Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Some RAS pictures

(Recirculating Aquaculture System)

For those of you that don't know I bring in YOY bluegill and yellow perch hatched in two of my 1/10th acre ponds for the winter to get more growth on them for my small aquaculture niche market.

The cooler ready for YOY fish from the pond. Thanks to Ken's post here (Catmando) I built a cool spray bar for it.



Some of the 725 YOY perch I took out of the yp production pond in August. They were placed into a floating cage in the largest pond until the RAS was ready. I usually wait until October but I was having some D.O. issues with the production pond due to extremely high water temps and an excessive algae bloom this year.



Here's one of my two 300 gallon galvanized stock tanks after I stripped off the old epoxy, removed the rust, acid etched the galvanized surface and repainted with Sweetwater (AES) epoxy primer and epoxy. The black thing in the center is a Uniseal that takes the place of a more expensive bulkhead fitting.



The center drain with a homemade antivortex cover. The 3 inch PVC slides through a Uniseal installed in the tank and connects to a couple which connects to a drain assembly (See next picture). The diffuser is mounted on top of this cover.



The center drain before it connects to the clarifer tank. Note the gate valve. A coupler just under the fish tank and here in the photo allow me to take apart the system for moving if necessary. This is the second tank I have in my basement. This one is for primarily yellow perch, is only 200 gallons, and is made of HDPE.



Here's pic of the drain assembly excluding the fish tank. Not pictured is a hose that connects the other side of the 't' with a ball valve to close it. The end of the hose sits inside my floor drain of my basement that goes to my septic tank.





O.K. here's a pic of two drain lines coming together from two different tanks before going to the floor drain. I also have an end cap on the end of the drain line as a fail safe in case there is a leak in the ball valve. I had a tank drain on me once at night while I was sound asleep. It will never happen again.






Here's a unit identical to one I have in my basement I built and set up for the wife's high school ag classes in their greenhouse. They presently have about 300 4 to 6 inch YOY yellow perch and over 100 bluegills in it. I hatched them and feed trained them in a couple of my ponds. The picture was taken before the RBC (rotating biological contact filter) was covered and the tank was filled. If all goes well they will be planted back into one of my ponds just before the school year ends.

An inverted 'L' that is a spray bar which creates a counter clockwise circular flow. This causes settleable solids to wind their way to the center drain. Know as centrepedal flow or the "tea cup effect." Only problem is it's a fine line between too much flow for the fish and not enough effective movement of the particles. With trout it wouldn't be an issue but more sedentary fish like bluegills and yellow perch it can be.



A view of the spray bar and exit from the RBC tank back to the fish tank. Notice the upturned elbow increases aeration on the return. The spray bar is clamped to a u-tube siphon that strained out suspended solids from the tank. One 30 watt pump runs the entire system minus the 40 watt linear air pump that provides air to two tanks. Also notice the diffuser in the tank with the air line going up. This keeps the airline from restricting the self cleaning action of the tank.




A more close up view of the spray bar assembly and water line hose with the pump which sits on top of the clarifer tank. The ball value allows asjustment of the spray bar intensity and at the same time the amount of flow that goes to the RBC (other end of hose) that turns the RBC.



The RBC and tank without the cover, which keeps it dark for an optimum environment for the bacteria. I have changed from a plastic tarp to two layers of shade cloth to allow it to breath. I was concerned the plastic tarp would restrict oxygen.
The yellow perch tank is on the other side of the unfinished wall and shares the RBC.




Here's my 300 gallon stock tank with some bluegills in it. It doesn't look like it but there are over 100 six to seven inch bluegills in it. I could easily have doubled the number with no problems. They're fed 3 X per day in 75 degree water.



A more close up picture when they were first put in:



Here's my power back up (inverter) and two deep cycle batteries. If I remember right this will run my two pumps (for two tanks) and linear air pump for 16 hours if the power goes out.

Cecil, that is seriously awesome. It all looks great, and the work you put into it really shows. I think I could pull up a chair and watch those BG's all evening. Forget TV.

Those coated stocktanks blow me away.

Thanks for the kind words. It works well but I'm still tweaking it.

Yeah I can relate to watching the fish too. The dog also follows me into the basement to snarf up any pellets that fall on the floor.

Can you give us a cost estimate for the two tank system? You can use a coded message if this information is proprietary (wife-wise)

I'm thinking around $600.00 for all the materials if you have to buy the stock tank which I did not. I would suggest an HDPE stock tank vs. the galvanized tank, as when you consider the not having to purchase the epoxy paint it's cheaper. Also you're not worried about the epoxy not lasting.

Rural King has a 6 foot tank for a little over $200.00, I think. It has to be special ordered and prepaid, and no deliveries during the winter, but there is no shipping charge.

If you build a fluidized bed sand filter or a bioreactor filter you're not only looking at less for the biofilter materials, but you won't have to buy a tank for an RBC and there will be less floor space needed. Then you're talking $450.00 or less.

Not proprietary at all. The wife is good with it as long as I make money, although she is a big believer in hobbies too. The original set up before I made some modifications was from the excellent book Small Scale Aquaculture by Steve VanGorder.

Pretty neat Cecil.

Those tanks look familiar! Cecil, thanks for the pictures. It's coming along well now!

How'd the BG like the flash from the camera?? I know you're keeping it pretty dark in there.

They freak even before the flash when the red light goes on. The flash only compounds it.

Looking good Cecil. The fish look happy!

Do you have your batteries matched the same? ie... same rating, age..., otherwise the life may be shortened. Look into the AGM batteries I was telling you about if you get a chance.

The school is probably quite happy also.

Same exact batteries, brand, rating etc. One is a little newer but the older one hadn't been used and was constantly on a trickle charger.

I may turn the smaller perch tank into a centralized fishless tank for serious aeration and a foam fractionator. I don't like the way the yellow perch swim around and around this smaller deeper tank using up a lot of calories which could effect their growth rate. I think the diffuser causes too much turbulence in this smaller tank of the two. It's not the spray bar itself because I temporarily turned off with no effect. However when I turned it back on and turned off the diffuser may of them slowed down and suspended in the water column which is what I'm more used to. Could have been curiosity or mild concern as to the sudden change. However I'm going to try it longer term monitoring D.O. and see what happens.

The large tank can handle them all and is on the same biofilter anyway. Another advantage is I could make the fishless tank a better remover of suspended solids if no flow is going to it's center drain.

Foam Fractionator?? Sounds like I could use that to prevent spillover, (and sticky countertops), when I pour my Pepsi throwbacks...

VERY impressive! I'd pay you to come set up a couple of those for me. Ever considered being a consultant?

Too much gas their Bruce???

Cecil has a very nice "homegrown rig", and it works for the most part for what he needs, and is trying to accomplish.

Sorry Cecil, consultant level, not anytime soon! But you could be an asset, like at the school, to get peoples feet wet, so to speak.

Have to start somewhere, and jumping off a bridge is a quick drop.

Hope I did not confuse anyone, but all heartfelt intentions to everyone.

Bruce,

Thanks for the kind words but I'm still not there yet as JKB says. I have some bugs to work out. Yes, I have a system that does what I want it to do as in bring fish in for the winter and put a few inches on them, but there is still so much to learn. And the students love it as it's very hands on.

I will be building and trying both a fluidized bed sand filter and low space bioreactor for biofiltraton. Both are cheaper to build than the RBC I have, and have a smaller footprint and more surface area for bacteria. At some point I think I will be using one of those in combination with a rotating drum filter for mechanical filtration when I get my pole building built. When I have the system that really works for me I doubt it will even look like the ones I have now.

But as JKB says there is nothing like the experience of getting your feet wet by raising fish. You can read all the books and publications, and draw up all the blueprints you want but it's amazing what you'll miss if you don't have the responsibility of live fish.

Very nice job Cecil. What kind of growth do you get over winter ?

Last winter I was getting an inch a month with smaller bluegills that were hatched in the fall. Not sure if these larger ones will grow as fast now that they are 6 to 7 inches. But they have some Condello genes so they are good stock.


I do have warmer water this time at 75 F.

Funny but the a foam fractionator is a pretty helpful device that removes DOC (Dissolved Organic Compounds) by creating foam which is discarded of which these dirty compounds attach to. Contrary to popular belief they are not just for saltwater aquarium. They can be easily built too.

Here's a pic of foam coming off of foam fractiontor in a Koi Pond. The poster posted it on a Koi forum after some know it all came on and set there is no way it will work in freshwater. LOL





BTW this is probably the same foam we see on our ponds sometimes after an algae bloom crash or too much feeding. Of course not as concentrated.

Tanks for sharing Cecil.

I'll see that on the windward side of the local lake. Years ago people said it was soap bubbles.........

Thanks for the explanation, Cecil.

Will your system skim, or otherwise remove the foam automatically, or will that require hands on?

Is there a foaming agent involved, or is the foam created by mechanical means?

If it's done chemically, is the foaming agent reusable after the organic compounds have been removed, or is it considered sacrificial and discarded?

Here's a small DIY one made very easily in about 10 minutes. Only uses agitation and aeration provided by two small air stones. You can direct the foam into a bucket or something.

http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthread.php?55187-DIY-Protein-Skimmer

The big commercial farms use ozone to increase the effectiveness of a foam fractionator (Protein Skimmer).

Cecil IIRC 75 - 77 is the optimum temp for BG feeding and growth.

I found the book (brand new) on Amazon for $2400.00!

Just the book? I have one in my basement. Maybe I should sell it!