The Fish Are In!!!

This morning we woke up with grand plans.  Get the fish...  My wife, daughter, son, and mother-in-law, took a trip to the operation facilities of Blue Beyond Fisheries in Palm Desert, CA in hopes of obtaining our Tilapia fish.  Blue Beyond Fisheries raises mostly strains of the red and gray Oreochromis mossambicus. 

Here is my daughter giving us her fish pose before we go.

Here we are at a gate in Palm Desert hoping this is the farm???

 All of those little dots in the tank are Tilapia fingerlings.

My son checking out one of the many holding tanks.

Observing one of the breeding tanks.

At home.  Fish need to acclimate to the new tank first.

My daughter taking her scientific recording duties very seriously.

Recording the number and size of each fish.

 My daughter's data sheet with number and length of each fish.  :)

Final Notes:  

Water Temperature:  78.5 degrees F.

Dissolved Oxygen:  1.75 mg/l

Time: 4:30pm

Pump.  The pump from the grow bed is turned off so I do not have to heat up that water also.  I will turn this on once I get the temperature to a level I know it can sustain.  Then I will turn on the full system again.

Observation: Fish appeared to take to the tank very well.  We will see tomorrow.

The Fish Chronicles....

You would think that obtaining fish for my system would be easy.  Drive over to your local pet store pick out some goldfish and then put them in.  Ummm, not when you want Tilapia apparently.  Let me take this time to give a shout out to my wonderful wife.  She is so supportive and I am so thankful for that.

Now, I wasn't naive enough to think that Tilapia were at my local Pet Co. but I did think there would be many sources in southern California or online. 

Online

Yes, there are Tilapia fingerlings readily available online but the shipping costs were more than the fish so I began my search for a local Tilapia source.

Local

I was sure there would be plenty of Tilapia sources because of the close proximity to San Diego and Los Angeles.  My Google searches were not that easy. After much research my mother-in-law (such the enthusiastic helper) and I did come across Blue Beyond Fisheries.  I called the manager Oscar and he said it would be no problem to come down and pick up some fish.  Yes, mission accomplished, sort of.....

He asked what it was for and I was describing my OUTDOOR aquaponics system and he stated that Tilapia were warm water fish and needed a minimum of 75 degree water.  I admit that I have not researched every aspect of this project and assumed, due to the hardiness of Tilapia, that they would be fine.  Not so.  This was a detail that needed attention.

Setback... for now.  I did some research and bought two 250 watt aquarium heaters to heat up my 150 gallon outdoor tank.

Once they arrived I plugged them in and hoped they would bring the water temperature up from the frigid 51 degrees F.  The next morning the water was at 61 degrees.  Great sign.  It is now resting at 74-75 degrees.  This will be just fine.


Next...... the fish farm.

Final projects before the fish

It is has been a while since my last post.  I waited until the Christmas vacation to continue my project.  Here are some of the final touches I had to accomplish before I added fish.

1. Build a cover for my tank to block sunlight and stop fish from jumping out.
2. Build a small box to house the air pump unit.
3. Make a filter so the small fish cannot leave the tank.
4. Research the most cost effective way to obtain Tilapia. (Internet)

The cover for the tank did not take too long.  I bought a three more 1x2's and constructed the lattice you see below.  I then used some left over "weed mat" material and staple gunned three layers to the bottom.  This will work for now.
.

Next, I used some of the scrap pieces of plywood, 2x4's, and 1x2's to make a small box.  I then bought a couple of hinges for my door and then painted.  This did not take long

I then bought a 1 1/2" pipe.  I did not have any left over from the initial plumbing.  Black pipe was what Home Depot had at the time.  I then drilled a series of holes in the pipe as seen below.

I need to find a small mesh to place over the pipe.  My local Pet Co. had the small filter bags you see below. 

I placed a 1 1/2" cap on one end, placed the bag over it, secured it down with the clamps and then added the male 1 1/2" coupling and then screwed this into the female 1 1/2" bulkhead fitting in the fish tank.

Lastly, I placed my box in its location an ran the temporary electricity to it. 

Now I am ready for the Tilapia.  No problem right.......  Well, lets just say it wasn't as easy I thought.... Stay tuned.

The first test run.....

These videos are going to show the test of the pump system.  The first one shows the whole system and the second is when I started the pump.

The Plumbing is Complete....

As I stated in my last post I was going to finish the plumbing over the Thanksgiving break.  I finished today ahead of schedule.  This will give me time to paint and add the trimming, cut the Styrofoam, create a cover for the fish tank, and add the air pump.  The fish tank brings water to the trough by gravity through 1 1/2" pipe.  The other side of the trough has an external pump attached that will bring water back to the fish tank.  I began to fill the fish tank and half the trough before the sun went down.  Tomorrow I will finish filling the tank, add the Styrofoam, and turn on the pump.

 Back of the fish tank with a male 1-1/2" nipple attached to the bulkhead fitting and an elbow ready to go to the trough.

 Beginning of the pump assembly.  There is a 1-1/2" nipple attached to the bulkhead fitting and a 1-1/2" to 3/4" reducer to a 3/4" slip/slip ball valve. 

 The pump will be attached on both sides by fish-safe flexible tubing.

 The finished pump assembly.

 The 1-1/2" pipe that brings the water by gravity to the trough.

The Pond Liner is in.

I recently took a trip to Home Depot to purchase the pond liner and a few other items.  I had trouble finding the right type of pond liner for my system.  The plan calls for a pond liner that does not contain EPDM and is no less than 20 mil.  My concern was price, of course.  I am trying to build this prototype system at the lowest cost possible.  Many of the online pond liners were either too expensive or not the right size.  I was looking for a 6ft by 11 ft liner.  I did not want to cut the liner I just wanted the right size.  I finally just decided to get the pond liner sold at Home Depot and would cut it myself.  The pond liner I bought from Home Depot was from Total Pond pond skins 10ft x 13ft.

The first thing I had to do was to measure and mark off 6ft. Thanks for the help son!

I decided to install the liner without cutting it first.  This was not what the plan called for.  I was concerned that I could potentially screw up and could not go back if I already made the cuts.  Therefore I decided to do it when I was installing it.  It did make it more difficult to install but I have never done this before so I wanted to make sure I gave some room for error.  I did have to remove some of the staples and install again.

I still have to get the 2x2's, paint, and add to the top as trim.  I have the week of Thanksgiving off and I plan to get the plumbing and electricity done so I can fill with water and get the system going.

Drilled Holes

I drilled three holes; one in the stock fish tank and two in the trough.  I then carried the trough out of my garage to the site location.  It was heavy but I was able to carry it by myself.  

The Package Arrives....

I received my first order from Aquatic Eco-Systems, INC. I bought various items that I would need to get to PHASE II (water in the system).  I will add the cost to the "cost item breakdown" tab.  Here is what I bought from them.

• water pump
• airstones
• bumpers for airstones
• connectors for air tubing
• air pump
• bulkhead connectors for the holes