# Need this for my High school



## da bear (Apr 2, 2005)

I teach high school. We have a large aquaculture tank that has 300-400 catfish in it ( two 500 gallon tanks, full aereation and filtration system). The ammonia is starting to outgrow the ability of the bacteria to remove it. Obviously, this will get worse as they continue to grow. the system is designed for 300 fish, but we were given extra.

I am placing two 50 gallon drums next to each tank. I plan on pumping extra water in a sprayer into the two drums and gravity drain it back into the tanks. I expect each will add 500+ gph to the system.

My big question is what would be a good media to give the best surface area within the budget of a school?

I'm thinking of plastic matting or bulk pumice rock. the water is naturally perfect, so there are no water adjustment problems.

I know ya'll know a lot, so any help would be very appreciated.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

> I'm thinking of plastic matting or bulk pumice rock


Either one should work fine if you're talking about a plastic matting that water can flow through, in, and around. I'd go with whatever was cheaper. Make sure you prefilter so the media doesn't become coated and clogged with organic solids. The media will be more effective if you can drip the water through it rather than simply submerging it. I think that'll do more for you from a biofiltration standpoint than increasing gallonage in the system.


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## da bear (Apr 2, 2005)

The plan is to raise the drum up on a pedastal, and use a 500gph pump to spray the material on the top pf the drum, let it trickle thru then gravity drain back into the adjacent tank. It would be the opposite for the second one.


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

What do you mean by 'it would be the opposite'?


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## da bear (Apr 2, 2005)

There are two 500gal tanks, one pump would pull out of tank A, trickle thru drum A and drain into tank B. The other would pull from tank B, trickle thru drum B and drain into tank A. The present sytem pulls from both into an aereated system and a drain equalizes them back into both tanks.

Both drums will be on pedestals and gravity will be the return force.

They are large plastic shortening drums donated by local bakery (factory sized bakery).


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## prov356 (Sep 20, 2006)

Sounds cool, got any pics of this system? Should work well if you get the right media in place.


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## cturner (Mar 21, 2006)

https://www.mrosupply.com/product/76299 ... uring_Pads

I get these from the Dollar General and use them for extra media. They work great!


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## da bear (Apr 2, 2005)

yea, but I need 110 gallons of them.


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## BillD (May 17, 2005)

You are assuming that you need to fill the container with bio media in order for them to have sufficient bio filtration. The actual amount needed may be significantly less. As well, if you fill the drums with something like lava rock, which isn't nearly as effective as pot scrubbers, you have displaced a lot of the extra water. There are numerous types of filtering mats available from aquaculture suppliers as well as pond suppliers that might be cost effective and more efficient than the lava rock. I would add a disposable prefilter of polyester batting as well to remove solid material before it can enter the bio portion.
Regardless, what you are proposing will work, and the only unknown is exactly how well.


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## Secretninja (Dec 25, 2011)

http://www.monsterjanitorial.com/cleani ... index.html

Not the most cost effective, but since it is at a high school the janitors probably use them already. When they put on a new one, there is a center hole that they throw away. Take that piece, and eventually you will get a decent sized stash. Obviously don't use ones that have scrubbed floors already


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## tin man (Dec 26, 2011)

I use floor scruber pads for my pond and for my central filter. They work very well and are not very expensive concidering they will last for years. I leave the centers in stack them three high and use a monthly cleaning rotation so i only rinse one each mounth.

I use a prefilter to keep solids away.


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## UpToTheGills (Jan 29, 2012)

The only comment I have is that it sounds like you plan to move water from Tank A to Tank B and vice versa using a system that can be dangerous. I've used a system like that and it works great until anything happens. The physics make sense until something clogs for example which happened to me and emptied one tank of water and overflowed the other inside my house.

Make sure there is still a way for the water to equalize between the tanks such as a connected pipe if they are level. Don't rely on the pumps to equalize due to head pressure/water level.

Sorry if I misunderstand your idea and this doesn't apply.


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## Wilkho (8 mo ago)

da bear said:


> I teach high school. We have a large aquaculture tank that has 300-400 catfish in it ( two 500 gallon tanks, full aereation and filtration system). The ammonia is starting to outgrow the ability of the bacteria to remove it. Obviously, this will get worse as they continue to grow. the system is designed for 300 fish, but we were given extra.
> 
> I am placing two 50 gallon drums next to each tank. I plan on pumping extra water in a sprayer into the two drums and gravity drain it back into the tanks. I expect each will add 500+ gph to the system.
> 
> ...


My niece is working on an assignment similar to this (but much much smaller than 300-400 catfish though) and I this came up on google. Man!! I would have loved a project like this back in high school, better yet a project this big. I feel like high school these days is so much practical in the nature sense than it was back then.. or at least in was my experience. Also, back in the day we didn't have many resources available or at least not as easy accessible as they are now. These days if you are stuck in algebra you'd download an app and start learning/watching videos in seconds, like my niece the other day downloaded this app and was able to finished her homework all in the same afternoon. There aren't good math tutors near you? No problem! Just look up for tutoring online for free.

Anyways, kudos for being an awesome high school teacher, and I bet since 2012 your project got even bigger, maybe now your have two tanks?


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