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I started my first RAS build this weekend. I'm going to be taking my time and taking lots of pictures. I will update this thread with the pictures and progress as time allows.

At some point, many of you will probably read this thread and ask why did he take so much time on X. The answer, I was raised by a machinist and overkill is all I know.

Things I've learned thus far:
*If you can find used barrels that were used for food grade ethanol get them! (nothing easier to clean out of a barrel than ethanol).
*Using a cutting wheel on a dremel or small air grinder with lots of patience makes much nicer cuts than a sawzall.
*Using a knife to rasp/chamfor the edges of cuts into the barrels works well.
*A 7x7 sheet of deer netting makes a nice sack to hold the remaining 93x7 sheet of netting bunched up. Simply take the 7x7 sheet and lay it centered over your topless barrel and stuff the netting in. Then twist, tie and melt the 4 corners of the 7x7 like you would the end of a rope and form it into a handle (pictures of this to come).
*Purchase your pump before you think about buying PVC fitting so you know what you are working with.

The design I am planning, is to use 3 barrels laid on their sides for the fish and one barrel standing up packed with deer netting for the bio filter.

That's all for now.

If anyone has any suggestions, ideas or anything feel free to fill the thread with your thoughts and I will take them all into consideration during the build. I still haven't decided on the pump or the aerator that I will be using for this. Your thoughts on this this are welcome as well.

I will try to upload the first pictures from last weekend tomorrow. There probably won't be any new action until this weekend when I have more free time.

I look forward to your feedback and input throughout the project.

Last edited by DMRBG; 03/13/12 10:49 PM.
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I've been digging around all night and researching. I think I would like to get some matala (or hvac filter pads) as a pre-filter.
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=15799

Does anyone think this would be worth it. My range of thinking had gone form "I NEED ONE OF EACH!!!!!11oneoneoneeleven" to "I don't need these at all."

At this time, I'm thinking I want to have some pre-filter media but nothing crazy.

I think I might just get 1 or 2 of these for 8 bucks each:
http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-...p;storeId=10051

Thanks in advance for your input. I'm going to go load the pictures I took so far as promised. I promise the next week will be more exciting.

Last edited by DMRBG; 03/14/12 09:34 PM.
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As promised:











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Well if i had some input I'd give you it, but i honestly know nothing about RAS systems.. I'm interested and will follow the thread though.. Good luck and keep the pics and info coming..


I believe in catch and release. I catch then release to the grease..

BG. CSBG. LMB. HSB. RES.

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You are going to need a solids filter (pre-filter) otherwise your biofilter won't be worth anything. Some of the pond filter systems out there are not very well suited for RAS because the fish and waste are not concentrated and the pond's biological process takes care of it's share of the process.

A bag filter would be a good choice for something simple and cheap. Plus you can clean them easily for reuse. They will eventually become particulate laden, but they are cheap.

What fish are you planning on?

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The fish I am planning on having are RES, PS, & BG.

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How big are these fish, and how many?

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I don't have the fish yet, I am just working on the system first. The plan is to have about 5-10 of each RES, BG, and PS sunfish. The plan is to get them at smaller size and raise them to breeding size to eventually experiment with cross breeding them.

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DMRBG,

I use the above filter material for a suspended and settleable solids filter in my systems. I don't bag it like you did as it's easier to clean with a garden hose and nozzle if you cut it into pieces. I clean the solids off daily and do a 10 percent water change daily due to the several hundred bluegill and yellow perch in my two tanks. I also use a bottom drain for settleable solids, which works really, really, well. When I pull a gate valve to purge the bottom solids -- before they go down the drain --it's like nasty smelling black coffee coming up. *

Clarifier tank (where the mesh filter goes into) minus the fish tank



I use a homemade RBC for a biofilter, but a simpler and cheaper biofilter would be to use a 55 gallon drum half filled with plastic media, an inlet and outlet for water, and a diffuser on the bottom. The water would overflow via gravity back into the tank if you position the biofilter above your fish tank.

An RBC inside a fish tank which is the way I had it originally. I no longer use an agitator and the entire system that has a 200 pound capacity can be run on 39 watts of electricity.



I've since moved my RBC's to a separate tank here:





I would strongly suggest cycling your system before adding the fish. Cycling with fish is very risky and hard on the fish. You could easily kill your fish.

Find you a circular stock tank at Rural King, TSC or similar store (preferably plastic) vs. a 55 gallon drum. A drum would be a stressful place for fish and severely limit your lbs. per gallon.

I'd be happy to share a diagram of my system if you're interested. I also have free coupons for the book Small Scale Aquaculture by Dr. Steve VanGorder that is coming out in print soon. (2nd Edition) If you use the coupon you can get it for $16.00 vs. a higher price later. PM. me with your snail mail if you want me to send you one. I get nothing out of giving away the coupons which were given to me by the author. Just the satisfaction of knowing the best book on small scale systems is being made available at an affordable price.

* I'll be using the solid waste water for our raised garden this year, and will be setting up an aquaponics fish tank ans system outside in a month or so. I'll probably be raising tilapia for food in that one.




Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 03/16/12 09:02 PM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Fantastic read, keep it coming!!

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Thank you for the information Cecil. I was planning on looking into larger tanks in the future; I wanted to start small and cheap so I was planning to use (3) 55 gals(on their side for more horizontal surface area than if they were standing and keep the stocking density low). I definitely plan on cycling the system for a long time before any fish are added. I will be using filter media from my aquarium that has a pet sunfish in it to kick start the bacteria (supplemented with some feed in the water). I got the coupon that you mailed me about a week ago and mailed it in with a check. Do you know when the books will be coming out?

At a density of 6 small sunfish per barrel on its side do you still think the stress would be high? Perhaps I should just go straight to the stock tank rather than taking baby steps and upgrading as the fish get larger. This will be interesting, I don't think the wife realizes this is going in the basement yet.

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Just a small photo update. Some cut up light diffuser panels and furnace filter, 2 notches in the barrel to allow for greater diameter pieces to fit inside and a bonus photo, the helper.






Last edited by DMRBG; 03/16/12 07:20 PM.
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I love this type of stuff!

I am glad more people are getting involved with Recycle Systems.

Your barrel system will work quite well for FHM.

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I'm glad you are enjoying it. I will be sure to give updates as frequent as possible all the way through having fish in there.

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Man I responded to your questions DMRBG but lost it somehow.

Here goes again.

Not sure when the book will be out but it should be any time now. I know it was at the printers a few weeks ago. Steve is an honorable guy; no worries.

I think a half barrel would be fine for six small bluegills

I like the circular tanks because you can get a centripetal flow going that moves all settleable solids to the center drain.

BTW I love the cat. He looks like he wants you to pay attention to him or her. Tells us about the cat. grin

Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 03/16/12 09:17 PM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Looks like a main coon, he's dreaming about fish jumping out of the barrel.



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Thank you for your reply Cecil. The cat is a female Siberian cat named Crash (her feet are furry and she had a tendency to crash into things when she was little) and she acts more like a dog than a cat. She sits on command and follows me around.

Edit @ pond: She does watch the sunfish I have in an aquarium and plot his demise.

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Originally Posted By: DMRBG
Thank you for your reply Cecil. The cat is a female Siberian cat named Crash (her feet are furry and she had a tendency to crash into things when she was little) and she acts more like a dog than a cat. She sits on command and follows me around.

Edit @ pond: She does watch the sunfish I have in an aquarium and plot his demise.


So cool! I love both cats and dogs which I've heard is not common. Supposedly it's usually one or the other. My twin brother has a cat that looks like Garfield and acts like him too!


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Here is a 4 barrel gizmo I was going to whip up for FHM.

Pretty simple.
2x6 frame sitting on cement blocks. 55 gallon drums with 30 gallon filters.
I did the layout so I could build the frame easily.

I still may do it in the future, but I have to complete my current project.



Last edited by JKB; 03/17/12 08:23 AM.
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JKB,

Do the fatheads need live feed when their yolk sacs are depleted or do they go on artificial feed right away?


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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They will go on artificial feed right away if they can get it into their mouth. They are actually mini eating machines and are not fussy at all.

Obviously, there is more to it than some barrels.

I may just do a project on this. It would be relatively easy to integrate without costing much. I'll think about it.

It would be great if some of us could get some parallel projects going. FHM would be would be a good starting point, then build on up thru the food chain!

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JKB,

If they go on feed right away the only problem I would see is keeping them out of the drain but removing waste efficiently at the same time.


If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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DMRBG asked for a diagram of my improved system over the original one in Van Gorders book. I thought I'd post it here in case anyone else can use it.

Sorry about the "on a napkin look" but that's the way I operate. grin

The first pic is the system set up in a local high school with the RBC on the opposite side of the fish tank than in the diagram. The u tube siphon is not show in the following pic nor in the diagrams. It simply sits in the clarifier tank and the fish tank.




This is the fish system including center drain, clarifier, and RBC in a seperate tank.




This is a diagram of the homemade spray bar that provides the centripedal flow that moves the settleable solids to the center drain. The diffuser also aids in this and provides oxygen. This spray bar runs off of the same 30 watt pump that runs the system. The only pump btw.



Here's a u-tube siphon in use on my very first set up. Notice it in the clarifer tank and the fish tank. This was when I used another u-tube siphon to run water back to the fish tank. I now set the RBC tank above the fish tank and run the water back via gravity.



If you have any question feel free to ask. If you have a WT* attitude keep your mouth shut. grin




Last edited by Cecil Baird1; 03/17/12 03:48 PM.

If pigs could fly bacon would be harder to come by and there would be a lot of damaged trees.






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Originally Posted By: Cecil Baird1
JKB,

If they go on feed right away the only problem I would see is keeping them out of the drain but removing waste efficiently at the same time.



That is why I mentioned that there is more to it than barrels wink

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Originally Posted By: DMRBG
The plan is to have about 5-10 of each RES, BG, and PS sunfish. The plan is to get them at smaller size and raise them to breeding size to eventually experiment with cross breeding them.

Good Luck on your RAS set-up and experimenting with cross breeding, I have PS's that I've been selectivly breeding for 2 years hoping to increase their growth rate.
Don't forget to get a good chemical test kit and a PH test meter is inexpensive and a quick way to monitor PH.




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