# Creek 275 gallon tote catfish



## Salmonfood (Apr 8, 2014)

This is not exactly aquaponics, but there is not a section under livestock for it.

I am interested in using pipes to divert water from my creek into a 275 gallon tote full of catfish, then using pipes to drain the water back to the creek. It will be a continuous flow of water.
Very simple, no fancy equipment, no electronics.

Creek-pipe-tote-pipe-creek


Any thoughts, comments, or suggestions?

-Thanks


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

Its similar to a recirculating system.
With the exception of not having the plant half.
You could have a gravel bed and do some greens in it, before it drained back to the creek.
Just a bit more work but more return on your over all efforts and investment.

You don't list location, and location is everything with advice on just about any topic on the boards.

One Idea I have for you is to build spiral pump to feed your tank.
I do not have any flowing water but I have played with the Idea.
took a old hose reel wound with the amount of hose it would take and tucked the hose end in the last loop and cranked it, in a tank.

It did not pump a tremendous amount of water, but did so at a study rate and at low revolutions. In fact they work better at low rpms then high.

Even though it does not pump a lot of water, fast again it does it study 24/7 and will pump to a decent head. 

In my thinking in a cold climate it would work better then a ram, as long as the waters flowing at a decent rate should not freeze and the same goes for the tank and return line.


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## Salmonfood (Apr 8, 2014)

Thanks for the reply
I am in GA zone 8

You are right it won't be difficult to add a small grow bed to the outflow from the fish tank. The water probably wont have many nutrients, because of the constant flow it will be essential creek water. But, for the little bit of work involved in adding a grow bed its worth a shot.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

It would have all the nutrients any other system would just not concentrated.
smaller dose but a constant one.


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## Salmonfood (Apr 8, 2014)

I would like for the water to flow into the fish tank near the top and drain near the bottom.
This would help clear the particulates that settle in the tank.
However it would be easiest to have the outflow at the top as this would also control the depth.

So, I am thinking of doing a combo. Outflow on bottom with an overflow on top.


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## ||Downhome|| (Jan 12, 2009)

You would be better off with the feed being directed in one direction fed to the bottom and a stand pipe for the outflow.

The directional feed will create a vortex effect and the waste will collect toward the center making cleaning easy. 

Any floating sediment will wash out the stand pipe.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I would research whether anyone has developed a way of circulating water in a square tank. I expect that you will have calmer spots where the waste will accumulate and you want to prevent that if possible before it fouls the water or causes a disease outbreak.

It might be worth the investment to buy a large round tank or make one. It's much easier to move waste to the center for removal in a round tank with a sloped bottom.

Depending on your flow rate a flow through system like you are planning can produce a lot of fish in a small area.


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## Salmonfood (Apr 8, 2014)

I guess the question about where to place the outflow in order to keep the water the most clean is more generalizable to...

Where is the best place to place the outflow in a 275 gallon tote aquaponics system?

The difference in my system is that I will also need a way of preventing overflow to adjust for variation in rainfall. I think I've figured this one out. I'll post pictures when I get it together.

I'm going to hook it up to the creek and catch some fish from the creek to keep there for awhile. This will give me some time to experiment.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I don't know if it would work but you might want to think about putting something in the tank like semi rigid plastic to create a cylinder inside the square tank. The loss of corner space will easily be made up in better waste removal.

Put a valve on your intake and it won't matter what the creek does during high water.


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## Salmonfood (Apr 8, 2014)

For the outflow I'm going to use a CHOP system.
Constant height of Pond. Created by having a pipe about one inch off the bottom of the tank which extends vertically to a T. One end goes up to the air, the other end goes out back to the creek or a grow bed.

I understand the dilemma about stagnant areas in a square tank, but the simplicity of the system is worth the risk I think. Well, at least to start off with just wild caught fish. I may try to create a vortex with the inflow to help direct particulates


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## wogglebug (May 22, 2004)

If you've got continuous flow, I wouldn't worry about stagnation - not gunna happen. Even a pint a minute, which is hardly noticeable, moving across the entire width of the tank, would still be almost four drums a day, which would keep the water fresh without wasting food. The water would just wash across the food without carrying it away.

In fact, you'd better go to some trouble to make sure the flow isn't too much more than this.


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

Here's a chance to tour some working fish farms and see some RAS's in Ohio.

Fish Farm Tour: http://agnr.osu.edu/events/fish-farm-bus-tour

RAS Workshop: http://agnr.osu.edu/events/recirculating-aquaculture-systems-workshop


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