Originally Posted By: esshup
Bruce:

Here's my idea on water heating. Buy a whole house instant water heater that runs on natural gas or propane. There's a thermostat in the unit that will allow you to adjust the water temp from 100 to 140 degrees. Yes, that's too hot for the fish, but bear with me.

It is turned on by water flow thru the heater. So, I was thinking of putting a thermostat in the tank that would turn on or off a submerged pump that would push water thru the heater, effectively turning it on and off. It doesn't have to be much of a flow, I believe the new heaters will turn on at as little as 1/2 gpm. That way the thermostat in the tank governs how long the water heater will run due to the water flow thru the heater. The water going into the tank will be too hot, but it will mix with the tank water prety quickly. Inject the water at the bottom of the tank and it'll rise. If you have the warm water discharge going the same way as the water flow going into the tank it should help dissipate the warm water thru the tank even quicker.

That's my thoughts on it anyway. Todd Overton is using a wood fired boiler to keep the Tilapia water warm during the Texas winter, but you won't have to keep them that warm.

Insulate the top of the tank or at least the majority of the top. Less heat loss that way. Good idea on insulating the sides. Cecil did that to his tank in the basement (sides) and that helped keep heat in the water. Don't forget to insulate ALL the water holding tanks/barrels/buckets in the system, and the pipes connecting them together. Heat escapes everywhere, and the less you let escape, the less $ spent on heating.

Bruce, regarding salt. I use non-iodized table salt. Cheep stuff from whatever big box store has a sale. Buy a Hanna pocket salinity meter # HI98203. Add the salt slowly, it's better to dissolve it in a bucket and slowly add it to the water over a day or so. Don't put it in the filter to dissolve and go into the tank - you'll kill the filter

While not exactly what you are doing, some interesting reading.
using salt to transport fish

This set-up under the garage?


Raw effluent thru an instant house water heater will probably cause some issues.

The more control you have over something, the better you will maintain/manage it.

Heating and cooling still require the same BTU's from point A to B. Between point A and B is where hard stuff like insulation comes into play. It is a fixed part, but an essential part.