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275 gal totes


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Old 08-11-2011, 10:46 PM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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Default 275 gal totes

So I have been looking for some used 275 gal totes to start some aquaponics and right down the street from me are 2 sitting out with a sign that say $75 and a phone number. I talked to my husband and we decided to try and get one to start with eventhough it is a really good price. I called the guy and asked what was in it and he replies roundup. So I was like, that is not going to work for me because I want to use it for aquaponics and this old guy says "come again". So I try to explain over the phone what that is and what hydroponics is and the man thinks I have lost it. Anyway he says that he has cleaned them out and they are clean with no residue because it dosen't smell like roundup anymore. AND anyway if there was some, It wouldn't be enough to hurt my plants or fish and I can always wash it out some more. I told him I would call him back, I was just too tired to explain anymore.

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Old 08-11-2011, 11:12 PM
T'Mater T'Mater is offline
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Would you have to paint the outsides black? To help keep algae from growing. I know the basic's of Aquaponic's.

LOL as rough of a time as i've had with my tomato plant's. The fish would be belly up in a day.......

Would love to have one of those tho for a nutrient tank.
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Old 08-11-2011, 11:55 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Ya, I get that type of thing all the time. It seems that 90% of the population dosen't know what hydroponics is, or thinks the only crop you can grow that way is pot. I will be looking for 3 of those water storage containers in about a month myself. I just got good news today. My mom wanted me to go to the bank to see about a SBA loan to see about getting the start up money for my hydroponic herb farm, even though there is no way I could ever get a loan (bad credit, don't ask, long, long, long story, just trust me). But after talking to them anyway, we decided opening a business "credit card" would get me the line of credit I need, and be much easier on the red tape. So my mom decided she's going to open the business credit card with me on the account. So I should have access to the money soon, possibly even be able to get started in just a few weeks.

Each level of the herb farm hydroponic system is going to have it's own 250+ gallon in-ground reservoir. I just hope I'll be able to find 3 of them locally when I have the money (otherwise shipping would be more than the containers). There were 3 in Kingman (1 1/2 hour drive away) for $150 ea a month ago. I will need to hit up some local business that use them to see if they have used ones their willing to sell.

P.S.
Whats the dimensions on that? 275 divided by 7.48 (gallons per cubic foot) =36.76 cubic feet. Seems to work out to about 3 feet by 4 feet. .
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Old 08-12-2011, 12:43 AM
jamromhem jamromhem is offline
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that is awesome news on the start up. I look forward to seeing your progress on that if you want to share it with us. I am hoping to get something started here, I don't thik it will be herbs completely. I haven't decided yet what I am wanting to work on. I guess I will have to work the market here and see what will sell. The vegetables here don't taste right at all, so i think that I might try to set up a vegetable selling shop to let people remember what real produce tastes like again.
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Old 08-12-2011, 02:32 AM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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Per the website "A 275 gallon used food grade, water tote/container with a 8" bung on top & a 2" threaded valve on the bottom. Length is 48", width is 39" and height is 46"." Arizona barrels sells them used "food grade" for $150

I saw a few people use this set up on youtube

Last edited by fintuckyfarms; 08-12-2011 at 02:36 AM.
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Old 08-12-2011, 05:06 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Yes, I'm very excited about it. I guess my mom's tired of hearing about my plans, and just wants me to get it going already. I know I will have a hard time sleeping tonight with my mind going a mile a minute. I need to call the lady at the bank in the morning to set up a time to go come in in the afternoon to fill out the paperwork for the trade name (needed for the business card). Herbs isn't my first choice, but it will give me the best profit for the square footage I have to work with in the beginning. Within a year I expect to be able to expand into other produce like peppers, strawberry's, tomato's, melons, specialty lettuce etc. as well. The herbs are just a starting point. I like taking a lot of pictures, and defiantly plan to share the build and experience in the forum.

Thanks fintuckyfarms, I expected them to be about 4 feet wide, but was hoping they would be taller than wider (like 3 feet wide and 4 feet tall). I will still look for them locally in town first, but if I need to the Arizona barrels is an option. Their in Glendale (right next to phoenix, about 5-6 hour drive), not sure how much delivery will be but I'm sure it would be over $100. But if I need to it's an option.

They'll be buried in the ground so 4 feet deep is a good size anyway. I will be altering them a bit. First I'll hot glue the the bottom opening to seal it shut for good, it will be 4 feet deep in the ground and I wont be able to get to it if it were to leak. Then I'll cut an opening in the top large enough for me to reach all the way in for cleaning. I'll use the part that I cut out as the new lid, then put a rim and handle on it so it fits flush but still lifts off easily for easy access. I'll create a boarder around the in-ground reservoir with pressure treated wood, or composite decking boards (I forget what the composite stuff is called right now). Then I'll cut a piece of 2 inch thick Styrofoam to fit above the reservoir, and glue it to a OSB board for a lid. Completely insulating it in the ground. I can draw up an image if anyone wants (I know it helps to visualize things sometimes).
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Old 08-12-2011, 11:03 AM
Freshwater Freshwater is offline
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Hey Guys,

We can get them locally in my neck of the woods usually via Craigslist. Thinking about picking one or two up myself. Here is a local website with dimensions for you...



https://sites.google.com/site/drumsandtotes/totes


Hey GPS, see if you can find "Marine Goop", or research a good food grade silicon sealer. Hot glue normally wont stand up over time on plastic under water. Don't ask me how I know ... I know....oh how I know...



Todd
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Old 08-12-2011, 02:12 PM
Stan Stan is offline
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GPS, good luck with your new business! Can't wait to see the pictures you post.

As mentioned above I wouldn't use hot glue on the bottom seal. Marine Goop isn't bad but clear LEXEL is just amazing stuff. I have used LEXEL to seal some things on my boat and my kayak a few years back. The seals are not showing any signs of cracks or wear. Boat and kayak are used 100% of the time in saltwater.
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Old 08-12-2011, 07:03 PM
T'Mater T'Mater is offline
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yes GPS, keep us informed and i hope things work out well, lord know's i don't forsee a problem with you growing anything.

That's what the wife and i's plan's are eventually to start a small tomato and other veggies, anymore i can't stand store boughten stuff if i don't have to. And after she got to telling her friends, are tomatoes are sold before they're even grown.

Def. going to have to look up some stuff. How will you fill one that big GPS just curious? Or anyone else. I know i posted that one RO system that could do 100/150GPD man that would be crazy.
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Old 08-12-2011, 11:47 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Original (many months ago) I had planed to use a high volume RO system. One like Merlin 700 gallon per day reverse osmosis system, but besides the fact that it would still take about 12 hours to get 300 gallons out of it. The biggest issue and main reason I wont be using it is because RO systems waste a lot more water than they put out (4-5 times more). Living in the desert, and one of the biggest advantages of growing hydroponically is that it uses much less water. I just cant justify wasting all that water.

So I'll be building a custom water filtration system, with replaceable cartridge filters. It will have 4 to 5 canisters like these GE Household Water Filtration Unit. Starting with a pre-sediment filter to get most of the large particles. Then it will have a "absolute 1 micron filter," the 1 micron filter will catch the small particles like fungi spores. But it needs to be a "absolute 1 micron," if it dosen't say "absolute," some spores can still make through. Then it will have the activated carbon filters, including ion exchange for getting minerals. After the custom water filtration system. Each reservoir will have it's own UV light filter as well, for pathogens, bacteria and fungi. Weather it's from the source water, or enters the system from being airborne.

P.S.
Thanks for the other options. I have only recently started using the hot glue for sealing hydro systems. But so far it's the best option I have used to date. Though the real test will be repeated summers in our heat. I know silicone wont work, it's just to flexible, and it peals off easily (I have plenty of it). But I'm defiantly going to look into using the Marine Goop and LEXEL as options also.
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Old 08-13-2011, 12:40 AM
Freshwater Freshwater is offline
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Hey GPS and all,

I've spoken with customer service at Crop King (often)((Shout out to Dick, he is very helpful)), and they offer a custom fertilizer recipe based on what your unfiltered water parameters are. This mean not using R.O. or filtered water, and still maximizing your nutrient. My understanding is that this is the only way to go when getting into larger scale grow ops.

Custom Fertilizer Recipe. [TEC1007|Each] - $200.00 : Hydroponic Supplies and Greenhouse Equipment for the Professional Grower, by CropKing Inc.


Oh, and GPS...very cool, I know you have had this on your mind for quite some time. I'm jealous, and wish you the best of luck!

Todd
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Old 08-13-2011, 02:48 AM
jamromhem jamromhem is offline
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that is an interesting idea. I did have another thought to get around RO and other filter types in a larger scale though.. and GPS is in the perfect position to do it.. He could set up an array of solar stills to feed water into. with a small res (with a float valve, fed to tap) you could have it set so the floaot keeps a small layer of water int he solar stills and then have the water feed into your holding tanks. GPS could easily get many gallons a day from a small still with the heat he has. The catcher is land space to mat the result (probably about the same as the greenhouse they would supply). Though it would be an easy thing to test since you could run a test on a single still. (these can be made at home for about $20 or less, so are dirt cheap and never break as there are no moving parts. Worst case the wood rots a little if it wasn't sealed.)

They are real simple designs and would be a powerless system to get distilled water to add your nuts to. That would make using an RO system a suppliment should your solar still fall a little short or if you need to change a res early.

I don't know how much land availability GPS will have to work the systems but an array of these on the south side of the green house would easily soke up enough solar heat to get the water evaporating fast to give him a large supply of clean water.. His ambient temp isnt much below boiling in the first place so using a black background with water running over it in the heat would be easy to get to a boil lol

If you need info on my design let me know and I will draw up a solar still design for you. They are easy to find in a way, but sometimes a bit difficult depending on the attitude of the search engines.

I would think making one and testing it would give him an idea of how well it would work for him. Also the angle of the glass will make a little difference as well, but that can be something he tinkers with along the way. perhaps even making one with a flexible skirt around the glass (it can be anything mostly clear to let the light shine on the black base) to let him adjust the pitch of it every day till he finds the pitch that gives best yield for that season.

Last edited by jamromhem; 08-13-2011 at 02:52 AM.
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Old 08-13-2011, 04:18 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Ya, there are other company's that create custom blends as well. I'll be talking to them in the future. But for now as far as commercial operations go, I'll be very small scale. The water filtration system I plan will cost less than half the price of the Merlin RO system, and work without wasting water or having low water flow. It will only take about an hour, or hour and half to fill each reservoir/system. I'll probably change the first filter every month ($8-$9), and the others every 2 to 3 months ($10-$15 ea).

Solar stills are an interesting idea, but I just don't have that kind of space. Not to mention I would need a large (1,500 gallon) water storage tank to accumulate and store the water in, before I need it. Even if I had the land, I would much rather use the space for hydro systems and greenhouses to grow crops, rather than water collection and storage. Not to mention unless it was an air tight, I would still want to filter it anyway in order to get airborne problems out before use.
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Old 08-13-2011, 04:31 AM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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So where do you get the parts??? Can you post a parts list and assembly instructions?
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Old 08-13-2011, 05:04 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by fintuckyfarms View Post
So where do you get the parts??? Can you post a parts list and assembly instructions?
For the water filtration system, or solar still?
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Old 08-13-2011, 05:42 AM
fintuckyfarms fintuckyfarms is offline
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Water filter please
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Old 08-14-2011, 02:30 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Its been a long day, almost 9pm and I just got home about 30 min ago. I don't have an exact parts list, but it's pretty straight forward. I'll post pictures and exact parts when I build it. But for now I'll try to explain what I plan. First there are really only two main parts to it, the canisters (filter housing), and the filters. The filter housings unscrew, and the filter is placed inside. The filter housings are basically standard sizes (like the 2.5 x 10 Inch I'll be using), and the filters are made to fit the housings. Here are two that they have at Home Depot and Lowe's.

Household Water Filtration Unit-GXWH04F at The Home Depot
Shop Whirlpool Opaque Whole-House Pre-Filtration Housing at Lowes.com

I'll most likely be using these filter housings from home depot because their about 2 bucks cheaper, $17.98 verse $20 at Lowe's (they use the same 2.5 x 10 filters). Some will have a clear canister's that allows you to view the filter insides. Those are particularly good for pre-sediment filters, because you can physically see when they are getting clogged/dirty. These filter housings are designed to mount underneath your counter, or on a wall, and usually come with a mounting bracket.

The top part of the housing mounts to the wall, and the bottom part unscrews. If you look closely at the picture of the filter housing, you'll see a threaded opening on the top part of the housing. There's one of these threaded opening on both sides of the top part of the filter housing. These threaded openings fit standard pluming threads. You can use either a standard flexible faucet hose, or a threaded PVC adapter. Then connect it to a flexible hose to PVC tubing. One side of the filter will be the "IN" side (water inlet from your source water) and/or from a water faucet. The other side will be your filtered water, the "OUT" side.

To create a custom filtration system, just place more than one of these filter housings in series. In my case I'll be using 4 to 5 filter housings in series (like in the image). Four filter housings at $18 ea, will run $72 (5x $18=$90), then I'll need a few short flexible faucet hoses, as well as threaded PVC adapters (some Teflon tape to seal the threads), that will probably run $10 to $20. Then I have the water system built (well besides the wood, or composite wood frame I'll need to mount it to).

Now I just need the replaceable filters to put in the filter housings. After all that's what's going to filter the water. I know the basic filters I'll want, but I will be talking to some professionals to make sure I get the best filters for my needs. The filters come in standard sizes to fit the housing (like 2.5 inch x 10 inch filter housings), but come in an array of types of filters, as well as wide range in prices. Pre-filters are sediment filters, and are first. Their for catching the large particles that will clog the other filters faster.

String Wound Water Sediment Filter Cartridge $2.99 (typical sediment filter)
3M Aqua-Pure AP110 Water Sediment Filter Alternative $4.99 (NOTE: this filter cartridge contains two distinct micron layers)
Lead Removal Solid Activated Carbon Block Water Filter Cartridge $12.95 (Typical Activated Carbon filter)
BEST - 2.5 x 10 inch Activated Carbon Block Water Filter $17.95

More similar cartridges
Carbon Block Cartridges
Beer and Wine Filtration
Carbon Block Cartridges
Discount Water Filters, Cartridges and Drinking Water Systems

That's from just one company selling water filter cartridges online, there are a lot of them. And here in our town/city there are company's that specialize in water filtration that sell them as well. And who I will be talking to about the best filters to use (they know our water well).
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Old 08-14-2011, 06:06 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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We live in a lake town with lots of boating parts suppliers, so I'm sure I will be able to get the marine goop there. But where do you get the Lexel? They may have it at Home Depot and/or Lowe's, but it dosen't seem to come up when I search on either website. So I'm just wondering where you get yours.
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Old 08-15-2011, 12:29 AM
Stan Stan is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GpsFrontier View Post
We live in a lake town with lots of boating parts suppliers, so I'm sure I will be able to get the marine goop there. But where do you get the Lexel? They may have it at Home Depot and/or Lowe's, but it dosen't seem to come up when I search on either website. So I'm just wondering where you get yours.
Home Depot and Lowes for some reason don't sell it. Ace Hardware is the only stores that do have it. They come in 2 sizes, squeeze tube or caulking gun size. Do you have 1 by you? If not when your ready to get started I can pick up whatever size you need and mail it to you.
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Old 08-15-2011, 02:48 AM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Thanks Stan,
Ya, I have 2 ACE hardware stores in town. Even much closer than Home Depot and Lowe's (one almost walking distance). I just don't go their much because their always so much more expensive. But if I just need something small, it's better than using up all the gas to get out to Home Depot or Lowe's. Next time I'm by their I'll look for it. I found a place to buy it online, but it was $32 for 4 tubes (if I read it right). Sashco Sealants - Lexel

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