VLT's Home System

vlt

This system will be at my home after my extension has been completed. At the moment, I should be getting the house back in November. So should be a great time to start a system. I am not too worried about fish and seed material as I will be cannibalising most of the system components from my test system.

I have a small space to play with once my extension is completed. Many of you would know the land sizes in Flemington are tiny. My plot of land is 265 sqm and that is considered large :support:

At the end of the extension I will have a backyard of 9.6m x 7.5m.

This is the plan

Attachment:

File comment: Layout of the yard. 9.6m x 7.5m. At the moment, looking at 2000L FT, 6000L ST, 7000L GB with 14.4sqm of grow area

layout.GIF [ 5.44 KiB | Viewed 9409 times ]

So,
The Green is 6 growbeds at the moment 2000x1000x400H
The Purple is 2 growbeds which are full IBCs 1200x1000x1150H
The Light Blue is a 2000L FT I will cannibalise from my test system 2000Dx660H
The Dark Blue is a 6000L FT/ST I am scratching my head about 2000x2000x1500H
The Yellow if you can make it out is a double rollerdoor for rear access

Basically I have a very confined space for the FT and in my search for a suitable tank, I have investigated:
Aquaculture tanks - which are not suitable for me as I the larger ones are generally 2300D and above
Rainwater tanks - the squat ones are suitable(ish) but there is a bit of mucking around
Pond - looking at this option

At the moment, I am looking at either:
1. Build a concrete pond
2. Preformed fibreglass pond

Media I am looking into Hydroton, but is quite expensive as I will need about 4000L of clay.

Zman

Looking good VLT!

vlt

SWMBO gave the go ahead on the AP system with some slight changes.

Attachment:

File comment: New layout

layout 2.GIF [ 7.02 KiB | Viewed 9280 times ]

Basically, instead of a pond that is out of place with everything, the new design has the pond as part of the landscaping.

Rough numbers for new pond is 5m x 2.8m x 1.6m
The red sqaure are traditional(ish) growbeds totalling 6.4m x 1m x 0.3m.
The orange sqaure are full IBC's.

Only caveat is to make it look nice. So as part of that, I will be making a removable deck above the pond.

Anyone know a good bottom drain I can buy?

chillidude

vlt wrote:

Anyone know a good bottom drain I can buy?

The koi mobs sell that sort of thing but they're pretty expensive;

http://www.aussiekoi.com.au/products.php?class=drains&page=0

vlt

chillidude wrote:

vlt wrote:

Anyone know a good bottom drain I can buy?

The koi mobs sell that sort of thing but they're pretty expensive;

http://www.aussiekoi.com.au/products.php?class=drains&page=0

Mmmm. That's not too bad. Was going to get 3 bottom drains.

Might go look at some Koi forums and see what the recommended ones are.

Food&Fish

A lot cheaper to make it chift pist and dont say you cant plumb it use your imagination
Sunbury isent far come for a drive i will show you

vlt

Food&Fish wrote:

A lot cheaper to make it chift pist and dont say you cant plumb it use your imagination
Sunbury isent far come for a drive i will show you

Thanks for the offer Milne.

I am not putting in a SLO as the fishtank/pond will be sunk 1 metre in the ground with 60cm above.

The pond will be split into 2 parts. 2 bottom drains will gravity feed from a larger part into the smaller part. The pump will live in the smaller part. The 3 bottom drain will be in the smaller part.

Let me attach a diagram. Pictures are better at explaining.

vlt

Here we go...

Attachment:

drainage.gif [ 11.84 KiB | Viewed 9208 times ]

Bottom Drain 1 and 2 gravity feeds into the settling tank where the pump lives.

Bottom Drain 3 is for cleaning the bottom.

All 3 drains will be fitted with taps/ball valves.

The benefit of this is that the main fishtank will have nothing in it other than fish.

I might put a SLO in the Settling tank, but CHIFT PIST or SLO requires that the water can go above the SLO drain.

In this tank, we're talking about 20000L of water. So quite hard to make a SLO work.

Food&Fish

I see your idea i think you still better come for a drive i have 3 ibc 2 fishtanks 1 sump all exactley the same height running slo

Zman

With 60cm above the ground you will probably be required to put a fence around it :think:

vlt

Zman wrote:

With 60cm above the ground you will probably be required to put a fence around it :think:

Depends on the laws and local by laws.

A fence is only required in Vic if the primary use is wadding/swimming.

I need to check further. But these laws are always funny.

In any case, I will have a cagetop made and make sure it is secure.

SnowT

Just a Question..

Is the pond/tank going to be made from EDPM Liner..?

If so check out..
http://www.allcareponds.com.au/
They sell cheap Bottom Drains for Liner Ponds..

go to http://www.koiphen.com/forums/forumdisp ... on-Library
Somewhere in here is the instructions for installing a BD in a Liner Pond..

also Checkout..
http://www.koiphen.com/forums/showthrea ... -pipe-boot
For taking a pipe thru the Liner..

Juergen..

vlt

Nope....did think about liner, but weighing up 4 options at the moment...depending on when C1 gets back to me about pricing.

Option 1. Creative 1 jobbie (cost ???)

Option 2. Shotcrete 32mpa with xypex mixed. Steel mesh reinforced. (cost ~$4k)

Option 3. ADBRI masonary block besser wall pool with mortar mixed with xypex. Steel reinforced based and core filled with 32mpa concrete mixed with xypex poured in 1 go. (~$2k)

Option 4. IBC monstrousity. (~1k)

The above is ranked most prefered to least preferred, but all are viable options.

Pros and cons are currently being weighed up.

But generally comes down to:
Do I want a pool or 10 ponds?
Do I want to go big and make it monolithic or do I want to make it modular?
Do I trust the contracters or my own workmanship?

Still undecided, but I have a while to decide.

Just got to find me a cheap IBC supply.

orcy2010

I did mine with normal concrete, and bricks. rendered with waterproof render, then painted with waterproof paint.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7129

It works pretty nicely, and although its a little rough, its nothing you can bash out by yourself in a couple of weeks (I had no concrete or brick experience before I started).

I looked at bottom drains, but decided against it in the end. The pump is in the bottom of the fishtank, and water is split between waterfall and growbeds. Most of the solids settle out in the waterfall, which I vacuum every couple of months. The growbeds handle the rest. I dont run a sump, but would probably figure out how to make it work if i ever had the chance to do it over.

In your drawing, the elbow for bottom drain 3 will have to be below the water line in the settling tank, or it wont work.

vlt

orcy2010 wrote:

I did mine with normal concrete, and bricks. rendered with waterproof render, then painted with waterproof paint.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=7129

It works pretty nicely, and although its a little rough, its nothing you can bash out by yourself in a couple of weeks (I had no concrete or brick experience before I started).

I looked at bottom drains, but decided against it in the end. The pump is in the bottom of the fishtank, and water is split between waterfall and growbeds. Most of the solids settle out in the waterfall, which I vacuum every couple of months. The growbeds handle the rest. I dont run a sump, but would probably figure out how to make it work if i ever had the chance to do it over.

In your drawing, the elbow for bottom drain 3 will have to be below the water line in the settling tank, or it wont work.

Thanks for that....I might trash the idea of the bottom drain and multiple chambers, but then I am investigating hydrostatic valves and some actually come with bottom drains....

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VLT's Home System

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Backyard Aquaponics
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