Re: [Killietalk] flow thru/recirculating

[Barry Cooper <bjc3 at centurytel_net>]

At 11:25 AM 12/2/2003 -0500, you wrote:
> Barry,
>    Was there an incident that made you decide to change from your 
> circulating system to a flow thru and and down the drain system?
>
> Jim Graham
> Hastings MI


Nothing specific, just a lingering concern about all tanks on a rack 
sharing the same recirculating water and, most of all, my continued 
difficulties in getting water changes done, even though, in theory, they 
are easier to do when one just has to pump out the sump and refill it. I 
also was getting impatient with having hoses draped all across the 
fishroom. Those won't be necessary, most of the time, with the new plumbed 
system.

I was influenced by Lee Harper's experiments with flow through systems, 
where he reported much better growth of fry using a flow through system, 
providing frequent small changes, compared to fry grown in containers 
getting weekly water changes. I was also influenced by the advice of Dave 
Franco, who uses a system similar to the one I'm installing for his 
wholesaling business.

The system that I am building now will still require me to refill the 300 
gal storage tank regularly, as my water is not suitable for doing changes 
"out of the tap". However, that tank still has to be refilled in my present 
system, so I believe that I will have reduced the work involved in doing 
regular water changes. I plan to put some additional water storage tanks 
under some of my racks, occupying the space where sumps presently reside.

Lee and I plan to write back to back articles for JAKA, or one article with 
two sections, describing our experiences with such systems. I'll do my part 
as soon as I have a little experience with the new system.

Barry
_____________________________________________________________
Barry J. Cooper, Prof. Emeritus, Dept. Biomedical Sciences, Cornell University
Professor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Oregon State University
Home address: 27505 Riggs Hill Rd., Sweet Home, OR 97386 (bjc3 at cornell_edu) 


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