Well the Big Aquaponics System design could not stay the same for long. Time for an expansion with a waterfall tank. The other half picked up this rectangular Galvanized tank at the flea market. I’ll have to line it since galvanized metal is not safe for fish but I can manage that.
Galvanized-Tank
Galvanized-Tank-2
Waterfall Spillway
Of course a waterfall needs a spillway so I needed to frame that out with wood and an eight foot long rectangular tank will need some reinforcement to keep it from bowing out in the middle so hopefully the wood bracing around the top will help but probably won’t be quite enough.
Waterfall Tank Filled
Finally the liner and water in the waterfall tank. I made a screen on the waterfall end to hopefully keep fish from spilling down into the other tank which is an important Aquaponics System Design point when keeping fish in a waterfall tank. Next I will need to figure out some sort of cover for the tank since the water is up so close to the rim.
Tank covers are terribly important in Aquaponics System Design as is the following bit about lifting the pump intake off the bottom in any tank that has fish and a pump if there is no other way to protect the fish from being pumped dry. The fish were active through all the construction, notice the milk crate in the pump bag to lift the pump intake off the bottom (in case of disaster at least the fish won’t be left high and dry.)
Active fish
For those who wish to go read the detail version check out my original system thread. BYAP System Thread Pages 32-34 (April 2-20, 2008) are the time frame for this Blog post.
Leave a Reply