I'm actually half way between having large aquariums and an full-time aquaculturist so bear with me!
I use circular plastic tanks to bring in YOY fish for the fall and winter that I hatch in ponds. Volume of water in the tanks is typically about 150 gallons. Mechanical filtration consists of a white plastic 55 gallon drum packed with garden netting, and a u tube 2 inch diameter pvc siphon that pulls water into the bottom from the fish tank via gravity displacement and a small mag drive pump that sits on top of the netting. The clarified water gets pumps to another drum via the mag drive pump, which in this case is blue to keep light out and is filled with plastic media up to 4 cubic feet to act as the biofilter. The media is self cleaning and tumbles in the drum due to a diffuser on the bottom of the drum with the water exiting an overflow back into the tank.
O.K. here's the question: With fingerling fish as we all know they need to be feed several times a day vs. larger fish and create dirty water faster. The filtration I have is a little lacking for that kind of feeding. Works great for the larger fish though. I have an extra cheap Intex pool cartridge filter laying around (I use the Intex pools for holding tanks outside when seining the ponds) and was thinking of plumbing it into the clarifier drum to act as a secondary filter. That is pulling the cleaner water near the surface of the drum into the cartridge and back in again. Anybody every try this? The cartridges can be rinsed to some extent and even if replaced are dirt cheap.
Thoughts?
I use circular plastic tanks to bring in YOY fish for the fall and winter that I hatch in ponds. Volume of water in the tanks is typically about 150 gallons. Mechanical filtration consists of a white plastic 55 gallon drum packed with garden netting, and a u tube 2 inch diameter pvc siphon that pulls water into the bottom from the fish tank via gravity displacement and a small mag drive pump that sits on top of the netting. The clarified water gets pumps to another drum via the mag drive pump, which in this case is blue to keep light out and is filled with plastic media up to 4 cubic feet to act as the biofilter. The media is self cleaning and tumbles in the drum due to a diffuser on the bottom of the drum with the water exiting an overflow back into the tank.
O.K. here's the question: With fingerling fish as we all know they need to be feed several times a day vs. larger fish and create dirty water faster. The filtration I have is a little lacking for that kind of feeding. Works great for the larger fish though. I have an extra cheap Intex pool cartridge filter laying around (I use the Intex pools for holding tanks outside when seining the ponds) and was thinking of plumbing it into the clarifier drum to act as a secondary filter. That is pulling the cleaner water near the surface of the drum into the cartridge and back in again. Anybody every try this? The cartridges can be rinsed to some extent and even if replaced are dirt cheap.
Thoughts?
