aquaculture (lining vs fish health)

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Countryside : One Thread

Can anyone tell me if lining a container with heavy duty agricultural polythene (that heavy black stuff they cover the ground with) will have any adverse affect upon fish? I don't think I can afford that rubber butile lining people buy for ponds. If the water doesn't freeze solid, which it shouldn't then I hope the polythene will do the job, but was worried about chemicals that might be present in it. If anyone has any info on this I'd be grateful. Thanks. Sarah.

-- sarah matthess (william@matthess.freeserve.co.uk), April 01, 2000

Answers

Response to aquaculture

Are you covering it with larger rocks to hold it down or small ones to completely cover it? If it's not all the way covered I think the fish would peck at it. What type of project are you doing? For landscaping looks or what?

-- Pat (pmikul@pcpros.net), April 01, 2000.

Response to aquaculture

Should be OK, unless "organic" and "no chemicals" are items of religious faith to you. However, even the best of it is susceptible to UV breakdown long-term. I don't know how things are in the UK, but other places I'd suggest looking for second-hand above-ground swimming pool liners - or even complete wading pools and small swimming pools.

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), April 01, 2000.

Response to aquaculture

Hi, Sarah. As far as the water possibly freezing, I must use electric tank deicers because of our winters here in the lower Midwest. When I used to keep goldfish in the tanks in summer to eat mosquito larvae, I would often leave them in the tank with the deicer over winter and they did just fine.

I would be certain to find the source of any plastic you might use to line a pool for fish you plan to use as food. I don't know about Northern Ireland, but many plastic films to which you refer that are available in the States are not food grade and, often recycled, may contain toxins. Being the consumer of fish grown in such conditions, those toxins would accumulate at a faster rate in the human body, especially affecting children who have a smaller body mass.

-- Marilyn (rainbow@ktis.net), April 02, 2000.


Response to aquaculture

I'm not sure if this will help or not but alot of people use old water bed for pond liners .I dont know about it breaking down or if is made of anything that could harm fish .Maybe someone else will.

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), April 02, 2000.

Response to aquaculture

From direct correspondence, turns out a large open-top drum (a 55 US gallon or 44 gallon Imperial) would come close to being the right size. They're pretty durable, and easy-to-come-by in food-grade plastic. I've seen an article on the Web about growing catfish in them, and the general approach would suit well, but I can't find it again. Can anyone else?

-- Don Armstrong (darmst@yahoo.com.au), April 03, 2000.


Response to aquaculture

I use 55 gallon black plastic drums that once held phospate cleaners for metal. I use them for everything because they are free ! We fill them with water for greenhouse humidity and fish aquariums. They are perfect recycle bins. They present no harm to fish --just rinse thm thoroughly. Old water bed liners are perfect for small decorative ponds but rubber roofing lasts longer and big construction projects throw it away by the roll. It is easy to find a scrap piece that is 20' by 40'. I first saw these ideas used on HGTV and they have worked for us.

-- Joel Rosen (Joel681@webtv.net), April 04, 2000.

Moderation questions? read the FAQ