Base Frame Complete Fish Tank and Media Bed Filled and Tested

Hello beautiful humans, I chilled for a while on Sunday so I fell behind a bit on the build, but I was able to finish the base today and fill the fish tank with water to test for any leaks.

Using some old pieces of treated decking. I cut 8 sections to 1' at 45 degrees on one end with my miter saw.

I used my first peice as a template to mark the rest of my boards.

These boards were 1' each and this was repeated to make the 8 peices.

pieces. Began to screw in the boards on every corner with 2" deck screws.

I put two screws in at the top and toed in 2 screws at the bottom on the 45 deg.

I screwed in a strong pallet to the base frame and put the IBC tote on top.

The cleanout valve of the IBC is somewhat broken so a gator lock fitting was needed to adapt to some PVC fittings so I could add another valve.

This is the PVC layout for the top media bed flood/drain bell syphon. The top pipe is 2" and is adapted down to a 3/4" pipe with an elbow to create the proper syphon effect. The media bed is the top section of the IBC tote that was cut off and flipped over.

Here is the top section which is a 3" pvc section of pipe with 4 1/2" holes drilled near the bottom of the pipe.

Here's what that looks like when assembled the 3" pipe has an end cap that is PVC glued on. This is very important to get the proper seal and create the syphon effect.

I put this PVC assembly together so I could have a cleanout valve at the bottom of the tank, and to keep that main cleanout valve from leaking.

I got more leftover pea gravel to fill the top of the media bed. This is important as it gives a large surface area for the beneficial bacteria to grow and help convert nitrites to nitrates for the plants.

I then pulled a syphon from another cistern to test the bell syphon and fill the main fish tank.

Here's the cistern that is about 10' above the fish tank. It pulled a syphon easily and was able to fill the fish tank easily.

The syphon worked great for me!

I filled it up to about 150 gallons and no leaks!

Here's the result! I'm headed to take down the greenhouse, and transfer my fish from the system at the city house tomorrow. If everything goes smoothly, I will have the fish moved over by the end of the day.

The rest of the system will be built out after I get everything moved from the city house before closing.

Yours in liberty toward a brighter future,
Greg @makinstuff

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