I bet that keeps excellent water quality
Water quality is very good right now. We are only loading the system with 150 fish right now, so there is little concern about water quality. If I leave them in the tank and grow them, I only have to be concerned if I start spawning more and grow them out as well.
So for now, the system is solid!
Brian
The one thing is the one thing A dry fly catches no fish Try not to be THAT 10%
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