New Portable Rubbermaid Stock Tank system about to be born

great08

I just moved and am starting to embark on the fabrication of my second system already.

It will consist of...

-two 50gal Rubbermaid stock tanks. (1 flood/drain gravel and 1 floating raft that may turn to gravel later)
-one 150gal Rubbermaid stock tank for the fish/sump.
-One 55gal food drum for brewing compost tea to feed the system.

I have to be able to roll it into my 6ft x 12ft cargo trailer to move every few years. My first system is in pieces and I don't plan on doing that pain again. I will reuse a lot of those parts for this. I had to leave my container garden behind. Those weighted 2000lbs. Outch! I can drain one of these and bring it with me.

So.... this will be on WHEELS!!! (and very tall)

I am in an HOA now. I have to make it look nice.

I am now in Mobile, AL where triple digits are common and so is 65 inches of rain every year! So I will have to build a cover(that is collapsible for the trailer and hurricanes)

Spent the day drawing it up on sketchup. Got the tanks yesterday.

Getting internet in a few days and plan to post pics and make YouTube videos.

My channel name is "mysuburbanhomestead". I have videos of the old barrel system.

Marty

scotty435

I don't envy you having to move that around :headbang:

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great08

I don't envy myself either! It is such a pain and I can't set down roots.

Those folks that bought my last house are going to have one type of fruit or another at most parts of the year in about 5 years. They bought a food forest garden(will be if they let it). It sold in 3 days.

I will have to move only one more time after this if I am lucky. At which point this small roll around system will turn into an herb garden near the house. I am thinking I will integrate a beer bottle opener onto it.

Marty

great08

Getting closer! Been working for several days on it and still some more wood working to do before staining. Then I can plum the system and start cycling.

This thing is HUGE. Once the black tubs are removed the wood structure is less than 4ft tall and I will be able to stack boxes on it in the trailer when I move. The two top tubs will slide inside during that time.

Marty

boss

Nice! What is going in the box? pump and filters? Looks like a ft in the middle.

great08

boss wrote:

Nice! What is going in the box? pump and filters? Looks like a ft in the middle.

Yes. The box houses the fish tank/sump tank. There will be shelving on both ends with doors. I plan to put air pumps, battery backup, relays, fish food, lime/nutrients/etc. in there. The top 50gal tubs and their gravel will fit inside the main tank nicely when moving.

Each side has enough room for both my kids to easily fit into. I locked my daughter in there this morning when she crawled inside. Just for ten seconds or so. Lol

The entire Fish tank will be insulated by wood for slower temp changes. The air pump will be pulling in the colder air from the box. to combat the high temps where I live.

There will be a roof to keep excess water out (rains 65inches a year here)and to convert to a mobile greenhouse/hoop house during the cold months.

The tall beds will be great for growing vertically... but in a downward way so as to be lazy and not need trellises/training of plants. Except tomatos which will get a yo yo.

Marty

great08

Made more progress today.

Completed the fish tank door, the second access doors on the other side, stained the wood, got the doors back on, and mounted the handles/tie down points, and the BEER Bottle Opener.

Ops checked the bottle opener and the doors. Good end to the day after baking in the sun/getting rained on at times.

Working in the super simple plumbing next. Then adding gravel/water and letting it cycle for a week before adding 4 goldfish. As soon as that all works out I am putting in an order for 45 hybrid bluegill.

I decided to make both tubs gravel.

More pics.....

atomicpapa

If you ever make it to San Antonio, stop by and build one of those for me!!! Maybe my wife will let me have it in the front yard where we get the best sun, instead of in the back surrounded by trees and trying to catch the one small patch that gets a short few hours of unfiltered sun each day. :-) Really nice work. Much jealousy here right now. Feel free to post those sketchup plans whenever you get a chance ;-)

great08

atomicpapa wrote:

If you ever make it to San Antonio, stop by and build one of those for me!!! Maybe my wife will let me have it in the front yard where we get the best sun, instead of in the back surrounded by trees and trying to catch the one small patch that gets a short few hours of unfiltered sun each day. :-) Really nice work. Much jealousy here right now. Feel free to post those sketchup plans whenever you get a chance ;-)

I will post it up when I get a chance.

I took step by step pics of the build.... then found out there is a size limit for pics on here.

And.... I still don't have internet. Took those last pics on my flip phone and texted them to my email and used my wife's phone to load them on here. Lol

I will be able to resize the step by step maybe... after the build.

Main purpose of sketchup was to be able to move things around until they fit within the required dimensions of my trailer. Turned out nice and simple with the finished product.

As an added Plus... I can move it to where the best spot is depending on the time of year!!!

scotty435

Fantastic job on the cart Great08 :thumbright:

. Get that cover made, I'd hate to see a work of art like that get soaked in one of your gutter washers.

great08

It got rained on all day today and the forcast is rain all week.

I just ran to the store and got the supplies for the roof. Going with tinted poly and will make the sides roll up plastic this Fall.

I will knock that roof out and maybe the plumbing too tomorrow. Once the plumbing is in I will fill with water to start playing with the Bell siphons before adding gravel.

I am excited. Threw down several days of work and have not started on my plumbing yet! Lol

Marty

great08

Yesterday I build, stained, completed the roof, and got the bell(and emergency) drains installed.

Today I got the input plumbing and pump installed.

Heading to the store in a few to get gravel.....

Marty

great08

One bed now has 1/3 scoria and 2/3 Used hydroton clay pebbles. The other has 2/3 scoria/lava rock and 1/3 river pebbles.

Letting the water clear and adjusting PH for a few days before adding a few goldfish for cycling.

After making the modifications to my 25W "Ponics Pump" I must say that it would be able to support at least another bed/Bell siphon for that perfect 1:1 grow bed to fish tank volume. It is now stepped up to 3/4" PVC plumbing that splits to 1". Has the screen removed drastically increasing flow. Fabricated a massive basket for it to sit in for catching debris. I can take pics upon request.

The PH from the tap is 8.4. Now after bubbling of the chlorine and then adding rocks it has dropped to 7.8. Just added some PH adjustment. I will test it in the morning tomorrow.

Marty

great08

I just ran some numbers for flood/drain/syphon timings.

#1 is the mostly hydroton bed, #2 is the mostly large scoria,

#1 Bell took about 5secs to initiate each time and about 30secs to 1min to stop.

#2 Bell took about 10secs to start each time and about 1 min to 1.5min to break.

#1 Fills in 4:10 and Drains in 2:31 for a 6:41 total cycle time. (min:sec)

#2 Fills in 5:29 and Drains in 3:07 for a 8:36 total cycle time(syphon broke quick on the one).

Should I back the water off some more on both beds?

The gravel bed hold more water and so it takes more time to fill.

boss

Man O man that is one sweet looking setup. Great construction skill and it will good anywhere too.

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