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Stock Watering Tanks for Keeping Aquatic Critters


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#1 centrarchid

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Posted 23 July 2017 - 08:13 AM

Doing something new for me.  I have two tanks, a 75-gallon and a 400-gallon, on north side of barn.  We just went through a week of temperatures pushing 100 F.  Fish and tadpoles survived fine.  Setup enables seeing some interesting bluegill behavior.  More will be setup to see if I can do some breeding in them.


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#2 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 23 July 2017 - 09:59 AM

IBC totes can often be found for about $50 on Craigslist. Cut the top open and you have a pretty cheap tank. Quick search of
Springfield MO.(wasn't sure of your location, but figured Springfield was kind of in the ball park.)

https://springfield....C tote&sort=rel

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#3 centrarchid

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Posted 23 July 2017 - 12:28 PM

Will look into those.  Might have a closer supply in Columbia, MO.  Hope to grow some plants in them as well.


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#4 Michael Wolfe

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Posted 23 July 2017 - 06:04 PM

100 gallon rubbermade stock tanks at Tractor Supply are my go to.  Even here in GA fish do fine with some plant cover.  We also did a nice outdoor display last spring in a similar 300 gallon round tank.


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#5 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 23 July 2017 - 07:47 PM

Agree those Rubbermaids are bombproof. Had 70 cows beating on them daily. No failures in 20 years.

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#6 centrarchid

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Posted 24 July 2017 - 09:34 PM

With existing setups I would like to attract more insects, especially the night flying variaties.  Currently the fish are consuming all that fall into water.  I would like to increase the volume coming in.  No power to barn yet for light.


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#7 lilyea

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Posted 24 July 2017 - 11:09 PM

It may be helpful to add plants that attract insects in or around your existing tanks (and certainly avoid plants that repel insects).



#8 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 25 July 2017 - 05:56 PM

With existing setups I would like to attract more insects, especially the night flying variaties.  Currently the fish are consuming all that fall into water.  I would like to increase the volume coming in.  No power to barn yet for light.


Solar path lights are CHEAP in my opinion at the Depot or Lowes or Menards. Not sure if they are bright enough to achieve the goal,
but might be worth trying a couple. You could always hang some roadkill above the tanks if you have a strong stomach. Maggots will
drop in like crazy. Better man than me if you can handle it.

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#9 centrarchid

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Posted 25 July 2017 - 06:34 PM

I can handle road kill..  Last raccoon dogs killed we setup to watch insects come in and tear it apart.  What is really cool was to see the carrion bettles.  They where there mostly for the maggots.  The beetles would come in and eat a few maggots before running back to where grubs were located some distance away before coming back for more maggots around the clock.  Raccoon carcass too big and maggots of that sort would likely overwhelm oxygenation of system.  Black Soldier flies might be a little more manageable.  I just spent better part of an hour tossing grasshoppers in.  That way I can see the behaviors of interest.  Fish now fighting to control area closest to me.

 

I will try to set up a Black Soldier Fly culture.  Even a small one will exceed what my small group of sunfish can consume.  Pet chicken will get excess if I can keep him from breaking into culture.


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#10 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 25 July 2017 - 07:25 PM

I want a reason to set up a BSF culture. I look forward to hearing more about this project. Even more because you look at things
from an aquaculture background, mixed with a bit of permaculture. Good stuff.

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#11 centrarchid

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 07:06 AM

The activities at home clearly have a permaculture component.  Currently the fish side is based on natives but will transition to exotics for purpose of sale.  My chickens have demonstrated a clear interest in eating fish stock as has a large American Bullfrog.  The bullfrog moves freely from watering trough where is gets water and fish ground in barn where it eats mice.  I do not know where it defecates and that may be a problem later.  As my kids say, "frogs and toads make really big poops".


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#12 gerald

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 08:33 AM

I get a fair number of soldierfly grubs in my compost bucket; just wild ones - not a culture per se.  They have a pretty tough chitin skin and not everything can eat them.  I think I may have killed a pair of newts by feeding them soldierfly grubs they couldn't digest. 


Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel


#13 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 05:31 PM

I get a fair number of soldierfly grubs in my compost bucket; just wild ones - not a culture per se.  They have a pretty tough chitin skin and not everything can eat them.  I think I may have killed a pair of newts by feeding them soldierfly grubs they couldn't digest.


Does this depend on harvest time? Or are they always pretty tough. Ideally people allow them to self harvest with the right set up.

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#14 gerald

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 08:03 PM

Skin gets thicker as they get larger, of course, but even small ones have much tougher skin than usual housefly and greenbottle maggots of similar size.  The newts that died do not chew their food; they just grab and swallow.  Animals that chew dont seem to have a problem with them.  The "self-harvesting" is when they pupate and are pretty big; about an inch long.  My turtles and mud sun can eat those, but everything else I keep needs smaller ones, so I have to pick them manually out of the rotting garbage.


Gerald Pottern
-----------------------
Hangin' on the Neuse
"Taxonomy is the diaper used to organize the mess of evolution into discrete packages" - M.Sandel


#15 Matt DeLaVega

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Posted 26 July 2017 - 08:37 PM

Lucky you Gerald. I think we all qualify as oddballs.

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