I bought 30 baby tilapia and raised them for 4 years in a 6x8 greenhouse with two 100 gallon Rubbermaid troughs. Just put the pump in bottom of tanks ran the water through a 5 gallon bucket swirl filter then through a 10 gallon tray with lava rock where I grew tomatoes and veggies. Had as many as 25 in each tank. They did great through all seasons and got huge. Planned to eat them but the little kids loved to come feed them and thought they were pets so we released them In bigger pond. They’re basically backyard water chickens.
If you're going to raise that many fish, I'd suggest you get another 150 gallon rubber maid stock tank and using it just for filtration; have it out in the sun so you can add aquatic plants like water hyacinth or water lettuce to help with filtration. Fill the bottom with rocks, start out with a larger ones on the bottom and smaller ones on top; pump the water in through the bottom, so it will filter through the rocks and then the floating aquatic plants will do the rest and drain it from the top back to the main pond.
Hi. You seem to know your stuff. I am interested in catfish and tilapia farm , small scale, to make extra income. Can you explain the importance of the filtration system and if you can do with out it. Thank you.
Well I am still learning but I am happy to share what I do know. There are some who do not have filter systems setup. I can't speak too much as to how to do that but I will be experimenting with it in the future. Essentially with the filter system we are doing three things. 1) removing fish waste. 2) aiding in the nitrification process, and 3) aerating the water. Anything we add in terms of feed into the system will turn into waste that needs to be removed. So the filter system helps us remove it. If you intend to do this then you absolutely must research and fully understand the nitrification process. In a natural pond these processes are completed by natural water changes by streams bringing in freshwater and removing waste water. Plants, bacteria, and other organisms also consume the waste. Freshwater clams can also aid in cleaning the water. In pumpless systems these processes still must be completed and sometimes it is done with lots of plants and perhaps some crustaceans, sometimes it's done with, very frequent and high volume, water changes. This guide at lakewaytilapia.com is a great resource to help get you a boost of knowledge to get you started: lakewaytilapia.com/How_To_Raise_Tilapia.php Finally, if you do decide to do this, then I suggest learn as much as you can and then jump in. Don't allow paralysis of analysis and don't be afraid to make some mistakes. Good luck. I am happy to try to help if you have other questions
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 north middle CA. Cold water tellapia is illegal. We got the warm ones just before they changed the code. Lost 20 mid to adult size during the winter. Less than 20 left...4th generation and don't seem to be spawning in the 350 gallon Rubbermaid. Upkeep is getting tiring...
we had a fish pond awhile back, about the size of your pool. what we found that worked the best for filtering was pillows, yes pillows. believe it or not.we bought the cheapest we could find and used them. they worked really well, now we didn't have 100 fishes we had about 30. but it worked and we saved alot because all those cloths and things cost alot more than pillows. we used lava rocks, shade cloth for gardens and pillows. now what you could do is try about 3 or 4 pillows along with everything else. now if you buy the right kind of pillows you can clean them and use again
Thats an interesting idea. I guess you could get pillows with the same pollyfill I am currently using. Hmmm... I will have to give that some thought. Thanks for the tip
thank you for your video. Your advice, " Go make some mistakes, and learn what you need to learn cause you don't know what you don't know until you get started".
Hey! Thank you for this short and informative walk-through. Been debating trying a small-scale fish production system for food and seeing all the "Find at the local dollar tree" filtration materials really got me thinking the major cost really will just be the holding tank. Thank you for getting the DIY juices flowing to get this started.
Thanks for the comment. Your right. The biggest single cost on startup was the initial tank at about $130 + tax. My fish were a very close second for about $125. That was for 50 tilapia fingerlings plush shipping and tax. Then the pump at about $75. Don't be fooled. Raising fish is pricey. If I stopped now, the fillets from these fish will be about as expensive as wagyu beef. Of course I don't intend to stop now. As the video shows I have used the dollar store scrubbies. But thats pretty much it from the dollar store. And I can't even find those at the dollar store anymore. Had to buy the last ones on Amazon. That said, I can't think of anything when it comes to growing your own food that is cost competitive compared to buying at the grocery store. Nonetheless, watching fish do fish stuff is quite relaxing and fun. Believe it or not some people even do it as a hobby 😁
Agree, thank you for the video. I have a small condo in Palm Harbor, FL. I’m close to retiring, I’m up in Philadelphia working now, and love raising tropical fish at the moment. Looks interesting.
You should plumb a couple of those resin or plastic rectangular planters and grow tomatoes with that water. It'll help with the filtration considerably and you get tomatoes or whatever veg you'd prefer.
One of the better videos explaining and showing how you made the system work. Thank you so much. I wanted to build a pond for my turtles and fish. This helps.
It’s quite easy to add a drain system on the bottom that comes out into the bottom of a large barrel and gets pumped through layers of gravel and sand,returning by a waterfall into the pond. I did this for a very large koi pond and the only thing I ended up adding was a small UV filter during summer to cut the algae down and make the water crystal clear. Also,loose bags of barley straw really help a lot with floating algae, as do bits of copper added to the filter.
Can you share a great resource for the details of your suggestion? Am considering starting a small operation focused on adding a great protein source to our home diet! Thanks - CZ
You should look into aquaponics! You get veggies and don't need to do water changes. Also, you can use net cages for the fish to make them easier to catch. Look up cage culture.
Hi, nice job. What might help you with the filtration is a diy separator prior to your biological filter. You can use any cylindrical basin barrel you want to. Immediately upon leaving your fish tanks. Direct and swirl the water and effluent from your fish tanks into the barrel by directing it to do so thru angling the intake flow. Construct it so the water swirls around the basin and that flow spirals down to an opening in a large stand pipe centered in the barrel. The water enters several inches from the bottom of this large stand pipe. ( you need several inches at the bottom to act as a settling area, having slower moving water there. Above that the water swirls. A swirl increases velocity in the water and helps to drop the suspende solids. But, too much velocity can also keep those solids in suspension. So some sort of baffle can be lowered to the bottom to promote turbulence and slow the flow helping to drop even more soilds out of the flow). The large dia pipe needs to be capped on top. Centered in that stand pipe you will need another smaller dia stand pipe which is open at the top and flows out thru the bottom of the basin then into your biological filter. What happens here is the heavier sediment falls out of the flow as it winds around the basin dropping to the bottom. Now low effluent water travels up the large dia pipe and around the smaller one until it reaches the opening of the smaller stand pipe and it falls down this tube on its way to thru plumbing to the bio filter. This reduces suspended solids in the water and lessens the load on the bio filter. Technically you would need to do a couple more things to improve water quality when increasing your stocking densities. Hope this helps. You can also lift your water using a 1400 - 1700 lpm air bubbler in comb with diy airlift pump. This would reduce operating cost, aspirate the water, and move your water. Finally, one often overlooked necessity in bio-filters is the application of air. Feeding air into the filter helps contribute to the healthy growth of aerobic bacteria. Good luck.
Calculate the volume of the container when empty. Drain some water off. Measure the volume of water that comes off. Measure the decrease in water level with the fish in it. Compare that to a decrease in water level if the tank was empty. A little bit of algebra you should be able to calculate the volume of that take that isn’t water (ie fish). Then you will at least now what percentage of your tank is fish and what percentage is water. If your fish are relatively the same size, Then use an average fish to measure the volume displacement of one average fish. And you are one long division problem away from knowing how many fish you have.
there has to be far more error in this than its worth. A few error inches of water height could be the difference of gallons, and that's affecting the final fish report by dozens.
Before anyone jumps into farming fish, go purchase you a 70 gallon aquarium and throw in some fish. Learn aquariums and you be able to do this no problem. The more water volume, the easier it gets (with the proper setup)
Larger water volume in relation to the amount of fish you have anyways. If you put 10 fish in 70 gallon or 100 fish in 700 gallon the effect is pretty much the same.
I grew 3 dessert plate-sized goldfish and 2 submarine sandwich-sized pleco in a 60 gallon aquarium. Didn't mean to. The texas snow knocked out the power and killed them before I could harvest them. Definitely cleaner water in the aquarium than in the creek.
Great job. Very nice ingenuity. Not sure where you are in your journey, but I think your current trash can filter IS large enough. Being able to switch over to more natural filter options and less man made media, your system will perform significantly better. I think it’s perfect, just perfect your media and find a good long term tank option. Thumbs up.
Super helpful for those of us just starting out with tilapia and aquaculture. I put about 70 tilapia in my pond and very quickly ended up with half that. I’m fighting low oxygen and temperature in my outdoor pond in the Andes mountains. Your videos are super helpful even though the solutions and problems are a bit different here. Thank you.
Suggestion for your filter systems, try using the green Scott's scrubber pads and sand/fine gravel, also a layer of crushed up charcoal between the layers of sand and gravel I have found really improves water clarity
Thank you so much for the video!!! Instead of tilapia, can you raise rainbow trout? Also, I saw a series of tanks once where they were all linked by pvc pike and water flowed around through all of them. Water circulation.
I had a similar setup in my garage for a few years….. I would get a couple of the large food grade barrels and make one big filter and have all your tanks connected that way….. then all your water is more stable and easier to do maintenance as you grow.😎 I got up to a couple thousand gallons of fish at one point. I used a sump pump and gravity feed for everything except for the sump which was in the 55 gallon barrels… one full of mesh bags full of several filter materials like you are doing and then the other barrel was basically just for the sump and I had massive air bubbling going on above the sumps level so my water stayed really healthy without too much work…. I had tilapia, local caught small channel cats, bass, bluegill and sunfish…. Oh and the fish that I started with were cichlids of all different varieties. Once people find out you are into aquatic stuff, everyone and their neighbor has fish tanks to give you😂
That’s kinda a good idea but I’d advise against having multiple tanks on the same filtration system as if there is a water quality issue, or a sickness in your fish, then then entire system is affected. Ofc this also makes treating whatever it is easier depending on whether or not you have to break down your filters to do so.
The point of the dish scrubbies and lava rock isn’t so much to filter out debris but to grow beneficial bacteria. Ideally you want the filer floss and above the media (aka pot scrubbers and lava rock) to catch and filter the water before it gets to the biological media.
So when this video was filmed the water entered at the top but today that has changed and the water enters from the bottom. Would you suggest that I move the filter Floss to the bottom to catch and screen / filter the water before it reaches the scrubbies and Lava rock?
One suggestion. Put some hyacinth plants on your large container. They grow and use up all the fish waste. As the plants get bigger just throw some out and let new ones grow which in turn will use up more fish waste
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 I have a pond slightly larger and a botanist friend suggested this. Depending on your climate it grows fast. Just throw the extra growth out and use as a fertilizer. I feed my poultry with their leaves....Good luck
Do you have tilapia in your pond? I have read that tilapia will eat the roots of the plants and kill them. So I have mine protected, they are floating in "rafts" of window screen and pool noodle. But I would prefer just to let them float freely
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 Yes i keep around 120 Tilapia in my pond only and some small catfish. They do eat tye roots but actually thrive on them . They also have the young fingerlings hide in them as well. Certainly not posionous for them. The pond is 12 ft x 6ft and only 2 ft deep. So theres too many of them there. The largest one is over 1kg. The Hyacinth give beautiful flowers and grow rapidly and deals with the fish waste perfectly. It took me two years to find the right balance....also must mention i have a small waterfall that is connected to the pond so enabling good oxygenation as well
I would like to start small (to get a hang of it), with 150 stock tank in my basement. Could you please tell me the pump and filter and water pump systems you used?
That's a great strategy and pretty much what I did. I actually have kind of a quick start guide with everything you need to get started that will be released possibly today but more likely tomorrow that will have the info about pumps filters and everything else. It will be available on the blog at thesherwoodhomestead.com
Been thinking about a talapia pond , catfish is good as well but they can get 30 to 130 LBS , that is rerally big . It might take a lake for them. I am in the fiippines and talapia is the norm . Running water and filtration is important
You would certainly harvest long before they grow that big. You can harvest as soon as they reach a size in which you are happy with the amount of meat you will get
Amazing stuff, thank you 😊 I love how clear and simple you make it. I’m wondering, if I got the smaller pool-when would I break even on startup and maintenance costs? How expensive is it per month, if you had to ballpark it? And how many fish can you harvest per month for some good eatin? Lots of questions I know!! 😂
It's funny you mention that. I will actually be uploading a video today showing the addition of a float valve which autofills when the water level drops and shuts off at a designated height
🤔 it would probably be better if you replace that laundry basket with a couple 36” mesh laundry bags and fill those laundry bags with the pot s rubbers. Then fill two more laundry bags with the floss. Put in a couple more bags of the lave then this should be enough for 75-80 fish. Maybe get some closed cell foam and put some lettuce 🥬 , Golden Pathos maybe some other leafy green and they will strip the nitrogen from the water column and provide you with a weekly salad or two. Cool system. Good luck with it.
What kind of pump are you using? We have a swimming pool set up-- much larger pool. I'm trying to work out a filter system but I tend to over complicate everything I do 🙄, usually in a misguided effort to save money.
Also, we've had a similar pool out in the sun and weather that lasted about 6 years. We are on year 3 with our current pool. I bet yours will last a long time the way you have it set up. Good work!
Thanks for the info about your pools. That makes me hopeful. In my pool I use a Pond Boss 2,000 GPH pump. I don't have it going at full blast though. I have a valve which regulates it back quite a bit. If your pool has the ability I would definitely encourage you to try to set up a solids lifting overflow. Let the overflow take the dirty water to a solids seperator before going to your filter system, and then into a sump tank where your pump will then return the clean water back to the pond. That setup will be so much better than having your pump in the pool. Having the pump in the pool macerates the waste in fine matter that the filters just can't remove very well.
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 hmm. This is really good to know. I'm sure I could create something that would work. Thanks for replying! I'm checking out your blog too. I've looked into this stuff repeatedly over the years. Something about the way you presented it made everything click and I suddenly feel like I can create a more effective and legitimate system. I dont know if it's you or me! 🤣🤣🤣 maybe I'm just in the right headspace today.
Just remember that no matter how you get started, whatever setup you start with, it is not permanent. You can and almost certainly will end up changing it in some way to improve and adapt to changes later. The important thing is just to get started. An imperfect plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow
Put some raised bed aquaponic gardens on the outside of your porch. If the salad ingredients you grew ate the nutrients, the algae couldn't and your filters can cope with the reduced algae growth better. I like your setup.
my first pond was part of an addition of a aquaponics system for my poutdoor garden. Biggest issue i had was my kids trying to catch my fish and racoons being racoons.
You should always arrange your filtration so that the part which gets dirty soonest is the easiest to hand for changing out or cleaning so your system is better maintained by you. Having the floss buried under other stuff that isn't getting dirty means you may as well not have that floss for all the filtering it's doing after one day.
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 How did rearranging the floss and other material for filtration work out for you since it is over 3 weeks [today is 23 Jun 2022] since you responded to the tip?
It's hard to say. In the past several weeks I have also had a fair bit of growth in my pond plants and connected a solids lifting overflow to help remove more waste. The water is cleaner that it was but I can't say how much of that is due directly to the position of the floss
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 Understood. What type of pond plants do you use and was it easy to source [purchase] them? Thanks for answering question before and thanks in advance for any future answers to my questions.
I have just recently posted a video all about the plants I use. Currently I have water hyacinth and water Lettuce in the pond. I have also grown duckweed. All are great but the hyacinth and duckweed offer tye most protein. I sourced from ebay and Amazon. Could not find them locally.
How many Tilapia do you have total?? How often can you harvest the fish?? Do you sell any of them to restaurants or markets?? Thanks so much for sharing..... Best wishes, Ax
I'm really interested to know if there is a less "plastic-y" way of filtration ? something natural. that water gets into the fish after awhile. that's what they are eating and that's what goes into your body. thank you for sharing your experience
For "less plastic-y" you could look into sand filters. They will still be cased in plastic, your plumbing is plastic, and the pumps are made from plastic. If you really want to stay away from plastic altogether you can look into a natural in ground pond. You can also research pump-less and filter-less ponds which use plants to filter and oxygenate the water. Also some people build cement ponds rather than using plastic.
I feel like the trash can filter would work better if the pipes near the bottom were up higher and the water was introduced to the system at a lower level. Seems like that would give the waste time to settle out before the water is returned to the pond. I imagine the waste water coming in near the bottom through a filter with the return pipes at the top, basically opposite of what you have. I've never raised fish, though, so i could be wrong.
👍 love the setup you have with the stock tank & how you have the pool pond what is the stuff on the outside of the pool pond? I didn't catch what it was sorry. I agree & love your last part you said about getting started your so RIGHT, if people want to get into raising fish or something, it's a learn as you go thing by doing research on the subject at hand. like watching videos & going on fish club sites that have good conversation on raising fish or growing a garden. It pays off in the long run if you keep at it, once you learn the good & bad & do's & don't & how to improve it there's no telling where it will lead you in life when you least expect it, keep up the hobby or work & lets see what you do from here.
I think you asking about the fish feed and not fish seed. If that is correct I get mine from Tractor Supply. I use Aquamax 400 and 500. You can also order from Lakeway Tilapia.
I'm curious if you do anything special with the baby fish so they don't get eaten by bigger fish? Also, what is your end game in raising these fish? Thanks.
I do not do anything special. The original plan was to remove the parent fish while it is in the mouth brooding stage to extract the fry. As it turned out fish don't want tobbe caught in a net and in a big pool there is lots of room to escape. So I gave up that effort and instead provided shelters in the pond for fry to hide out and grow in where bigger fish could not get them. Also, tilapia are not particularly aggressive fish. The end game is to eat them. They are livestock
You need at least three times more filteration media! I would think a 100 gallion container strictly for filteration. I helped a man set up a aguaponics growing tilapia. We used three IBC containers. We copied from the elderly gentleman from Australia.
I have a above ground pool that I ro convert to raising fishes, I'm worried about weather tge fishes would jump out of the water. Are these any specific breeds that don't jump out of water?
How fast would their numbers increase on the fish? And can you feed tilapia junk from the yard like lawn clippings or what's left from trash food from washing dishes? And how long do the water pumps last? It seems like everything depends on the water pump... Thank you for the video.
Thanks for the questions. They would probably not eat lawn clippings or food waste. However tilapia are omnivores and they will eat plants. I have a video all about feeding plants to your tilapia. Remember that if you are raising them to eat them then you want them to taste good and be nutritious. As the saying goes, garbage in equals garbage out. So feed good quality clean food for good quality clean fish. Regarding the pumps, we'll mine have been going for a couple years now without issue. How long will they last? I don't know I will tell you after they stop working lol.
There are several things you can consider doing. For starters you probably would want to raise a fish species that is cold hardy. You can also look into various ways of keeping the water at least warm enough so as not to freeze. That could be a larger body of water, insulation, keep them indoors, or use smaller tank/pond lower stock of fish and a heater (quite expensive). You could also harvest all fish before winter and start again in the spring, perhaps just keeping a breeding colony inside over winter. I know there are Canadians who successfully do aquaculture and have probably can give a better or more detailed answer than mine with real world experience. I would try to find some of them whether it be on TH-cam, Google, or even social media. Could even talk with the local ag extension office and see if they have connections with any locals doing it
If you have the land available you could dig a natural pond and let things work the natural way. If not you can also look into cement tanks and pump-less / filter-less aquaculture using only living ang growing plants to do the filtering and oxygenation. Finally, I know some have access to a body of water, whether it be a pond, lake, or river and they raise fish in cages suspended in the water.
When you get too much waste can't you just catch and process a bunch of the fish, say canning or drying them? Researching to start my own little system in a hot tub and I'm wondering if that's a good stimulus/response...water dirty, catch more fish?
You could and that would work. Some people like to remove the fish they intend to eat a couple weeks ahead of time and let them live in a much cleaner, low stocking density, pond for those couple weeks to ensure the cleanest flavor.
Had a small sunfish from the pond in a 55 gallon tank.. 2 years later he was a giant dude .. I couldn’t eat him as he was smart and interacted with me .. yesterday sadly brought him back to the pond .. Guess i’ll just stick to Guppies .. lol
Please watch Ferrocement technology in EcoOca.You will be able get something for 30 years.In those tanks you got have ciment ,that will make your water more alkaline .Fish doesn't like high acidy.
Do you ever plan to just dig a pond in your yard? If not why? Is it a bad idea? To me it doesn't make sense to buy a pool if it only last 3 years. Doesn't it take about a year and a half to raise to eating size?
It is not cost effective. Cost savings is not the intent. The electric usage is not what you would think. It's maybe $5-10 / month. There isn't any smell. The water is cleaner than the water in a natural pond.
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 Excellent thank you for letting me know. I have kind of an urban Homestead small vineyard fruit trees raised bed gardens etc. trying to find a proteins source. I live right on A rather rich fishery. I do worry about some of the contaminants related to the paper industry in this area. Thank you again I appreciate your time
I have a 2,000 gph pump in the big pond and an 800 gph pump in the small pond. I don't run them at full capacity though. Generally I believe all of the water should cycle through the filters once per hour but you may want to do more research on that.
Hello! thank you so much for the insight. I am very new at this and have very limited to no knowledge about catfish farming, but I am extremely interested in starting my own small-scale farm. is there a stepwise video you made, or a book I can read to educate myself some more so I can start my journey? thank you
I do not have a step by step at this time. I am however building a blog site currently which you can visit for more information. The content is quite limited currently as I have only just started it. But you can find it at www.thesherwoodhomestead.com
I have not. Haven't really found a need. Those are for natural ponds with large amounts of muck built up with a way for all of that to flush out downstream. This is a closed system. Also not sure it is safe to use with fish intended for human consumption
What are you using as a water pump to get water to your trash can/canister filter? I'm always curious about that, and no one addresses it. I have air pumps for aquariums and ponds, and know nothing about water pumps or how to even locate them.
The pump I have that is in the pond is a 2000 gph submersible waterfall pump by pond boss. The pressure on mine is regulated way back with shutoff valves in my plumbing line. If your looking to do this there are many articles online about sizing your pump. You can purchase these kind of pumps at any aquarium retailer, lowes and home depot sell them, Amazon carries them as well.
You buy the containers, you buy the pumps, you buy food, you buy water, you use electricity, you buy the baby fish...does that actually add up?? I also had to put up nets because the herons would steal all the fish in a short time. And ultimately you have 150 fish ready for slaughter... you also need a freezer. so I don't know??
@@jeffreyblock16 Exactly...the chicken seller and the food seller made a profit...and you became a loser.You can't even go on vacation for 2 days because you have to provide food and water...and then there are the foxes and the birds of prey. .. no thanks !!!
Thank you for the video. I have been looking on a great book to give me knowledge on how to raise tilapia at home but all the books on tilapia raising on Amazon have bad reviews. Do you recommend a good book that will give me the skills I need to raise tilapia at home? Thank you.
I haven't read any books just a variety of random articles on the web and TH-cam videos. Another TH-camr I would suggest is Rob Bob's Aquaponics and Backyard Farm. I learned a lot from him. Here is the link for his channel:
I'm really curious about this! What do you feed your food fish? I have 2 aquariums at the moment with African cichlids, but any pellets or flakes I have seen say ( not for fish intended for human consumption) on the label..
I think I might do something like this with an above ground pool next summer using some vegetables and maybe use catfish since I don’t really like tilapia. I’d also like to try freshwater shrimp or crawfish in a separate tank if I’m able to source them near my farm. Are there any good eating freshwater mollusks that can be easily farmed?
If by waste port you mean a drain then I don't have one because these are not conical shaped at the bottom. They are not even flat on the bottom. They have a bunch of molding that prohibits the use of a drain. Snails can carry the risk of diseases and/or pathogens which can possibly infect the fish. Some people intentionally add Snails to their system because they can providesome benefits. I prefer to avoid them to limit my risk exposure. Although they do naturally find their way into the system occasionally
"If you're never going to make mistake, you'll never get started". Best life tip ever. Great vid, thank you
I bought 30 baby tilapia and raised them for 4 years in a 6x8 greenhouse with two 100 gallon Rubbermaid troughs. Just put the pump in bottom of tanks ran the water through a 5 gallon bucket swirl filter then through a 10 gallon tray with lava rock where I grew tomatoes and veggies. Had as many as 25 in each tank. They did great through all seasons and got huge. Planned to eat them but the little kids loved to come feed them and thought they were pets so we released them In bigger pond. They’re basically backyard water chickens.
Lol backyard water chickens 🤣 Love it!
Eventually you'll have thousands and you wont know which ones are the originals xD
Than it'll be eatin time!
Hahaha
can you do catfish in smaller tanks like this?
If you're going to raise that many fish, I'd suggest you get another 150 gallon rubber maid stock tank and using it just for filtration; have it out in the sun so you can add aquatic plants like water hyacinth or water lettuce to help with filtration. Fill the bottom with rocks, start out with a larger ones on the bottom and smaller ones on top; pump the water in through the bottom, so it will filter through the rocks and then the floating aquatic plants will do the rest and drain it from the top back to the main pond.
Hi. You seem to know your stuff. I am interested in catfish and tilapia farm , small scale, to make extra income. Can you explain the importance of the filtration system and if you can do with out it. Thank you.
Well I am still learning but I am happy to share what I do know. There are some who do not have filter systems setup. I can't speak too much as to how to do that but I will be experimenting with it in the future. Essentially with the filter system we are doing three things. 1) removing fish waste. 2) aiding in the nitrification process, and 3) aerating the water.
Anything we add in terms of feed into the system will turn into waste that needs to be removed. So the filter system helps us remove it. If you intend to do this then you absolutely must research and fully understand the nitrification process.
In a natural pond these processes are completed by natural water changes by streams bringing in freshwater and removing waste water. Plants, bacteria, and other organisms also consume the waste. Freshwater clams can also aid in cleaning the water.
In pumpless systems these processes still must be completed and sometimes it is done with lots of plants and perhaps some crustaceans, sometimes it's done with, very frequent and high volume, water changes.
This guide at lakewaytilapia.com is a great resource to help get you a boost of knowledge to get you started:
lakewaytilapia.com/How_To_Raise_Tilapia.php
Finally, if you do decide to do this, then I suggest learn as much as you can and then jump in. Don't allow paralysis of analysis and don't be afraid to make some mistakes.
Good luck. I am happy to try to help if you have other questions
I live in an area that gets cold at night and I just go through heaters.
Sadly I'm giving up...
Is there not a type of fish that is hardy enough for your temperature conditions? What region do you live in and how cold at night does it get?
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 north middle CA. Cold water tellapia is illegal. We got the warm ones just before they changed the code.
Lost 20 mid to adult size during the winter. Less than 20 left...4th generation and don't seem to be spawning in the 350 gallon Rubbermaid. Upkeep is getting tiring...
we had a fish pond awhile back, about the size of your pool. what we found that worked the best for filtering was pillows, yes pillows. believe it or not.we bought the cheapest we could find and used them. they worked really well, now we didn't have 100 fishes we had about 30. but it worked and we saved alot because all those cloths and things cost alot more than pillows. we used lava rocks, shade cloth for gardens and pillows. now what you could do is try about 3 or 4 pillows along with everything else. now if you buy the right kind of pillows you can clean them and use again
Thats an interesting idea. I guess you could get pillows with the same pollyfill I am currently using. Hmmm... I will have to give that some thought. Thanks for the tip
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 give it a try. we had good luck with them
I've been searching for this video for years now lol. I finally found a "backyard engineer" that explains things so that I can understand 🤣
Glad you found it helpful! Stay tuned there will be more coming soon
So relieving to get a video that is straight forward and natural. Thanks man
You're welcome and thanks for the comment!
This is exactly the kind of guide I was looking for! Love the visuals and the tips you provided.
thank you for your video. Your advice, " Go make some mistakes, and learn what you need to learn cause you don't know what you don't know until you get started".
Have you thought about trying to add a little bit of sand and a dozen freshwater clams.? From what I understand they do a good job filtering water
I have thought about it yes. Then I forgot about it! Thanks for the reminder. I need to do more research into that.
Great idea
Hey! Thank you for this short and informative walk-through. Been debating trying a small-scale fish production system for food and seeing all the "Find at the local dollar tree" filtration materials really got me thinking the major cost really will just be the holding tank. Thank you for getting the DIY juices flowing to get this started.
Thanks for the comment. Your right. The biggest single cost on startup was the initial tank at about $130 + tax. My fish were a very close second for about $125. That was for 50 tilapia fingerlings plush shipping and tax. Then the pump at about $75.
Don't be fooled. Raising fish is pricey. If I stopped now, the fillets from these fish will be about as expensive as wagyu beef. Of course I don't intend to stop now.
As the video shows I have used the dollar store scrubbies. But thats pretty much it from the dollar store. And I can't even find those at the dollar store anymore. Had to buy the last ones on Amazon.
That said, I can't think of anything when it comes to growing your own food that is cost competitive compared to buying at the grocery store.
Nonetheless, watching fish do fish stuff is quite relaxing and fun. Believe it or not some people even do it as a hobby 😁
Agree, thank you for the video. I have a small condo in Palm Harbor, FL. I’m close to retiring, I’m up in Philadelphia working now, and love raising tropical fish at the moment. Looks interesting.
There's got to be a way of harnessing using throwaway food or something to help curb the costs...
You should plumb a couple of those resin or plastic rectangular planters and grow tomatoes with that water. It'll help with the filtration considerably and you get tomatoes or whatever veg you'd prefer.
One of the better videos explaining and showing how you made the system work. Thank you so much. I wanted to build a pond for my turtles and fish. This helps.
You're welcome! Thanks for the comment I am glad you found the video valuable
It’s quite easy to add a drain system on the bottom that comes out into the bottom of a large barrel and gets pumped through layers of gravel and sand,returning by a waterfall into the pond. I did this for a very large koi pond and the only thing I ended up adding was a small UV filter during summer to cut the algae down and make the water crystal clear. Also,loose bags of barley straw really help a lot with floating algae, as do bits of copper added to the filter.
Can you share a great resource for the details of your suggestion? Am considering starting a small operation focused on adding a great protein source to our home diet! Thanks - CZ
You should look into aquaponics! You get veggies and don't need to do water changes. Also, you can use net cages for the fish to make them easier to catch. Look up cage culture.
Hi, nice job.
What might help you with the filtration is a diy separator prior to your biological filter. You can use any cylindrical basin barrel you want to.
Immediately upon leaving your fish tanks. Direct and swirl the water and effluent from your fish tanks into the barrel by directing it to do so thru angling the intake flow. Construct it so the water swirls around the basin and that flow spirals down to an opening in a large stand pipe centered in the barrel. The water enters several inches from the bottom of this large stand pipe. ( you need several inches at the bottom to act as a settling area, having slower moving water there. Above that the water swirls. A swirl increases velocity in the water and helps to drop the suspende solids. But, too much velocity can also keep those solids in suspension. So some sort of baffle can be lowered to the bottom to promote turbulence and slow the flow helping to drop even more soilds out of the flow). The large dia pipe needs to be capped on top. Centered in that stand pipe you will need another smaller dia stand pipe which is open at the top and flows out thru the bottom of the basin then into your biological filter.
What happens here is the heavier sediment falls out of the flow as it winds around the basin dropping to the bottom. Now low effluent water travels up the large dia pipe and around the smaller one until it reaches the opening of the smaller stand pipe and it falls down this tube on its way to thru plumbing to the bio filter. This reduces suspended solids in the water and lessens the load on the bio filter. Technically you would need to do a couple more things to improve water quality when increasing your stocking densities. Hope this helps. You can also lift your water using a 1400 - 1700 lpm air bubbler in comb with diy airlift pump. This would reduce operating cost, aspirate the water, and move your water.
Finally, one often overlooked necessity in bio-filters is the application of air. Feeding air into the filter helps contribute to the healthy growth of aerobic bacteria.
Good luck.
Calculate the volume of the container when empty. Drain some water off. Measure the volume of water that comes off. Measure the decrease in water level with the fish in it. Compare that to a decrease in water level if the tank was empty. A little bit of algebra you should be able to calculate the volume of that take that isn’t water (ie fish). Then you will at least now what percentage of your tank is fish and what percentage is water. If your fish are relatively the same size, Then use an average fish to measure the volume displacement of one average fish. And you are one long division problem away from knowing how many fish you have.
there has to be far more error in this than its worth. A few error inches of water height could be the difference of gallons, and that's affecting the final fish report by dozens.
Before anyone jumps into farming fish, go purchase you a 70 gallon aquarium and throw in some fish. Learn aquariums and you be able to do this no problem. The more water volume, the easier it gets (with the proper setup)
Larger water volume in relation to the amount of fish you have anyways. If you put 10 fish in 70 gallon or 100 fish in 700 gallon the effect is pretty much the same.
@@Anna-tc6rz In a perfect world. If it were only that simple, everyone would be able to keep fish.
@@johntexan4165 99% of people have zero interest in keeping fish
I grew 3 dessert plate-sized goldfish and 2 submarine sandwich-sized pleco in a 60 gallon aquarium. Didn't mean to. The texas snow knocked out the power and killed them before I could harvest them. Definitely cleaner water in the aquarium than in the creek.
Nice presentation. A newbie offers great insight for a beginner. Here's what I did wrong and how you can make it better.
Great job. Very nice ingenuity. Not sure where you are in your journey, but I think your current trash can filter IS large enough. Being able to switch over to more natural filter options and less man made media, your system will perform significantly better. I think it’s perfect, just perfect your media and find a good long term tank option. Thumbs up.
Super helpful for those of us just starting out with tilapia and aquaculture. I put about 70 tilapia in my pond and very quickly ended up with half that. I’m fighting low oxygen and temperature in my outdoor pond in the Andes mountains. Your videos are super helpful even though the solutions and problems are a bit different here. Thank you.
Buy a water heater or build one. I'm sure utube has a diy on that too. Buy or build a solar air pump. Look for that diy too.
Suggestion for your filter systems, try using the green Scott's scrubber pads and sand/fine gravel, also a layer of crushed up charcoal between the layers of sand and gravel I have found really improves water clarity
Thank you so much for the video!!! Instead of tilapia, can you raise rainbow trout? Also, I saw a series of tanks once where they were all linked by pvc pike and water flowed around through all of them. Water circulation.
Good video, you show the goods, get to the point, and have practical solutions that any guy can understand and relate to.
I had a similar setup in my garage for a few years….. I would get a couple of the large food grade barrels and make one big filter and have all your tanks connected that way….. then all your water is more stable and easier to do maintenance as you grow.😎
I got up to a couple thousand gallons of fish at one point.
I used a sump pump and gravity feed for everything except for the sump which was in the 55 gallon barrels… one full of mesh bags full of several filter materials like you are doing and then the other barrel was basically just for the sump and I had massive air bubbling going on above the sumps level so my water stayed really healthy without too much work…. I had tilapia, local caught small channel cats, bass, bluegill and sunfish…. Oh and the fish that I started with were cichlids of all different varieties. Once people find out you are into aquatic stuff, everyone and their neighbor has fish tanks to give you😂
That’s kinda a good idea but I’d advise against having multiple tanks on the same filtration system as if there is a water quality issue, or a sickness in your fish, then then entire system is affected. Ofc this also makes treating whatever it is easier depending on whether or not you have to break down your filters to do so.
You’re the man. Thank you for this video! Hope everything is going well with your fishies!!
Your welcome glad you enjoyed it!
Glad u took the plunge and started. Nice vid too, simple and informative
The point of the dish scrubbies and lava rock isn’t so much to filter out debris but to grow beneficial bacteria. Ideally you want the filer floss and above the media (aka pot scrubbers and lava rock) to catch and filter the water before it gets to the biological media.
So when this video was filmed the water entered at the top but today that has changed and the water enters from the bottom. Would you suggest that I move the filter Floss to the bottom to catch and screen / filter the water before it reaches the scrubbies and Lava rock?
the kind of pillow you want is the cotton or fiber pillows.
One suggestion. Put some hyacinth plants on your large container. They grow and use up all the fish waste. As the plants get bigger just throw some out and let new ones grow which in turn will use up more fish waste
Thanks for the suggestion! I did order some and put in the pond about 2 weeks ago due to your comment. Can't wait to see them reproduce!
@@idratherbehomesteading2632
I have a pond slightly larger and a botanist friend suggested this. Depending on your climate it grows fast. Just throw the extra growth out and use as a fertilizer. I feed my poultry with their leaves....Good luck
Do you have tilapia in your pond? I have read that tilapia will eat the roots of the plants and kill them. So I have mine protected, they are floating in "rafts" of window screen and pool noodle. But I would prefer just to let them float freely
@@idratherbehomesteading2632
Yes i keep around 120 Tilapia in my pond only and some small catfish. They do eat tye roots but actually thrive on them . They also have the young fingerlings hide in them as well. Certainly not posionous for them. The pond is 12 ft x 6ft and only 2 ft deep. So theres too many of them there. The largest one is over 1kg. The Hyacinth give beautiful flowers and grow rapidly and deals with the fish waste perfectly. It took me two years to find the right balance....also must mention i have a small waterfall that is connected to the pond so enabling good oxygenation as well
Ok I was worried that if the fish eat the roots they will kill the plants and then the plants can't reproduce
I really like your resourcefulness, I think I could figure it out after seeing your set up.
Thanks for the video. I'm designing a permaponics system and I think that Tractor supply tank is the missing link. Much appreciated.
This is beautiful. I would really love to start biofloc fish farming. I guess I will keep it locked here
Thanks. I'm not sure this is biofloc. It might be. But I believe this would actually be RAS or recirculating aquaculture system
I would like to start small (to get a hang of it), with 150 stock tank in my basement. Could you please tell me the pump and filter and water pump systems you used?
That's a great strategy and pretty much what I did. I actually have kind of a quick start guide with everything you need to get started that will be released possibly today but more likely tomorrow that will have the info about pumps filters and everything else. It will be available on the blog at thesherwoodhomestead.com
The article is now up with the info you are looking for. You can find it at the link below:
thesherwoodhomestead.wpcomstaging.com/89-2/
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 thank you!!
Been thinking about a talapia pond , catfish is good as well but they can get 30 to 130 LBS , that is rerally big . It might take a lake for them. I am in the fiippines and talapia is the norm . Running water and filtration is important
You would certainly harvest long before they grow that big. You can harvest as soon as they reach a size in which you are happy with the amount of meat you will get
Amazing stuff, thank you 😊 I love how clear and simple you make it. I’m wondering, if I got the smaller pool-when would I break even on startup and maintenance costs? How expensive is it per month, if you had to ballpark it? And how many fish can you harvest per month for some good eatin? Lots of questions I know!! 😂
When I had a garden I considered it since it would be free fertilizer. Some water plants would help keep it clean
Some will use swimming pools. some with concert ponds ect ect making the falling water will make air bubbles give the fish oxygen
To get the fish out of your big tank use a barbless hook on a fishing rod
To protect your pump from accidentally draining your pond, you should add a sump pump switch to turn off the pump at a designated water height.
It's funny you mention that. I will actually be uploading a video today showing the addition of a float valve which autofills when the water level drops and shuts off at a designated height
🤔 it would probably be better if you replace that laundry basket with a couple 36” mesh laundry bags and fill those laundry bags with the pot s rubbers. Then fill two more laundry bags with the floss. Put in a couple more bags of the lave then this should be enough for 75-80 fish.
Maybe get some closed cell foam and put some lettuce 🥬 , Golden Pathos maybe some other leafy green and they will strip the nitrogen from the water column and provide you with a weekly salad or two.
Cool system. Good luck with it.
Excellent tips. Thanks!!
What kind of pump are you using? We have a swimming pool set up-- much larger pool. I'm trying to work out a filter system but I tend to over complicate everything I do 🙄, usually in a misguided effort to save money.
Also, we've had a similar pool out in the sun and weather that lasted about 6 years. We are on year 3 with our current pool. I bet yours will last a long time the way you have it set up. Good work!
Thanks for the info about your pools. That makes me hopeful.
In my pool I use a Pond Boss 2,000 GPH pump. I don't have it going at full blast though. I have a valve which regulates it back quite a bit.
If your pool has the ability I would definitely encourage you to try to set up a solids lifting overflow. Let the overflow take the dirty water to a solids seperator before going to your filter system, and then into a sump tank where your pump will then return the clean water back to the pond. That setup will be so much better than having your pump in the pool.
Having the pump in the pool macerates the waste in fine matter that the filters just can't remove very well.
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 hmm. This is really good to know. I'm sure I could create something that would work. Thanks for replying! I'm checking out your blog too. I've looked into this stuff repeatedly over the years. Something about the way you presented it made everything click and I suddenly feel like I can create a more effective and legitimate system. I dont know if it's you or me! 🤣🤣🤣 maybe I'm just in the right headspace today.
Just remember that no matter how you get started, whatever setup you start with, it is not permanent. You can and almost certainly will end up changing it in some way to improve and adapt to changes later. The important thing is just to get started. An imperfect plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow
Nice set up.
Put some raised bed aquaponic gardens on the outside of your porch. If the salad ingredients you grew ate the nutrients, the algae couldn't and your filters can cope with the reduced algae growth better. I like your setup.
my first pond was part of an addition of a aquaponics system for my poutdoor garden. Biggest issue i had was my kids trying to catch my fish and racoons being racoons.
for filtration i suggest you grow food.. the soil n roots thrive off the waste they make. check numerous youtube videos for realization.
You should always arrange your filtration so that the part which gets dirty soonest is the easiest to hand for changing out or cleaning so your system is better maintained by you. Having the floss buried under other stuff that isn't getting dirty means you may as well not have that floss for all the filtering it's doing after one day.
Thanks for the tip I will rearrange them.
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 How did rearranging the floss and other material for filtration work out for you since it is over 3 weeks [today is 23 Jun 2022] since you responded to the tip?
It's hard to say. In the past several weeks I have also had a fair bit of growth in my pond plants and connected a solids lifting overflow to help remove more waste. The water is cleaner that it was but I can't say how much of that is due directly to the position of the floss
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 Understood. What type of pond plants do you use and was it easy to source [purchase] them? Thanks for answering question before and thanks in advance for any future answers to my questions.
I have just recently posted a video all about the plants I use. Currently I have water hyacinth and water Lettuce in the pond. I have also grown duckweed. All are great but the hyacinth and duckweed offer tye most protein.
I sourced from ebay and Amazon. Could not find them locally.
How many Tilapia do you have total?? How often can you harvest the fish?? Do you sell any of them to restaurants or markets?? Thanks so much for sharing..... Best wishes, Ax
This is great, I want to do this so bad. Glad I found you.
I'm really interested to know if there is a less "plastic-y" way of filtration ? something natural. that water gets into the fish after awhile. that's what they are eating and that's what goes into your body.
thank you for sharing your experience
For "less plastic-y" you could look into sand filters. They will still be cased in plastic, your plumbing is plastic, and the pumps are made from plastic. If you really want to stay away from plastic altogether you can look into a natural in ground pond. You can also research pump-less and filter-less ponds which use plants to filter and oxygenate the water. Also some people build cement ponds rather than using plastic.
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 awesome.
best wishes to you
the cat cameo was a treat
Look at floating plants. Duckweed, water lettuce, water cabbage, frogbit etc
I feel like the trash can filter would work better if the pipes near the bottom were up higher and the water was introduced to the system at a lower level. Seems like that would give the waste time to settle out before the water is returned to the pond. I imagine the waste water coming in near the bottom through a filter with the return pipes at the top, basically opposite of what you have. I've never raised fish, though, so i could be wrong.
So these are some healthy eating fish. Oh my word. I need to try this. Thanks for posting .. 🎉
Great information. Super little system
Need to do aquaponics with that setup.
Maybe someday. Perhaps someday soon. Right now I have way too many other projects going to work on that also.
Nice video I'm planning to start my fish business soon.
Would it be easier in less machines if it was a dug out pond?
So say someone wants to amke a stream thru their property. How deep do you need to make it to raise fish?
I too am in Florida ( Broward County). Looking for a local tilapia supplier to get started. Any tips where to buy?
Thanks.
I got mine online from tilapiadepot.com
👍 love the setup you have with the stock tank & how you have the pool pond
what is the stuff on the outside of the pool pond? I didn't catch what it was sorry.
I agree & love your last part you said about getting started your so RIGHT, if
people want to get into raising fish or something, it's a learn as you go thing
by doing research on the subject at hand. like watching videos & going on
fish club sites that have good conversation on raising fish or growing a garden.
It pays off in the long run if you keep at it, once you learn the good & bad & do's
& don't & how to improve it there's no telling where it will lead you in life when
you least expect it, keep up the hobby or work & lets see what you do from here.
Hey thanks for your comments. The stuff on the outside of the pool is insulation and reed garden fencing.
I live in a place where the tank would freeze in the winter. How would you deal with that?
Hello thanks for sharing this video. Could you let us know where did you buy Thilaphia fish seed ?
I think you asking about the fish feed and not fish seed. If that is correct I get mine from Tractor Supply. I use Aquamax 400 and 500. You can also order from Lakeway Tilapia.
Thanks for putting this together! Great info 👍
My pleasure I hope you found it helpful!
Thank you sir for sharing your your ideas, also starting my own backyard concrete pond.
I'm curious if you do anything special with the baby fish so they don't get eaten by bigger fish? Also, what is your end game in raising these fish? Thanks.
I reckon they're to eat
I do not do anything special. The original plan was to remove the parent fish while it is in the mouth brooding stage to extract the fry. As it turned out fish don't want tobbe caught in a net and in a big pool there is lots of room to escape.
So I gave up that effort and instead provided shelters in the pond for fry to hide out and grow in where bigger fish could not get them. Also, tilapia are not particularly aggressive fish.
The end game is to eat them. They are livestock
You need at least three times more filteration media! I would think a 100 gallion container strictly for filteration. I helped a man set up a aguaponics growing tilapia. We used three IBC containers. We copied from the elderly gentleman from Australia.
Hats off to you. Thanks for sharing
I have a above ground pool that I ro convert to raising fishes, I'm worried about weather tge fishes would jump out of the water. Are these any specific breeds that don't jump out of water?
Do you need permits for small scale in home? Are there limits of fish to keep for self? Interesting hobby. Im in san bernardino county
Possibly in California,you would have to check. Where I am there are no permits required for personal use
@idratherbehomesteading2632 thank you 😊❤️
How fast would their numbers increase on the fish? And can you feed tilapia junk from the yard like lawn clippings or what's left from trash food from washing dishes?
And how long do the water pumps last? It seems like everything depends on the water pump...
Thank you for the video.
Thanks for the questions. They would probably not eat lawn clippings or food waste. However tilapia are omnivores and they will eat plants. I have a video all about feeding plants to your tilapia. Remember that if you are raising them to eat them then you want them to taste good and be nutritious. As the saying goes, garbage in equals garbage out. So feed good quality clean food for good quality clean fish.
Regarding the pumps, we'll mine have been going for a couple years now without issue. How long will they last? I don't know I will tell you after they stop working lol.
You are doing amazing. I like it. fun too.
I think the science of learning to work for yourself and trust yourself to be invigorating.
Thank you.
Damn fine job. Thank you for sharing your hard work.
What is that you have wrapped around the pool ? Is that insulation ?
Watching from Anjo Trinity Fish Farm Papua New Guinea
We live in Ontario Canada. (Where EVERYTHING freezes over winter.) How can we continue an aquaculture system, over winter?
There are several things you can consider doing.
For starters you probably would want to raise a fish species that is cold hardy.
You can also look into various ways of keeping the water at least warm enough so as not to freeze. That could be a larger body of water, insulation, keep them indoors, or use smaller tank/pond lower stock of fish and a heater (quite expensive).
You could also harvest all fish before winter and start again in the spring, perhaps just keeping a breeding colony inside over winter.
I know there are Canadians who successfully do aquaculture and have probably can give a better or more detailed answer than mine with real world experience. I would try to find some of them whether it be on TH-cam, Google, or even social media. Could even talk with the local ag extension office and see if they have connections with any locals doing it
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 All great advise. Thanks. We are going to give it a whirl.
very cool set up! keep us posted for updates
Mesh bag on pump !
Thank you
Micro plastics? What are some alternatives to wet dry filtration?
If you have the land available you could dig a natural pond and let things work the natural way.
If not you can also look into cement tanks and pump-less / filter-less aquaculture using only living ang growing plants to do the filtering and oxygenation.
Finally, I know some have access to a body of water, whether it be a pond, lake, or river and they raise fish in cages suspended in the water.
When you get too much waste can't you just catch and process a bunch of the fish, say canning or drying them? Researching to start my own little system in a hot tub and I'm wondering if that's a good stimulus/response...water dirty, catch more fish?
You could and that would work. Some people like to remove the fish they intend to eat a couple weeks ahead of time and let them live in a much cleaner, low stocking density, pond for those couple weeks to ensure the cleanest flavor.
Had a small sunfish from the pond in a 55 gallon tank.. 2 years later he was a giant dude .. I couldn’t eat him as he was smart and interacted with me .. yesterday sadly brought him back to the pond .. Guess i’ll just stick to Guppies .. lol
Please watch Ferrocement technology in EcoOca.You will be able get something for 30 years.In those tanks you got have ciment ,that will make your water more alkaline .Fish doesn't like high acidy.
Thanks I will check it out
Do you ever plan to just dig a pond in your yard? If not why? Is it a bad idea?
To me it doesn't make sense to buy a pool if it only last 3 years. Doesn't it take about a year and a half to raise to eating size?
I just wonder how cost-effective this is it appears to take a lot of electricity I also wonder about the smell it appears to be close to your home.
It is not cost effective. Cost savings is not the intent. The electric usage is not what you would think. It's maybe $5-10 / month. There isn't any smell. The water is cleaner than the water in a natural pond.
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 Excellent thank you for letting me know. I have kind of an urban Homestead small vineyard fruit trees raised bed gardens etc. trying to find a proteins source. I live right on A rather rich fishery. I do worry about some of the contaminants related to the paper industry in this area. Thank you again I appreciate your time
Imagine if he weren't in Florida. Somewhere else would have to use a heater and THAT would really increase the cost.
@@SirenaSpades I love the idea I really really do fact if I could grow lobsters in my bathtub oh baby I’d get me a cow and make some butter!
Hi graet job!
Question : how big is the pomp for the 1000 glon?
How many times the woter
Needs to go true the filter in 24 hours ?
I have a 2,000 gph pump in the big pond and an 800 gph pump in the small pond. I don't run them at full capacity though. Generally I believe all of the water should cycle through the filters once per hour but you may want to do more research on that.
Hello! thank you so much for the insight. I am very new at this and have very limited to no knowledge about catfish farming, but I am extremely interested in starting my own small-scale farm. is there a stepwise video you made, or a book I can read to educate myself some more so I can start my journey? thank you
I do not have a step by step at this time. I am however building a blog site currently which you can visit for more information. The content is quite limited currently as I have only just started it. But you can find it at www.thesherwoodhomestead.com
Where do you get the catfish? Where can I order them at?
What are the 2 green ‘islands’ for in your large pond?
How often do you clean the tank?
Have you tried using a Muck Block?
I have not. Haven't really found a need. Those are for natural ponds with large amounts of muck built up with a way for all of that to flush out downstream. This is a closed system. Also not sure it is safe to use with fish intended for human consumption
Do you intend to sell them to people who want fresh fish? Or as food for other animals
They are for myself and family to consume
What is that around the pool? Is that bamboo?
You should really buy cotton polyfill, it's the stuff used in pillows and is cheap
Great job on thee video. Very helpful.
What are you using as a water pump to get water to your trash can/canister filter? I'm always curious about that, and no one addresses it. I have air pumps for aquariums and ponds, and know nothing about water pumps or how to even locate them.
The pump I have that is in the pond is a 2000 gph submersible waterfall pump by pond boss. The pressure on mine is regulated way back with shutoff valves in my plumbing line. If your looking to do this there are many articles online about sizing your pump. You can purchase these kind of pumps at any aquarium retailer, lowes and home depot sell them, Amazon carries them as well.
You buy the containers, you buy the pumps, you buy food, you buy water, you use electricity, you buy the baby fish...does that actually add up??
I also had to put up nets because the herons would steal all the fish in a short time.
And ultimately you have 150 fish ready for slaughter... you also need a freezer.
so I don't know??
Kinda like chickens my brother was spending $14 a week on corn to get 3 dozen eggs plus all the work so he got rid of them
@@jeffreyblock16 Exactly...the chicken seller and the food seller made a profit...and you became a loser.You can't even go on vacation for 2 days because you have to provide food and water...and then there are the foxes and the birds of prey. .. no thanks !!!
@@jeffreyblock16There are videos showing how to feed chickens for life with $35
@@jeffreyblock16There are videos showing how to feed chickens for life with $35
@@jeffreyblock16There are videos showing how to feed chickens for life with $35
Thank you for the video. I have been looking on a great book to give me knowledge on how to raise tilapia at home but all the books on tilapia raising on Amazon have bad reviews. Do you recommend a good book that will give me the skills I need to raise tilapia at home? Thank you.
I haven't read any books just a variety of random articles on the web and TH-cam videos. Another TH-camr I would suggest is Rob Bob's Aquaponics and Backyard Farm. I learned a lot from him. Here is the link for his channel:
@@idratherbehomesteading2632 thank you
I'm really curious about this! What do you feed your food fish? I have 2 aquariums at the moment with African cichlids, but any pellets or flakes I have seen say ( not for fish intended for human consumption) on the label..
I feed a couple different varieties of aquamax fish food as well as plants
Is the waste water good for plants?
I think I might do something like this with an above ground pool next summer using some vegetables and maybe use catfish since I don’t really like tilapia. I’d also like to try freshwater shrimp or crawfish in a separate tank if I’m able to source them near my farm. Are there any good eating freshwater mollusks that can be easily farmed?
I don't have any personal experience yet with shellfish but I am aware that many people do raise them in similar systems.
Great info man! Thanks!
Why no waste port for bottom of filter? settling basin??? maybe a basin with snails to eat poo...
If by waste port you mean a drain then I don't have one because these are not conical shaped at the bottom. They are not even flat on the bottom. They have a bunch of molding that prohibits the use of a drain.
Snails can carry the risk of diseases and/or pathogens which can possibly infect the fish. Some people intentionally add Snails to their system because they can providesome benefits. I prefer to avoid them to limit my risk exposure. Although they do naturally find their way into the system occasionally
Where did you get your starter fish?
Where did you buy the fingerling
Tilapiadepot.com