Fry/growout rack

2206 Views 16 Replies 11 Participants Last post by seedorfj, Apr 22, 2017

Viridis

Discussion Starter · Mar 27, 2017

Messing around on sketchup the other day, and started designing a growout/fry rack. Not completely sure what size bins I'll use, so I just used the closest sterilite I had lying around for reference. The blue line is the "new"/filtered water, and the brown is the waste. The plan is to tap the PVC tubes above each bin and have the valves from jehmco with airline running to each bin. Each bin will be drilled with a uniseal in the back, and will have a 90° elbow act as an overflow, leading the "waste" water down to the sump. The plan is to mainly use this for growing out crayfish; though I'm sure I'll probably use it for fry at some point as well.

What do you guys think of this setup (sans container/tank size as that hasn't been decided yet)? Do you think it'd be a good idea to add drippers to each line in addition to the valves, or are they more than enough?

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sns26

· #2 · Mar 29, 2017

This is one of those things where it's easy to copy and paste to scale on Sketchup, but then you tap your first hole or cut your first pipe and you realize "OMG i have 85 more of these to do!" So I'd fool with this on a small scale first - with maybe 4 tanks - and get a sense of what it is going to take to actually knock it all out.

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BettaBettas

· #3 · Mar 29, 2017

lots of plumbing is all I see

sohankpatel

· #4 · Mar 29, 2017

A lot of people like to filter with sponge filters for growouts, why not just buy a heavy duty air pump and route airline to sponge filters in the tanks? It eliminates the risk of fry migrating down to the sump, and keeps diseases in one tank if it does break out.

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Viridis

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 29, 2017

sns26 said:
This is one of those things where it's easy to copy and paste to scale on Sketchup, but then you tap your first hole or cut your first pipe and you realize "OMG i have 85 more of these to do!" So I'd fool with this on a small scale first - with maybe 4 tanks - and get a sense of what it is going to take to actually knock it all out.

BettaBettas said:
lots of plumbing is all I see

Haha you should see the first version I came up with (below). Way too much plumbing compared to the new version posted above.

Small scale is definitely a good idea! I'll do that first for sure.

sohankpatel said:
A lot of people like to filter with sponge filters for growouts, why not just buy a heavy duty air pump and route airline to sponge filters in the tanks? It eliminates the risk of fry migrating down to the sump, and keeps diseases in one tank if it does break out.

While I prefer the way you described, I decided on a system for a couple reasons:

1. The main reason is heating. With the system, theoretically I can use one heater in the sump and it will keep the bins warm enough. I'll obviously have to play around with this to make sure though.

2. This will be for raising up offspring, if for some reason a disease were to breakout in one of the bins, I have the adults in their own tanks (breeders are all kept in their own species specific tanks with HMF), so the loss is not as big a worry. Plus it'll likely only contain one species at a time, so if one of the offspring has something, the others likely already had it.

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GraphicGr8s

· #6 · Mar 29, 2017

I did a setup like that many years ago. Never again for me. One overflow got stopped up. Needless to say I had to buy a wet vac.

roadmaster

· #7 · Mar 29, 2017

sohankpatel said:
A lot of people like to filter with sponge filters for growouts, why not just buy a heavy duty air pump and route airline to sponge filters in the tanks? It eliminates the risk of fry migrating down to the sump, and keeps diseases in one tank if it does break out.

Crayfish are likely to climb up the airline and escape .
Have seen this in bait tanks where I sometimes keep them ahead of fishing trip.

KayakJimW

· #8 · Mar 29, 2017

sohankpatel said:
A lot of people like to filter with sponge filters for growouts, why not just buy a heavy duty air pump and route airline to sponge filters in the tanks? It eliminates the risk of fry migrating down to the sump, and keeps diseases in one tank if it does break out.

Ease of maintenance is also a consideration. Water changes and top offs on one system vs. 20 small tanks

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Dman911

· #9 · Mar 29, 2017

I can see distribution problems to the top tanks, the first couple will likely get all the supply water. If you flip the top upside down the water will build in the tube and rise equally giving even distribution providing it is perfectly level.

Dan

Viridis

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 29, 2017

GraphicGr8s said:
I did a setup like that many years ago. Never again for me. One overflow got stopped up. Needless to say I had to buy a wet vac.

Just from mulm build up? I'll have to make sure I regularly check them!

roadmaster said:
Crayfish are likely to climb up the airline and escape .
Have seen this in bait tanks where I sometimes keep them ahead of fishing trip.

Though this could be solved with lids :wink2:

KayakJimW said:
Ease of maintenance is also a consideration. Water changes and top offs on one system vs. 20 small tanks

Exactly.

Dman911 said:
I can see distribution problems to the top tanks, the first couple will likely get all the supply water. If you flip the top upside down the water will build in the tube and rise equally giving even distribution providing it is perfectly level.

Dan

What do you mean by flipping the top upside down? I would think the back pressure from the valves above each tank/bin would help create a more even distribution, no?

Dman911

· #11 · Mar 29, 2017

Viridis said:
Just from mulm build up? I'll have to make sure I regularly check them!

Though this could be solved with lids :wink2:

Exactly.

What do you mean by flipping the top upside down? I would think the back pressure from the valves above each tank/bin would help create a more even distribution, no?

If they are used for the purpose of back pressure and not just shut off's yes it would work but you would have to pay close attention to how much back pressure you are creating as to not burn out the pump.

Dan

MtAnimals

· #12 · Mar 29, 2017

For safety and mess prevention,I wouldn't be comfortable without a second over flow higher up on each tank in case the main one gets plugged,so no tank could just drain the sump onto the floor.

GraphicGr8s

· #13 · Mar 30, 2017

It wasn't mulm build up at all. It was back when I was breeding heavily. I was doing something or other and got interrupted by the wife I think. Next day there is a flood.

If I were to do it today I'd cap off the pipe and drill holes around the pipe or use a conical strainer so the flow couldn't get totally blocked. And I'd run another smaller pipe as an emergency overflow.

Bunsen Honeydew

· #14 · Mar 30, 2017

Why not put a sheet of foam or filter pad in an arc in front of the overflow to create a HMF-esque setup? It would keep the drain clean, and be hard to get gummed up. Also, with some careful design, you could set it up so that each shelf had a lip around it, and a drain that leads back to the sump to keep one overflowing bin from being a catastrophic problem.

Also for better water distribution, put the horizontal span of the blue line below the top row of bins.

Bump:

Viridis said:
Haha you should see the first version I came up with (below). Way too much plumbing compared to the new version posted above.

Small scale is definitely a good idea! I'll do that first for sure.

While I prefer the way you described, I decided on a system for a couple reasons:

1. The main reason is heating. With the system, theoretically I can use one heater in the sump and it will keep the bins warm enough. I'll obviously have to play around with this to make sure though.

2. This will be for raising up offspring, if for some reason a disease were to breakout in one of the bins, I have the adults in their own tanks (breeders are all kept in their own species specific tanks with HMF), so the loss is not as big a worry. Plus it'll likely only contain one species at a time, so if one of the offspring has something, the others likely already had it.

This design would be simpler if each run down were straight instead of having an offset that isn't needed. I personally like the first design better, but as I said before, I would have the horizontal run for each level be at the shelf height of the bin it is running to, instead of above it. You would have more flexibility here in being to be able to turn each bin on and off .

Viridis

Discussion Starter · #15 · Mar 30, 2017

Bunsen Honeydew said:
Also for better water distribution, put the horizontal span of the blue line below the top row of bins.

Bump:

This design would be simpler if each run down were straight instead of having an offset that isn't needed. I personally like the first design better, but as I said before, I would have the horizontal run for each level be at the shelf height of the bin it is running to, instead of above it. You would have more flexibility here in being to be able to turn each bin on and off .

The offset in the drains is unnecessary I agree. I'm honestly not sure why I put it on all of them. The far right bin does because of where the pipe from the pump goes (of course, this hasn't been built yet, so that may not be the case when it's actually built), so I probably wasn't thinking and did it on all of them.

I'm not quite sure I understand the other part, how would putting the "clean" lines at the same level as the shelf create more flexibility with turning each bin on and off?

Reactions: 1

Bunsen Honeydew

· #16 · Mar 31, 2017

Viridis said:
Bunsen Honeydew said:

Also for better water distribution, put the horizontal span of the blue line below the top row of bins.

Bump:

This design would be simpler if each run down were straight instead of having an offset that isn't needed. I personally like the first design better, but as I said before, I would have the horizontal run for each level be at the shelf height of the bin it is running to, instead of above it. You would have more flexibility here in being to be able to turn each bin on and off .

Click to expand...

The offset in the drains is unnecessary I agree. I'm honestly not sure why I put it on all of them. The far right bin does because of where the pipe from the pump goes (of course, this hasn't been built yet, so that may not be the case when it's actually built), so I probably wasn't thinking and did it on all of them.

I'm not quite sure I understand the other part, how would putting the "clean" lines at the same level as the shelf create more flexibility with turning each bin on and off?

Putting the horizontal feed lines even with the bottom of the tanks would help distribution vs above. I like the design having each bin have its own drain and feed (not emptying from one to another) to allow you to take one bin out of service at a time. None of them really needs an offset. You could either set them up alternating left and right, or have straight diagonal runs.

seedorfj

· #17 · Apr 22, 2017

I don't know why people are so concerned about draining the whole sump on the floor, just make sure that the pump only has access to enough water to fill all the lines plus a gallon (move the intake to just under the water line) then at most you will spill a gallon. If you put the whole setup on one of those trays that are for washing machines it can hold a couple of gallons of spillage. http://m.homedepot.com/p/28-in-x-30...-1-in-Furnished-Drain-Adapter-34067/100080446 you could also use a dog crate tray.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

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