Charlie, I do just connect to the existing valve and then on the inside of the tank I cut a piece of egg crate (fluorescent light diffuser) a little larger than the hole and use a few big globs of silicone to hold in place. Steve.
Seeing your update in my email, I jumped to open it quickly, cos it's been a long time and I know something will be new, I must say this is fantastic, great job, I would love a system like that here in the UK, the problem is getting all the materials shipped, I have never come across the 150 gallon plastic tank here. I may have to import from the US. Plumbers should be able to fix the rest. Thanks.
What you are doing looks great by the way. My suggestion is that on your out feed tubes where the water is put back into the tanks you hook up a bar with a lot of holes so it agitates the surface more than just your 90% elbow. Oxygen enters the water through the surface, a stagnant body of water is void of oxygen so the more you agitate the surface the more oxygen. I know you said you inject and thats great but more is better and the fix is a minor one.
Room is 11'x22' inside dimension. Totes are 275 gal total but 250 usable. As far as cost goes, the only expensive parts are the programmable pump and the sieve but all of the experimentation and redesign has been crazy expensive.
I definitely like all the extra bio that you get with sand. A lot of internet experts say that sand filters are useless as bio filters because when you backwash the filter, you wash all the bacteria away. Fish Crap! If you have ever cleaned a sand filter that has plugged because the bacteria has gotten as thick as peanut butter, you KNOW that it would be impossible to backwash it out. I'm planning on shooting my newest update in the morning, watch for it. Steve.
Amazing! I raise fish in ponds and I'm currently in the planning stages of a home aquaculture system to overwinter tilapia and other warm-water fish. Your videos are informative and inspirational! A few questions: How big is the room that this setup is in? What size are the grow-out totes? Any estimate of the total cost of materials in your current setup? I'd love to see a website with a diagram of your system, parts list, estimated costs, Q&A, etc. I'm sure it would be very popular!
All of my fish except for 2 tanks are just run of the mill Blues. Sorry that I really don't know the proper name for the hybrids. I agree, it is frustrating when they don't grow. We are finding out that to maximize the tanks, you must grade the fish a couple times and cull out the smaller fish. It's a hard thing to do but the chickens gotta eat too.
Glad to see you posting again. I was wondering how you were heating you system. I have seen in the past that you use hot water heater elements but I was wondering how you wired them and what thermostat you prefer. Also who makes the ceramic media that you use in your sand filters.
Right now, there are ceramic sinking beads in it which are very expensive and to tell you the truth, don't work very well. You have to be careful how hard you backwash them to keep them from blowing out and because of that you can't get the filter clean. I just did a remodel of my filter system using three 18" filters plumbed in parallel, and I went back to sand for the media. Its very cheap but needs to be changed once in awhile. I think the pros outweigh the cons.
This year, we are making our electric heat pump pool heater do double duty. Swimming pool in summer and fish in winter. I also have 2 - 1000 watt hot water tank heating elements as backup and to use when the temp falls below 32 degrees which is where the heat pump becomes ineffective, Steve
what a great work really great I have watched your videos more than 10 times may I ask if you dont mind telling me where are you going with it and what are they your goals and If I like to start something like this in my back yard can I get some help not money help haha thank you
Hi great job! ! Love the k1 filter and barrels above each tank addition. Does that take out nitrates too or am I confused about nh3 and no4? Are those the nitrates that plants take out in an aquaponics set up?
This all started as a way to feed my family some clean fish but seems to have progressed beyond that. We still don't have a clear vision of where it will end up. My next project is to extend the system with a outdoor pool so we can maximize the indoor tanks with 2 crops of fish in the same year and also grow some duckweed for feed. We are working on a website and would like to offer plans to build a system like ours. Thanks, Steve
For the nitrates you could drop some hyacinth or duck weed in your filter tanks the tilapia love the duck weed and will actually grow faster with a 50% diet of it.
I was going to suggest getting rid or your nitrates by setting up an aquaponic system..but you hinted you're going to build one at the end of the video! ;-)
Awesome setup, it looks very legit! I have been looking forward for an update for a while now! Glad to hear you are going aquaponic (waste water for plants), its really the way to go. How many fish do you have in each of your growout tanks by the way?
This is inspirational! I have been throwing around the idea of raising my own tilapia for a few years. After watching your videos a few weeks ago I have finally got off my ass and started to put together a system. I have picked up three 150 gallon tubs, a 1hp pool pump and sand filter, and five 55 gallon barrels. A few questions for ya How are you heating your system? Where did you get the ceramic bio-balls you are using in the sand filter? Are you using the same ones in the big totes?
I'm already a follower of your channel for some time. I wonder how are the plans to create a greenhouse with strawberries to remove nitrate from water. Your system is perfect. Have you thought about creating a supervisory system? And feeding the fish, how do you do?
your system looks so great to me. Furthermore, it fixs to my purpose of setting up a small scale system. However, I am not sure wherther I can apply a small system forTiger Shrimp??? I realy need some advices from experts about this idea. Small RAS scale to cultivate shrimp. Thank you so much for your great video Fishandworms
You are showing great vidios and info we really appreciate what you are doing and showing hope we can share the same just starting my system running talopia and it looks like some catfish Arkansas Blues We are going to try and feed the female talopia to the catfish and grow out the mails don't know if this will work but thats our plan to start Any thoughts would be greatly apreciated Thanks once again
Your idea is fantastic, could you tell me what is the density of viable fish per container and what is the ideal weight for despesca for such a system? knowing that the fish used is Tilapia! I thank and congratulate...
I enjoy the release of your videos. Can you explain how you connect the waste pipe thought the IBC Tote. Do you remove the valve, or use the exisiting valve? If so how do you filter the fingerlings from being sucked in? Charlie
Wow you have done a lot since the last video! I have had my system up for just over one year now and it is ever changing and growing also. Do you use regular bailing twine in those tanks?
Ditto, on the pant thought, you just need a 2nd stage with grow beds for water loving plants. You'll have a complete ecosystem since your bio filter is steady making your fertilizer. Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate (plant fertilizer)
Not sure about the Cetus, I might hold on to it for a future koi pond or catfish setup. Thats probably gonna be a ways done the line so im not apposed to selling it either.
Hi Daniel, I just run the water thru a whole house charcoal filter, seems to work just fine. As far as clubbing the bunnies goes, we have a friend who has his picked up live. Steve. P.S. When you phase out your Tilapia, what are you gonna do with your Cetus?
What are you using for bulkheads to seal your water lines to your tanks? I went to lowes and HomeDepot and they didnt have anything useable (may have been looking in the wrong spot). I went to the local pool supply store and they wanted $12 each!!
Have you tried a swirl filter for a passive filtration of your solids? I know you have the "toilet" but I don't know that I have the space or money for one of these. I'm trying to figure out what size swirl filter I would need for a 1500 gallon system. I believe you have far exceeded 1500 gallons here. As a curiosity, how big is your system?
Nice work! How do you dechlorinate/chloramine your water? I plan on phasing my tilapia out. I just started a meat rabbitry. Supposedly, one doe can produce 70lb-120lb of meat per year. Ive currently have 4 does and 2 bucks. A trio of New Zealand Whites and a trio of Californians. Pros; no electrical, low tech, etc. Cons; clubbing cute bunnies.
Hey man! If I was a religious type of person, I would worship at the foot of your set-up. You are truly an awesome guy. Do you make any profit off of all of this? I ask this because I am starting an aquaponic set up here in northern Portugal... I am just interested in the nitty gritty of the operation. It´s not too hard to build an impressively complicated (and effective) system, but I am really interested in the dollars and cents- do you make them?
Also what hybrid are the fish? They are large, my red niles are seven month old and the males are still about 200g, females even smaller. It is frustrating when they don't grow and you have overheads already.
You are humble to described it as DIY. It is in fact high tech. Did you design the water recirculating system? It is not "just a pump". What about the fish? What species are they? Where do you obtain the bacterial filer to digest the NH4 & NO3? I am very interested in aquaculture, so would like to learn more from you. Please correspond. If possible, I can give you my email address, if you post yours to me.
I notice you no longer have any Breeder tanks. Do you have them someplace else or do you just buy your fingerlings now? I only ask because I was wondering how you handle being overrun with fry. I battle having way too many fish every week.
what happened to your duckweed? the strawberries will be a good idea, too.. water them, then use the water for duckweed then back to the fish. as for the oscar, it was always my understanding the tilapia eat alge, too.. even filther it through their gills. I watch mine eat the alge off the glass all the time. I keep them in green water to reduce feeding them. not so easy in the winter time though.
The fish themselves act like brooms to keep the poo stirred up and the flow thru the tanks take it right down the drain. We never have to clean a tank, Steve.
thats debatable, if you grow the duckweed at its ideal conditions and then dry it then very much so. If its not at its ideal conditions it has a much higher fiber content and lower protien content. also if you dont dry it you fish will fill up on the 95% water in it
Two things dictate how much flow you need. Tank cleanliness and dissolved oxygen levels. Too little flow and both suffer then the fish suffer and your doomed.
LMAO small scale should not even be in the description to these videos. You've created a monster system blown way out of small scale and DIY proportions. Bravo on putting the glass beads in your filter to help create a Bio-filter finally...Eight 275 gallon grow out tanks could in no way shape or form ever be considered small scale FYI. This monster eats electricity causes a ton of condensation and humidity...You might have done things a lot different if you planned this out a lot better and you would have saved a ton of money. Someone had way to much time on their hands and didn't seem to care what they made an actual video for...This type of setup costs thousands to build and cost a lot to run... So again DIY, small scale....SERIOUSLY?
+trckster51 Your whole problem from what I've seen is water quality...because you've let it get so big. The more fish you produce the worse your water quality will become from the fish waste. You would have been better off spending the electricity bill on some kind of food production system to help clean your fish waste water naturally. ATM your just throwing money away pumping water so fast to keep it clean I surely hope your making a ton of money off of Tilapia to offset your production costs...But I doubt it.
I am very excited about the greenhouse strawberries using the waste water!
Charlie, I do just connect to the existing valve and then on the inside of the tank I cut a piece of egg crate (fluorescent light diffuser) a little larger than the hole and use a few big globs of silicone to hold in place. Steve.
Your videos are great. Thank you for sharing. Brought home my first live tilapia last night.
Seeing your update in my email, I jumped to open it quickly, cos it's been a long time and I know something will be new, I must say this is fantastic, great job, I would love a system like that here in the UK, the problem is getting all the materials shipped, I have never come across the 150 gallon plastic tank here. I may have to import from the US. Plumbers should be able to fix the rest. Thanks.
Amazing work you have done! You are providing so much great inspiration for would be agriculturists.
I like this video, the setup and the information he is giving, been very helpful.
Thanks for the upload
I thought it was a great, instructive video. The quality was clear and the info was also. Good luck!
Thanks, your suggestion is on my list. It may also save the day if the pump quits working. Steve
Thank you so much for doing this vid. I enjoyed it..keep up the good work..
That's a lovely DIY system.
What you are doing looks great by the way. My suggestion is that on your out feed tubes where the water is put back into the tanks you hook up a bar with a lot of holes so it agitates the surface more than just your 90% elbow. Oxygen enters the water through the surface, a stagnant body of water is void of oxygen so the more you agitate the surface the more oxygen. I know you said you inject and thats great but more is better and the fix is a minor one.
Room is 11'x22' inside dimension. Totes are 275 gal total but 250 usable. As far as cost goes, the only expensive parts are the programmable pump and the sieve but all of the experimentation and redesign has been crazy expensive.
Thanks for the good information
Sweet setup
I'm so inspired!
I definitely like all the extra bio that you get with sand. A lot of internet experts say that sand filters are useless as bio filters because when you backwash the filter, you wash all the bacteria away. Fish Crap! If you have ever cleaned a sand filter that has plugged because the bacteria has gotten as thick as peanut butter, you KNOW that it would be impossible to backwash it out. I'm planning on shooting my newest update in the morning, watch for it. Steve.
Amazing! I raise fish in ponds and I'm currently in the planning stages of a home aquaculture system to overwinter tilapia and other warm-water fish. Your videos are informative and inspirational! A few questions:
How big is the room that this setup is in?
What size are the grow-out totes?
Any estimate of the total cost of materials in your current setup?
I'd love to see a website with a diagram of your system, parts list, estimated costs, Q&A, etc. I'm sure it would be very popular!
All of my fish except for 2 tanks are just run of the mill Blues. Sorry that I really don't know the proper name for the hybrids. I agree, it is frustrating when they don't grow. We are finding out that to maximize the tanks, you must grade the fish a couple times and cull out the smaller fish. It's a hard thing to do but the chickens gotta eat too.
wow big change, you are no joke, this is the real deal.
Glad to see you posting again.
I was wondering how you were heating you system. I have seen in the past that you use hot water heater elements but I was wondering how you wired them and what thermostat you prefer. Also who makes the ceramic media that you use in your sand filters.
Right now, there are ceramic sinking beads in it which are very expensive and to tell you the truth, don't work very well. You have to be careful how hard you backwash them to keep them from blowing out and because of that you can't get the filter clean. I just did a remodel of my filter system using three 18" filters plumbed in parallel, and I went back to sand for the media. Its very cheap but needs to be changed once in awhile. I think the pros outweigh the cons.
This year, we are making our electric heat pump pool heater do double duty. Swimming pool in summer and fish in winter. I also have 2 - 1000 watt hot water tank heating elements as backup and to use when the temp falls below 32 degrees which is where the heat pump becomes ineffective, Steve
what a great work really great I have watched your videos more than 10 times
may I ask if you dont mind telling me
where are you going with it and what are they your goals
and If I like to start something like this in my back yard can I get some help not money help haha thank you
Hi great job! ! Love the k1 filter and barrels above each tank addition. Does that take out nitrates too or am I confused about nh3 and no4? Are those the nitrates that plants take out in an aquaponics set up?
Just realized that someone asked these same questions a few days ago!
This all started as a way to feed my family some clean fish but seems to have progressed beyond that. We still don't have a clear vision of where it will end up. My next project is to extend the system with a outdoor pool so we can maximize the indoor tanks with 2 crops of fish in the same year and also grow some duckweed for feed. We are working on a website and would like to offer plans to build a system like ours. Thanks, Steve
Nice, now just scale up 40 more IBC totes full of fish and you're in business.
For the nitrates you could drop some hyacinth or duck weed in your filter tanks
the tilapia love the duck weed and will actually grow faster with a 50% diet of it.
I was going to suggest getting rid or your nitrates by setting up an aquaponic system..but you hinted you're going to build one at the end of the video! ;-)
Very nice DIY setup, great job :)
The bottoms of the tanks looks pretty clean how you avoided “dead zones” to collect waste?
Awesome setup, it looks very legit! I have been looking forward for an update for a while now! Glad to hear you are going aquaponic (waste water for plants), its really the way to go. How many fish do you have in each of your growout tanks by the way?
This is inspirational!
I have been throwing around the idea of raising my own tilapia for a few years. After watching your videos a few weeks ago I have finally got off my ass and started to put together a system.
I have picked up three 150 gallon tubs, a 1hp pool pump and sand filter, and five 55 gallon barrels.
A few questions for ya
How are you heating your system?
Where did you get the ceramic bio-balls you are using in the sand filter? Are you using the same ones in the big totes?
I'm already a follower of your channel for some time. I wonder how are the plans to create a greenhouse with strawberries to remove nitrate from water.
Your system is perfect. Have you thought about creating a supervisory system? And feeding the fish, how do you do?
your system looks so great to me. Furthermore, it fixs to my purpose of setting up a small scale system. However, I am not sure wherther I can apply a small system forTiger Shrimp??? I realy need some advices from experts about this idea. Small RAS scale to cultivate shrimp.
Thank you so much for your great video Fishandworms
You are showing great vidios and info we really appreciate what you are doing and showing hope we can share the same just starting my system running talopia and it looks like some catfish Arkansas Blues We are going to try and feed the female talopia to the catfish and grow out the mails don't know if this will work but thats our plan to start Any thoughts would be greatly apreciated Thanks once again
wow cool stuf!! :)
Where do you sell all your fish? Is it economicaly feasibleas you must have a huge electric bill. GREAT operation and set up.
His work is professional. How much water you renew? Ammonia and nitrate are reduced only with this treatment?
Small Scale Backyard?!?!? looks very impressive to me; more a corporate factory system than a home system.
Your idea is fantastic, could you tell me what is the density of viable fish per container and what is the ideal weight for despesca for such a system? knowing that the fish used is Tilapia!
I thank and congratulate...
I enjoy the release of your videos. Can you explain how you connect the waste pipe thought the IBC Tote. Do you remove the valve, or use the exisiting valve? If so how do you filter the fingerlings from being sucked in?
Charlie
We are setting up a website to do that. Thanks, Steve
Wow you have done a lot since the last video! I have had my system up for just over one year now and it is ever changing and growing also. Do you use regular bailing twine in those tanks?
thats a pleco not a oscar you have in there for the algie controll ...thank you for the video very informitive..
(Y) God bless.
Absolutely, this will eliminate the need for the air pump.
Your going to start a Aquaponics system? nice
Steve that's smart. Where are you buying the hybred fingerlings (are they expensive)?
how have the Pentair pumps been holding up? and is that the 3hp pump?
Ditto, on the pant thought, you just need a 2nd stage with grow beds for water loving plants. You'll have a complete ecosystem since your bio filter is steady making your fertilizer. Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate (plant fertilizer)
Not sure about the Cetus, I might hold on to it for a future koi pond or catfish setup. Thats probably gonna be a ways done the line so im not apposed to selling it either.
Set up a few tanks with water lettuce or hyacinths to filter out the nitrates in lieu of hydroponics.
Hi Daniel, I just run the water thru a whole house charcoal filter, seems to work just fine. As far as clubbing the bunnies goes, we have a friend who has his picked up live. Steve. P.S. When you phase out your Tilapia, what are you gonna do with your Cetus?
Hi Good Day what do you think about the sand and gravel filter I'm looking to set up a small system about 2 IBC and do sand and gravel
What are you using for bulkheads to seal your water lines to your tanks? I went to lowes and HomeDepot and they didnt have anything useable (may have been looking in the wrong spot). I went to the local pool supply store and they wanted $12 each!!
Have you tried a swirl filter for a passive filtration of your solids? I know you have the "toilet" but I don't know that I have the space or money for one of these. I'm trying to figure out what size swirl filter I would need for a 1500 gallon system. I believe you have far exceeded 1500 gallons here. As a curiosity, how big is your system?
Be curious to know. our pool pump cost us quite a bit to run every month. Do you need that much flow?
any guideline or video suggestion on how to do the U-tube piping for oxygenation n how to maximise its use. thanks in advance
Nice work! How do you dechlorinate/chloramine your water? I plan on phasing my tilapia out. I just started a meat rabbitry. Supposedly, one doe can produce 70lb-120lb of meat per year. Ive currently have 4 does and 2 bucks. A trio of New Zealand Whites and a trio of Californians. Pros; no electrical, low tech, etc. Cons; clubbing cute bunnies.
Hey man! If I was a religious type of person, I would worship at the foot of your set-up. You are truly an awesome guy.
Do you make any profit off of all of this?
I ask this because I am starting an aquaponic set up here in northern Portugal... I am just interested in the nitty gritty of the operation. It´s not too hard to build an impressively complicated (and effective) system, but I am really interested in the dollars and cents- do you make them?
Perfect water to germinate and grow feed grass especially in colder climates
you have a serious crack on your concrete slab. is it due to the weight of the water?
Also what hybrid are the fish? They are large, my red niles are seven month old and the males are still about 200g, females even smaller. It is frustrating when they don't grow and you have overheads already.
Do you have more info about this? like a diagram showing how it works. I'm a shrimp farmer and I would like to learn more about this.
Thank you
You are humble to described it as DIY. It is in fact high tech. Did you design the water recirculating system? It is not "just a pump". What about the fish? What species are they? Where do you obtain the bacterial filer to digest the NH4 & NO3? I am very interested in aquaculture, so would like to learn more from you. Please correspond. If possible, I can give you my email address, if you post yours to me.
Been a year. How many fish can you harvest in a year? :)
Can you explain your oxygen injector in more detail. what's all involved and how you made it.
I notice you no longer have any Breeder tanks. Do you have them someplace else or do you just buy your fingerlings now? I only ask because I was wondering how you handle being overrun with fry. I battle having way too many fish every week.
Can you explain your oxygen injector in more detail and how u made it
yes.
How are you heating the water??
How much power does this this use per day?
what happened to your duckweed? the strawberries will be a good idea, too.. water them, then use the water for duckweed then back to the fish. as for the oscar, it was always my understanding the tilapia eat alge, too.. even filther it through their gills. I watch mine eat the alge off the glass all the time. I keep them in green water to reduce feeding them. not so easy in the winter time though.
Don't know yet.
How do you stop fish from being sucked into the waste water pipe, and in the same time not putting a mesh too fine that's clog up the outlet?
+Justin Peng I've been researching into home aquaponics and found an awesome resource at Keiths Ponics Site (check it out on google)
This will also alleviate the necessity for water changes.
The fish themselves act like brooms to keep the poo stirred up and the flow thru the tanks take it right down the drain. We never have to clean a tank, Steve.
So serious OVERKILL with all of the pvc lines.
thats debatable, if you grow the duckweed at its ideal conditions and then dry it then very much so. If its not at its ideal conditions it has a much higher fiber content and lower protien content. also if you dont dry it you fish will fill up on the 95% water in it
Wat kind of filter media is in your sand filter
can you tell me where you got your biological beads
what's the production rate
how does one make contact with you?
I haven't really kept track.
Uv light for algae? ????
Two things dictate how much flow you need. Tank cleanliness and dissolved oxygen levels. Too little flow and both suffer then the fish suffer and your doomed.
It's a Plecoptera not an oscar but love the set up
You mean a Plecostomus (algae eater). A Plecoptera is an insect.
+limegreendream67 (Y) God bless.
How many fish can you harvest in a year?
That's not a Oscar it's a pleco
I'll take some tilapia
IBC containers £50 to £80 on ebay hope this will help.
Plants will stop the water changing
Rough idea? 2, 10, 3000?
Its a pleco, not an oscar
why dont you grow a hydroponic vegetable garden? then you wouldnt have to do water changes, and the plants will eat up all those nitrates for you
they will only sell me male fingerlings, looking for not only males! thnx!
anyone who can help me out with selling me live tilapia, shipped to norway? seems very dificult to get someone sending! cheers, and good work!
Uniseals. The only place I've been able to find them is aussieglobe. com
We have zero experience with catfish and actually have not even had time to read about them, Sorry, Steve.
LMAO small scale should not even be in the description to these videos. You've created a monster system blown way out of small scale and DIY proportions. Bravo on putting the glass beads in your filter to help create a Bio-filter finally...Eight 275 gallon grow out tanks could in no way shape or form ever be considered small scale FYI. This monster eats electricity causes a ton of condensation and humidity...You might have done things a lot different if you planned this out a lot better and you would have saved a ton of money. Someone had way to much time on their hands and didn't seem to care what they made an actual video for...This type of setup costs thousands to build and cost a lot to run... So again DIY, small scale....SERIOUSLY?
+trckster51 Your whole problem from what I've seen is water quality...because you've let it get so big. The more fish you produce the worse your water quality will become from the fish waste. You would have been better off spending the electricity bill on some kind of food production system to help clean your fish waste water naturally. ATM your just throwing money away pumping water so fast to keep it clean I surely hope your making a ton of money off of Tilapia to offset your production costs...But I doubt it.
+trckster51 do you do fish farming or aquaponics? Where can I learn?
You sound mad dude