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Mike's wet/dry fry (send responses to allensandra at boatmans_com)

Flow through trickle fry containment and growing system sounds very
familiar.  There is a certain Mike Jacobs in the Suncoast Killifish
Society.  When last I was at his house, he had a fry system set up that
produced a growth rate that was almost alarming.  He was growing his fry
out about 5 times faster than mine were with water changes and a ten
gallon tank.  Here is how he had it set up and second to an RO system this
fry system will be high on my list of priorities when I get a house.  

The fry are kept in critter keepers, not sure but I think they were either
the 7 liter ones, or the next step down.  Anyway, a bulkhead fitting is
affixed to the side about half to three quarters of the way up on one side
of the keeper.  This is to prevent to much water from being drawn off. 
The good thing about the bulk head fitting is that the water level doesn't
rise any higher than the fitting, so that the water being removed is the
surface where most organic scum and other such nastys collect.  The piece
of the bulkhead inside the container has a sponge instead of a screen,
thus eliminating any problems with screen clogging and also establishing a
prefilter/biofilter for the little tanks.  This bulkhead is attached to a
piece of pvc including a 90 degree elbow so that the water flows down and
out of the pvc pipe.  The pipe ends over a pvc rain gutter for collection
of the water.  There are 5 or six tanks on this system but many more can
be managed.  The water in the gutter procedes to the low end and d
rains into a commercial, plastic wet dry filter.  Once proceeding through
the filter, and into the self contained sump it is then, via magdrive pump
or small pump, in this case a very small little giant, pumped back up into
the small tanks via a header system of pvc and small tube system.  To
prevent excessive backpressure, and high pressure into the fry tank, Mike
has included a large bypass pipe that throws water back into the sump. 
This provides extra aeration and cooling of the water.  

I was astonished, though I shouldn't have been, at the comparison of the
growth rate of fry that I had given him that were the same age as mine but
5 times bigger.  Another advantage of this system would be economy in size
of container and not a problem with water changes.  Fry do not, for the
most part, require as much variation in water parameters as the breeding
parents so water parameter control is not of much bearing here, just high
water quality which is so important to all fry!!!  

Diseases, you will find, for the most part, are due to poor water quality.
 Because of the quality of water that this system produces, there will be
few if any pathogens in the water.  In addition the health of the fish is
much greater so pathogens are less of a concern, though they are always
somewhat of a concern.

Mike said the water flow helps for some reason, but I will let him explain
that one.

What a neat system, Mike and thanks for the look see and ideas.  If you
can afford it, do it now, you all, if you can't, save up!!!

Boat


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