The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

Smithson

I've arranged to buy bottle tops off the recyclers. They want 10B a kg, which will work out to quite a bit. They claim this is what the receive at the recycle centers.

Anyone know the price of those round, studded blue things used in bio-filters?

tjyflhol

Don't know the price, but I imagine they will be more expensive that bottle top lids. 10 baht a kilo isn't so bad is it?

Your pond will keep cleaner if you leave it running constantly, and if it's well stocked it may be a necessity.

tsicar

agreed. if cost of electricity is part of the equation, rather downsize the pump and let it run continuously, or pump to a reservour (or raised biofilter)at a higher level, set a float switch around halfway down, and feed your waterfall by gravity.. your pump will switch off and on automatically, but you will maintain a continuous flow.

Smithson

By the time I fill the whole biofilter, it'll be several thousand Baht. Not a heap of cash, but I try to avoid being routinely overcharged. I buy other things from these ppl, which is part of the issue also. There are places with mountains of plastic bottles, I will check there and let everyone know.

Your pond will keep cleaner if you leave it running constantly, and if it's well stocked it may be a necessity.[/quote]

Yes, I know. The thing is the whole pond concept is a comprise, partly aesthic and partly to provide food. The thing about having a powerful pump is that you get a good flow from the waterfall, making is pleasant when where there on the weekends.

Regarding electricity, when I had two submersibles running 15min and hr, the bill was about 20B a month! This includes all the electricity we use in the house on weekends. Not sure what was going on, I heard something about govt. subsidizes utility bills.

tjyflhol

Well 1000 baht is going to be 100 kgs of plastic tops/biolfilter medium. That to me sounds like a lot of plastic (maybe it isn't?), how big is your biofilter?

There has been govt. subsidies on electric, but I think that scheme has stopped everywhere now.

mellow

Yes, I know. The thing is the whole pond concept is a comprise, partly aesthic and partly to provide food. The thing about having a powerful pump is that you get a good flow from the waterfall, making is pleasant when where there on the weekends.

Regarding electricity, when I had two submersibles running 15min and hr, the bill was about 20B a month! This includes all the electricity we use in the house on weekends. Not sure what was going on, I heard something about govt. subsidizes utility bills.[/quote]

The bacteria in the bio filter will die if it doesnt get water which contain the nutrients which they need. what kind of bio filter are you using? show us a oicture.

Smithson

I don't have a pic, but it's two concrete rings filled with gravel, the pump fills them and overflows to the waterfall.

If the filter is being filled 15mins every hr, the bacteria should be fine, shouldn't they? Even after several hrs, the gravel stays moist, so the bacteria should live.

mellow

^ I doubt it.

tjyflhol

I think it might work if the filter is set up so that the media stays wet, but it's definitely going to take a lot of efficiency away from the biological filter since the bacteria will not be thriving as it should do.

It's a risk, and one I wouldn't take if I had a lot of stock in the pond.

Best advice is to leave it running 24 hrs a day, realistically it will not cost that much.

mellow

Beneficial bacteria will start to die after about 15 min., if they don't get water with the nutrients that they need.

tjyflhol

I believe it's longer than that, a good few hours at least. It depends on how much oxygenated water they have.

Whether his 15 min/hour method is suitable for his pond really depends on how many fish he puts in it, and how large his bio-filter will be. It may be efficient enough.

Even if he does choose this method, I would definitely recommend that it's run 24/7 for the first month to get a healthy stock of bacteria in there to start with.

Again though, 24/7 and 365 days a year is advisable, as no doubt his pond will be quite well stocked.

Smithson

I think the 15 min per hr is fine, this is one of the flood/drain methods used in AP, where the nitrogen cycle is very important.

The pond isn't that well stocked.

tjyflhol

Forgive me for sounding dumb but what's AP?

You'll probably be fine too if there's not too much stock in there. You can run a fish pond with no filter at all as long as the balance is right, though with a much lower stocking level than your average garden pond.

I still think running it 24/7 to get it started up is a good idea though. Maybe not necessary but it can't hurt either.

mellow

^ Its an Aquaponics forum, he posted the link either on this page or the last. By the way who sells these kind of supplies here in Thailand, Aquaponic supplies that is.

tjyflhol

Thanks Mellow, I have heard the system mentioned before, didn't know it was called Aquaponics, interesting subject I'll have to read into it more.

On a slightly different note, anyone on this forum raising fish for the international pet trade?

I know there was a member that raised Discus but he doesn't post here very much.

tjyflhol

Have a gander at this Mellow, hydroponics suppliers actually (come up on aquaponics search) but perhaps giving these people a ring could send you in the right direction.

THAILAND - Yellow Pages

mellow

Thanks for the link. I also remember someone doing Discus. At one time there where quite a few people joining in on Fish Farming discussions, here and over on TV.
For some reason that has stopped. I'm not doing Aquaponics myself, I have a friend who wants to hobby around with it, and I looked up a bunch of sites for him.
My wife is doing Tilapia, and she may want to do some Thai catfish, well see how it goes.

tsicar

farming ornamental fish for export, or even just buying them locally and exporting at a profit is a good idea.
here in south africa, those gouramis the thais turn into pla-ra sell for around 160 baht each. if you can crack the market and get the logistics right, i think there is great potential.
i also read the discus thing (think he called himself "discusfarmer"), but he was not giving away too much info, so he probably had a bloody good little business going, and wanted to protect it.
work out feed costs, then price realised per kg, and it makes an whole lot more sense than screwing around farming catfish or tilapia for the peasants!

Smithson

Basically you just build the system yourself, using regular tanks, pumps etc. that you'd use for aquaculture. A lot of ppl use the blue barrels. It's not that difficult, but takes a bit of time. Would make a nice hobby, don't know about commercial though. If you go through the forum, there are some pretty resourceful ppl there.

tsicar

i don't know how viable the veggie part would be as a commercial venture, think smithson was right when he said one should concentrate on one or the other as the main part of the system,i but i definitely think that as part of the biofiltration system of a commercial aquaculture system, it makes a lot of sense.
perhaps just use the veggies as a spin-off bonus type thing, even if just for own consumption, or at least to offset the cost of the feed or electricity bill.