A picture tale of Pacific Aqua Farms Set-Up
Raceways are built in place set on top of their
polyethylene tote reservoirs which double as supports and holders
of large volumes of water. |
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Here the initial 1" plywood walls are being
glued, fastened in perpendicular to the doubled base of 4 by 8'
sheet bottom. Supports at top are for holding sections in
place. |
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Side view showing temporary screw and wood holders
at joints of first of two layers of ply making up the raceway
walls. |
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Detail showing brace, clamp, first ply/wall
layer. |
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Joints are finished out smooth as are any
deviations in the plywood for strength, beauty, ease of cleaning
after they are finished externally. |
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The second 1" plywood thickness being added to
the first with adhesive, screws. All will be covered sealed in turn
by sheet PVC heat bent by friends, associates Robert and Chris
Krechter at RK2, San Diego. |
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Ten total raceways to be constructed for holding
live corals... and a few more for transit live rock, live internet
camera display of specimens... to fit out the facilities at the new
Pacific Aqua Farms sites 15,000 square feet. |
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... What happened to my pix? Arrghhh, there are
times like this that I loathe computers, the Net. RMF |
Smile Bob... it's better for your blood
pressure.
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Raceway... design, fab.... for holding sys.,
SW 6/20/07 Hello WWM Crew, <Michael> My
partner and me are setting up a large aquarium only store. We are
interested in setting up multiple raceways for the coral and rock
holding systems and were hoping that you could point us in the right
direction for information on building these. I have read the page here
on the raceways built by Pacific Aqua Farms and I think that this would
be ideal. <These are gorgeous units... and very service-able...
gel-coated... at the right height...> I have no experience with
building raceways and certainly not with ones made from wood. How can I
learn more about specifications for wooden raceways to give to my
carpenter? <Mmm, likely they'd know enough... need to spec. how
many, size through-puts for plumbing, or do this later yourself...>
You're site has always been an outstanding asset to my company as a
source of information and I thank you as always. Have a wonderful day!
Best Regards, Michael P. Gillespie Aquatic Creations LLC. <NH>
www.AquaticCreationsOnline.com <Mmm, there are pre-made nestable
(thank goodness for freight reasons) units, like from Red Ewald (.com
nowadays), and there are possibilities of welded PVC sheet, even
acrylic and glass if these are not to be too big, or many... might be
a/the route to go... Dick Perrin at Tropicorium... moving up from
plywood and two bys with polyethylene liners to vinyl, EPDM to Butyl
liners... How many units of what size are you talking about? Have you
looked about for used gear? For the tanks, sumps et al.? Can be quite a
savings... Bob Fenner>
Re: Raceways 6/20/07 Hello Mr. Fenner,
<Just Bob please Michael> Thank you for your response. We have
not yet chosen a location so I am unsure of the size and number of
units that will be incorporated into the set up. I hadn't even
thought about looking into used items and will start to do so since as
you mentioned this could be a great way to save. <Yes> Another
thought that I have for the raceways would be to utilize a surge system
for water movement within each of the units. <Interesting... most
folks opt for more linear water movement by centrifugal pump action...
airlifts are cheapest to employ... and Dick Perrin's
"over-under" arrangement of elevation of specimens and water
circulation is close to ideal for both culture and display purposes...
Will the surging make it hard to view specimens? Maybe so...> My
plan is also to stage the filtration and surge device over each raceway
to maximize floor space. Do you foresee any disadvantages to this?
<Better to isolate this material/gear under the holding tanks...
"Water runs downhill (payday's on Fri.)"... the space
above is expensive to not use otherwise in production... Look for
totes... for sumps... used if poss.> Again, many thanks to you and
the WWM crew! Best Regards, Michael. <Welcome my/our friend.
BobF>
Re: Raceway. 6/20/07 Hello Bob,
<Michael> Thank you for the recommendations. I have not seen an
airlift used on the large scale. If this is a less expensive
alternative it would certainly be worth looking into as keeping down on
overhead is of great importance here. I have installed many rack
systems that make use of the vertical. I have absolutely no experience
with the raceways and was hoping to find a way to put the vertical to
good use other than just hanging the light fixtures. I guess that
I'm just a little paranoid about wasted space. <Raceways can be
made to be two, three "layers"...> Do you have any other
recommendations on maximizing floor space that will be used by the
raceways? We are in New England and rent will likely be expensive!
<I understand and have a bunch of such input. Do please feel free to
send along a shop drawing of available space, the relative size of
objects you'd like to place...> Per your recommendation I have
contacted Red Ewald and have already received a list from them. This
looks like it would be a good option if I am unable to find the
appropriate used gear. <Yes... Do you have a recent catalog from
Aquatic Ecosystems? www.aquaticeco.com/ Wonderful folks, and an amazing
selection of gear for our and related pursuits> Again, many thanks
Bob for all of your help here. Michael. <Glad to co-conspire with
you. BobF> Broken Image Links 2/18/07 Mr. Fenner -
<Joshua> I've been an admirer of your work for quite some
time and I've recently been re-reading the business section of your
website for tips. Over the past several years I've gone
from "fish store employee" to "freelance aquarist"
and now I'm gathering as much information as I can as I'm
looking into starting my own business sometime in the future.
<Ahh!> The purpose of this e-mail, however, is to let
you know (in case you were unaware) that some of the image links in
your business articles seem to be broken. In particular the
images in the article at http://www.wetwebmedia.com/AqBizSubWebIndex/pafarmstks.htm
seem to all point to a directory that no longer
exists. I'm hoping this gets fixed as I'd quite like
to see the examples listed. Thank you, Josh Adams <Thank you...
Another "ghost in the machine"... will have to re-add.
BobF>
Holding system manufacturers? - 04/11/2006 Hello Bob,
Miguel from Fraggle Reef here, you guys have helped me out
on several occasions, and I was wondering if you had any information on
companies in the Los Angeles area or anywhere nearby that manufacture
retail/wholesale holding systems? <Mmm, yes> I know
of rk2 systems, but Chris is apparently in the Colorado office, and I
was looking to get the ball rolling immediately, and wanted to compare
prices and services. I was planning on making it a
centralized system, in a relatively small area, holding system space
for corals is 17'x18', so I wanted maximization of that space,
and would put it together myself, all I needed was the actual raceways
manufactured, along with the rk2 style smaller holding systems for
inverts. Thanks much for your time, it's very much
appreciated, thanks! Sincerely, Miguel Fraggle Reef <Well, the
Krechter's are very good at what they do, and friends... but their
products are indeed pricey. Another couple of choices worth chatting
with till you decide are Alan Lem at Advanced Aqua Tanks and Craig
DeWalt at SeaClear/Tradewind/CASCO in Cerritos... A note also re
checking around to see if some folks have some gear that they might
want to sell used. I would call the large livestock wholesalers and ask
their owners re this... Totes, tanks, even mechanicals and controllers
can be had for much less... and really... does it matter much if
they're scratched up a bit? Not to me. Now, if "price is no
object"... Bob Fenner>
Re: Holding system manufacturers? - 04/11/2006 Hello
Bob, Very true, I'd rather have a scratched up el
cheapo tank than pay a premium for the same tank unscratched, I'll
contact some of the wholesalers and see if they have extra gear, thanks
much for the tip. <Certainly welcome. Works to all's advantage
for you to have/use...> In the meantime I'll also contact Alan
Lem and Craig DeWalt to get some pricing on the raceways, thanks again
for your time Sincerely, Miguel <Real good. Do please send along pix
once all is in process. Cheers, Bob Fenner>