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.