Thursday, April 28, 2016

Mah-velous Plan

So I'm waiting for orders to come in from McMaster-Carr, Allied Aqua, and Amazon... after which the only thing lacking to assemble the aquaponics system will be fish, plants and water.

Rich Mah, an old classmate and current FB Friend, has volunteered to help me fish for local Bluegill stock to populate the fish tank,  If you can believe his Facebook posts, Rich is a killer freshwater fisherman, and I have offered to get him onto the Lagavulin and fish for some Stripers in the salt after the Bluegills have been stocked.

I think about twenty Bluegill would be enough.  Rich thinks it's a no brainer.

That is one hell of a win-win deal from my standpoint.

I order a lot of stuff on-line, and have never had an issue to date.  Amazon is a great company, and McMaster-Carr has every piece part that you can imagine.  You stay up late at night, theorizing what nut, bolt or hardware fixture that you may need, get on-line to McMaster-Carr, hit the button and the thing shows up in forty eight hours..... sometimes faster.   And the unbelievable thing as that McMaster doesn't ask for a credit card.  They ship the stock, then send you a bill.

Allied Aqua is a dedicated aquaponics supply house out of the Kansas City, Mo. area.  Their prices and selection seem superior after many nights of Googling for aquaponics resources.  I bought the pump, clay rock growing media and numerous gaskets and PVC fixtures from them and am anxious to see if the quality and service is what I anticipate.

Meanwhile the solar energy system to power the pump is complete and cooking away at the Nanepashemet Peabody warehouse along with the two 275 gallon IBC totes that I bought from Tropical Juice in Salem.  Sitting there also is all of the PVC pipes and fixtures from Home Depot that will be fabricated into the water distribution system and the bell siphon units,

I told Rich that he will get the call in late May to transfer Bluegill from Redd's Pond to a life of leisure and fish happiness in the Nanepashemet Aquaponics Tank.

UPDATE:
Nix on this.  It is illegal to keep live fish from a pond in Massachusetts per 321 CMR 4:00.
Thank God that we live in the land of the free.







Fish for Bluegill


Native Bluegill


NATIVE BLUEGILL  (Lepomis macrochirus)

The preferred alternative for the fish species in my aquaponics system is locally caught Bluegill.

Now that the grow media and pump has been ordered and in delivery, all of the components except the plants and the fish. 

 Everything should be assembled by the end of May and then the system water will be cycled with plants prior to adding the fish.  I will wait under that time for the final determination..... fish for Bluegill or order Trout.

UPDATE:
Nix on this.  It is illegal to keep live fish from a pond in Massachusetts per 321 CMR 4:00.

Thank God that we live in the land of the free.

Sunday, April 24, 2016

Turning to Trout

I've decided to order twenty 6" Rainbow Trout to stock the Aquaponics fish Tank.

Need to check if the New Hampshire trout hatchery will deliver sometime in May.
http://www.hyonahilltrout.com/trout.htm

The choice centered around Bluegill, Trout, Goldfish, Koi, or Tilapia.

Bluegill - no local sources.  I could fish for these myself at Redd's Pond, but that would have been time consuming and you can't be sure what some of my Marblehead Liberal Neighbors would squawk about if they saw me hauling away 5 gallon pails of live fish.

Tilapia - a favorite for aquaponics, but it is a warm water fish and I intend to keep the fish outside in the cold weather.

Goldfish - widely available at local and on-line sources, but boring and the trout are actually less expensive.

Koi - cool fish but wicked expensive.  They are probably a good choice despite this because of their longevity - 20 yrs or more.

Rainbow Trout - hardy cold water fish.  Very pretty to look at.  would make a tasty meal if we elected to harvest them.  And if my research is correct, I can have them delivered rather inexpensively from HY-ON-A HILL TROUT FARM in Plainfield, NH.

 So Rainbow Trout gets the nod.  I feel they are more resilient than Brook Trout and better to look at than Brown Trout.

Friday, April 22, 2016

Late April Weekend.

April is an important month.  Because if you live in New England, the best months of the year are June, July, August, and half of September.  So you don't want to be burdened with job and household jobs during these months.  You want to be fishing, riding your Bike and doing anything but house chores.  The time to get this stuff done is April and May.  And April is half gone.

This weekend looms important per the above standard.  I don't want to be painting, or building stuff or anything else once June kicks in, so it's imperative that I get a shitload of stuff done in April, and this is one of the last weekends left.

So, the choices for this weekend are as follows.....


  • Rake the yard and get all of the debris to the dump.
  • Uninstall the bathroom and get the wall ready to paint.
  • Finish the Solar Pump installation and move from Peabody to under the Deck.
  • Cut the IBC Totes for the growing beds and the fish tank.


The old Me would think that all of this can get done this weekend.  I would be ecstatic to get three out of four.

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

PC Pussification

Would somebody please tell Curt Schilling that freedom of speech is dead in this country????

How dare he say the type of hate speech that offends Trannies by criticizing their right to pee as they see fit!!!!

If there is a God in Heaven, Schilling will be immediately removed from his sensitive position  as a Baseball Analyst on ESPN.

We may be Pussified, but at least we can stay PC!!

Remove Schilling before even one more Trannie has to endure his insensitive, hateful opinions.

Baseball analysis deserves no less.

BTW.... here's what really offends me these days.  I so sick and tired of the Phoney Liberal Bullshit doled out by assholes who make major issues out of stuff like allowing trannies to go to the Girl's Room.

It is aggravating that we are allowing our society to become oppressed  by Pussies intent on pushing their egotistical PC crap.

If you don't like what Schilling says, don't listen to the Phucking ESPN Baseball show.
Stupid Pussies.

Friday, April 15, 2016

Foward with Aquaponics



So this week, in the midst of championing the business success of Nanepashemet Telecom, your MOAM got some milestones checked off in the real important category.... the Aquaponics Project.

The solar power experiment came off without a hitch at the Peabody warehouse, where two 100 Watt Photo Voltaic Solar Panels are supplying current to two 12 volt 100 Amp Hour batteries.  The connected AC Power inverter drives shop tools with ease.

I will use this off grid power system to fuel the 92 watt 1100 gallon per hour water pump which will be the heart of the aquaponics project.  Have not bought this submersible  pump yet but there is a huge selection available for less than a hundred bucks.

Then on a whim, I was on Highland Ave. in Salem last Wednesday and dropped into the  Tropical Juice Plant which had advertised the availability of 250 gallon IBC food grade totes about six months ago on Craig's List.  Drove away with two of these babies in great condition for $100 each, which I felt was a great price for items of this quality.

So now, I have to pick up the PVC items tomorrow morning at Home Depot in order to make three Bell Siphon systems, which I can build from plans that I found on the Web.  The IBC Totes have to be disected into four containers.... one for the fish, and three to contain grow medium for the plants.

I've laid out the whole system where the conventional garden was that the groundhog ate in one night last July.... have not disclosed this to other members of the family however. I've found that these types of disclosures are best made after the system is already in place.

aquaponics ibc - Google Search:

BTW, I'm going to trim this all out in pine and the final result will look the balls.

Aquaponics System How To | One IBC Tote System at The Aquaponic Source: Aquaponics / Fish Farm


The below Bell Siphon system should be done sometime next week.

Picture of Building the Siphon

Model # C4703
Internet # 100116710
Store SKU # 232483
3/4 in. CPVC CTS Slip x FPT Female Adapter 4  $       1.18  $       4.72
Model # C4704HD34
Internet # 100347148
Store SKU # 187747
3/4 in. CPVC CTS Slip x MPT Male Adapter 4  $       0.44  $       1.76
Model # 96735
Internet # 100299374
Store SKU # 584130
#18 O-Rings (10-Pack) 4  $       2.27  $       9.08
Model # 57471
Internet # 202280935
Store SKU # 193712
3/4 in. x 10 ft. PVC Schedule 40 Plain-End Pipe 10  $        2.93  $      29.30
Model # 531095
Internet # 100161921
Store SKU # 193860
3 in. x 10 ft. PVC Schedule 40 DWV Plain-End Pipe 1  $      17.74  $      17.74
Model # 531137
Internet # 100161954
Store SKU # 193852
2 in. x 10 ft. PVC Sch. 40 Plain-End Pipe 1  $        8.87  $        8.87
Model # PVC021161600HD
Internet # 203811678
Store SKU # 232777
2 in. PVC Sch. 40 Socket Cap 3  $        1.32  $        3.96
Model # C406-007
Internet # 100347455
Store SKU # 187976
3/4 in. Schedule 40 PVC 90-Degree Elbow 24  $        0.40  $        9.60
Model # PVC021081600HD
Internet # 203811562
Store SKU # 536636
1-1/2 in. x 3/4 in. PVC Sch. 40 Reducer Bushing 3  $        1.54  $        4.62

Picture of Make a Bell Siphon

Thursday, April 07, 2016

Documenting the Lapse

It's been a little while since the last post.

So what have I been doing while not Posting in this pathetic Blog, you may or may not ask?

Although the overwhelming response is that you really don't give a rat's ass what I do... I'm going to tell you anyway.   I mean.... what the hell are you continuing to read this for anyway????

So lately, I've been....

  • Playing the Banjo when Joanne goes to bed.
  • Watching the OJ series.
  • Working on my solar energy portable power system.
  • Making Pizza.
  • Worrying about the health of older relatives.
  • Laboring over Nanepashemet Telecom spreadsheets.
  • Waiting for snow to melt.
  • Not exercising.
  • Going to sleep at night while looking at weird Youtube videos about aliens, fake moon landings, and other stuff.
  • Planning a South Africa trip.
  • Taking Henry to the vet.
  • Obsessively posting about the evil H. on Facebook.
  • Watching Fox talk about the POTUS race 24/7.
  • Thinking about remodeling the bathrooms.
  • Getting aggravated by Liberals on Network Media.

..... and other stuff that I don't feel like mentioning to you.

So you can see that a Blog lapse was entirely justified.

Friday, April 01, 2016

Damnable PP

Peeps....
Lately I've been involved in some emotional exchanges on Facebook regarding abortion.

I realize that this is a no-win topic.  But it is a discussion that drags at the core of  the human race.

When you have federally funded organizations like  Planned Parenthood advocating for the sale of human fetus parts, to stay silent in my mind is akin to knowing that the Nazis gassed millions, but remaining mum.

And make no mistake about it.... I believe that those who operate the Planning Parenthood debacle are as glib about human life as Dr. Josef Mengele.

That said, I am Pro-Choice regarding abortion.

I believe that a women has the right to put the fetus in her body to death.

It is a legal right.... but before you read on.... being legal is not the same as being moral.  The Nazi's legally gassed Jews and Gypsies..... a moral abomination.

The State has the right to exact capital punishment on humans... under legal processes....and a women has the right to kill her fetus in our society.

Both should be done only after intensive examination, and never casually.

When you look at a sonogram of a one month fetus, and see the heart beating.... you have to be a savage not to acknowledge that this a human life.   To exterminate this life, because it is inconvenient... is barbaric.

Yet barbarism is not foreign to humans.  Less than 200 years ago, it was legal in the United States to treat people as property and own slaves.  There were some in the United States that were passionate about the right to own slaves, and were willing to go to war to maintain that right.

Margaret Sanger, the founder of Planned Parenthood, started the organization as a means to cull the African American population, which she viewed as "human weeds".  I believe that the people who advocate casual abortion are the incarnation of the proponents of slavery in this country.  Whether it is a coincidence that they both are Democrats is notwithstanding.

I recently came across a Facebook post, wishing that Donald Trump's mother had aborted him.

It is this level of glibness on the topic that is wrong and nauseating.

Pro-Choice women passionately cry out that no one has a right to tell them what they can do with their own body.  I agree.  That is their solemn responsibility to judge whether they have a moral standing and reason to kill the fetus growing within them.

But to treat the extinguishing of human life as a matter of convenience or birth control, particularly in the context of abortion factories like Planned Parenthood, is damnable.