Building a Small Lobster Hatchery here in the Philippines

[jamesmusslewhite]

I had mentioned the term 'French Drain' earlier in the thread and I have reached that point where they are ready to be installed. In the days of the big castles estates with manicured trees and shrubs they used what is now  known as a French drain. These where terracotta pipes laid in a trench incased with stone which were flooded so irrigation water could be delivered to tree lines, shrub rows and large flower beds. Later somebody got the bright idea to reverse their usage and place these drains in low lying areas to drain them. Today they are commonly used to help alleviate pesky drainage issues, and this is what I am going to use them for in the facility. Though I have installed gutters on both sides of the nepa roof we just installed there is the back wall to consider as well a possibility that the gutters could simply be over-whelmed. As I will be using below floor level sump tanks to collect the spent saltwater before being pumped to the filtration tanks, possible freshwater contamination is an issue that must be dealt with, especially in a region that receives an average of 155 inches of rain annually not even considering the heavy rainy season or tropical storms. To try to insure the saltwater quality in my closed circulation system I must take the precautionary step of installing French drains against all wall surfaces.

 

Back in the States you have options as most really big Hardware outlets have 3 inch and 4 inch rolls of corrugated flex-pipe or lengths of PVC pipe with drain holes, but good luck finding this convenience here. Here if you want drain piping you have to go 'old school' and make them yourself. To do that you need to drill the lengths with four holes every three inches starting inward 6 inches from each end of the length of pipe. That 37 sets of 4 hole staggered for a total number of 148 holes in each length of pipe. And as I will need 17 8-foot lengths of 3'' PVC pipe, that will means I just drilled a grand total of 2,516 holes taking only 4-1/2 hours from set up to completion. It may seem quite easy if you say it fast enough or think you actually have a clue how to do the task any faster. I have drilled thousands of pipes for latterly hundreds of French drain installations and have only had a few employees who stopped trying to re-invent the wheel and learn how to do it properly by listening and watching how I have learned is the easiest and most efficient way to get the task done right. Some want to use pop-lines using two people marking every spot where a hole will be as if it were some grand engineering project. I can have the whole pipe drilled (sometimes 2 pipes) complete often in the time two are measuring where they are going to drill their holes. I do not need a second person and it is far better just doing it alone. Some members will scoff as they are the types that have seen it better, done it better and have all the skills to out do you. Those types please cover your eyes as I would not what you to actually learn something. Those who would like to know how to do it best their first time trying to tackle such a project, well this post is for you as I will give you some of my commercial landscape experience and share a life hard-learned advice and tutelage.

 

You first need a hole which is not too small as debris, rocks, pebbles and even sand will clog the holes defeating the purpose and later forcing you to have to dig up all your pipe and re-drill the pipe or purchase new pipe and do it right. If you drill the holes too big there is even a bigger chance of clogs by debris, rock, sand, and soils will eventually fill the inside of the pipe which will need to be completely dug up and discarded meaning repurchasing pipe and then drilling it right. But what hole size is best? What spacing between holes around the pipe? How many rows of holes? Well I will show you how to measure all the holes but you will only need to mark half the holes using only a short stick by yourself and only marking one line of rows on the pipe; and produce a quality grade commercial drainpipe for use in a French drain system or for row irrigation.

 

So lets get started. First you need the right bit one that can also be used easily using a hand-cranked drill if you are too far from an electrical source. What I use is a bit that can easily drill two holes at the same position on the pile length. I have found that a 10mm Wood boring bit does the trick nicely.

 

Now you need to set up you working area. I like the pipe to be about belly high because when you are drilling thousands of holes non-stop at a pace that the only time the drill bit actually quits spinning is when your moving the lengths or twisting the pipe to a new position, you really do not want your pipe too high as it really wears out your arms and is generally uncomfortable, and too low and being bent over the pipes for 4 or 5 hours can really get to you back. You also want to make a quick easy jig to help hold the pipe stationary as your really knocking out those holes. This does not need to be complicated or pretty as your going to tear everything down once the task is done.

 

See ugly as sin.... one old beat up saw horse a few pieces of scrap wood and some small nails, and an old 55 gallon plastic drum to take advantage of the uneven ground. You only need two closely spaced nails at each end to hold the pipe snugly in place as your sliding or turning the pipe. This makes it very easy for you to do this project all by yourself.

 

 

First set you pipe into the nail jig. I personally like to start my measurements from the small end when I measure to make the locations where I intend to drill the first line of holes, working my way towards the pre-molded coupling (bell end of the pipe).

 

Now wipe the crown of the pipe to remove moisture and dirt so your marker will leave an identifiable mark. A yardstick, thin length of wood or in my case a three foot length of bamboo with a line drawn every six inches. Yes there has to be a row of 4 holes every 3 inches but you only need to mark every other hole and only one line of holes. This will make perfect sense as these photos continue. Now line your stick to line up with the end of your pipe. Your simply start marking at each six inch spaced line

 

and when you have marked every 6 inches down that first row of marks your last mark will be six inches from the end (bell end) of the pipe. Now put your measuring stick and marker away as they will no longer be necessary for this length of pipe. Now simply start drilling wherever your 6 inch marks are, and once you drill the top hole simply push through and drill through the bottom of the pipe allowing you to actually drill two holes at each marked position.

 

Now you have drilled at each mark, cutting two holes at each mark to the other end of the pipe. Now it is time to give the pipe a 1/4 turn to the side. Which direction you wish to turn it is up to you and should be which way makes you more comfortable, but it is important that which ever direction you turn that you continue to turn the pipe in the same direction as you continue the steps of drilling the holes so you will not get confused and lose your place or skip holes.

 

I tend to always give the pipes a 1/4 turn towards me no matter which side of the pipe I want to work. I just tend to be a creature of habit.

 

Now the reason you will not need to mark this line of holes is because your only going to drill down from the top of the crown and it is so simple to see that you drilling directly over in between the other two holes. So with only one mark so far you can easily now drill all four holes needed in one row. Now keep doing the same down that line of the pipe.

 

now you have reached the other end of the pipe and it is time now to give the pipe a 1/8 turn so you are looking now at two lines of drilled holes.

[jamesmusslewhite]

I have marked the holes in this picture so you can see the pattern you will follow. You are going to punch a hole between each set of holes in what I have always called 'making dominoes ' as the pattern is like a ''five' domino piece.

 

Once again you are only drilling through the crown of the pipe and it is so easy to simply drill in the middle of the two lines of holes that once again you do not have to waste your time marking each drill hole. As long as you line yourself square and punch between the holes you will do just fine without marks.

 

Now that your drilling the last hole in that line when finished you will give the pipe one last 1/4 turn

 

 

now like before, once you have made that last 1/4 turn all you have to do it drill straight down between the lines in a domino pattern this will put you squarely between the middle of the holes in that row completing that row of holes. Continue this line in the domino pattern and you have drilled rows of 4 hole staggered every 3 inches the whole length of pipe with only having measured every other row down one line. You hole patterns will be properly spaces with an 8 hole pattern the length of the pipe. This gents is as simple and fast as it gets.

 

Now just wipe the pipe down with a rag as it will clean any debris caused by the drilling of the pipe. Just stand the pipe on one end and gently tap it on the ground so any plastic shavings inside the pipe will be removed and throw it on the finished pipe stack and pick up the next pipe and place it in your jig. Happy drilling, your now a landscaping pro at this task.

 

Now it is time to lay them all out near the trenches and set out all the fittings and see what parts I may have not received in the last delivery so I can radio base and ask them to get them from the hardware store, so hopefully they will be delivered on the next supply boat. I simply do what parts I can do and finish the task when the rest of the supplies arrive. This is why you see me working so many projects at the same time. When one project experience unexpected downtime I still have plenty of other projects to make progress on.

[jamesmusslewhite]

I received the lengths of PVC yesterday afternoon when the supply boat arrived so I set everything up and started drilling them full of drain holes. After I finished drilling the pipe lengths I started laying them out on the ground to check what fittings that was delivered or still need to be delivered. So after I placed the pipes out on the ground I grabbed the wife's cell phone and took this video to make the project easier to see and understand. French drains wee wee......

 

 

I start placing the pipe in the drain trenches whenever they send me an applicator for the pipe glue, so I guess tomorrow after I do whatever I can do with the pipe and fittings, that I will jump over and start building a chicken coop.

 

 

[jamesmusslewhite]

My drop for the French drain inside the facility is approx. 8 -12 inches for a 65 foot run. At the back wall the drain pipe will be covered with 2-3 inches of crushed coral and broken shell which is very porous. The average width of the trench at the back wall of the facility about one foot wide and the trench depth is between 8-12 inches. Now as the trench comes down each wall the trench deepens with the downward grade as the drain pipe works its way towards to the front of the facility. The trench itself will also help move water from the back to the front of the facility as water will easily flow through the porous crushed coral and broken shell..

 

The trenches will run along the back of the saltwater tanks and any area along the back or side walls not covered by a saltwater tank will have a one hollow block high small retaining wall running the full length of all walls inside the facility. Then the floor space inside the middle of the retaining walls or saltwater tanks will be raised by an average height of 6-12 inches above the top level of the French drain trenches. This should be adequate to insure the raised inner floor space will be safe from freshwater flooding. All the floor sumps used in the facility will be in this raised inner space. The tops of the sumps themselves will be at grade in inner space floor grade to avoid any kicking hazards as the walking and working space will be quite tight. Each sump will have a grate covering them which will make it easy to monitor saltwater levels and easy to maintenance or replace sump pumps or water level sensors.  

[jamesmusslewhite]

CHICKENS....

 

 

French drain 2 project inside the lobster facility.

 

Weekly progress video of week 10 - YouTube Video #8 in the series.

 

The video shows the progress of the various projects started up to this date. I am happy that the French drain project is completed as is the second raised flowerbed and the wife is already planting the vegetables. The chicken coop will with luck be finished in the next few days so that is one more thing to scratch off the 'To Do' list. I will also be starting to put in the rain gutter downspouts while the frames are being built so we can pour all the foundations for the various saltwater tanks. It feels good to finally get down to building all the saltwater tanks.

 

Edited October 2, 2016 by jamesmusslewhite

[jamesmusslewhite]

13 August, 2016

Well I have not posted in the last five days and progress has been steadily moving forward on this little venture. There are no off days for the boss on this site because of the logistics involved in receiving the materials needed to stay ahead of the workers and starting enough side tasks to allow work to shift over when materials are not yet available. Everything has to be loaded on the mainland, boated over this little island and off-loaded so you have to just take it day by day and make quick adjustments. So far no issue has been insurmountable and I have been two steps head. We are now working on the foundations for the saltwater tanks and have constructed the forms and pour the concrete for seven of the saltwater tanks. The first foundation we poured was for the three filtration tanks which allowed the foundation to dry and cure while we were working and pouring the forms for the other four tanks. We have started on the walls of these three filtration tanks which each have the same dimensions (4 foot width x 6 feet length x 5 foot height which should be finished tomorrow with a little luck. Each of the saltwater tanks will be tiled on all inside surfaces as the saltwater interacts with the concrete and will cause fluctuations in pH levels, by tiling the inside of the concrete tanks it helps avoid an annoying issue before it can become an issue. Lobster larvae are very sensitive so all precautions need to be addresses, best to practice due diligence and err towards caution as to not have to make excuses later.   

Edited October 3, 2016 by jamesmusslewhite

[jamesmusslewhite]

Well we started building the first group of saltwater tanks which will be use for the filtration of all spent water and overflows returning from the floor sumps before being returned back into the working tanks. This series of tanks are three (4 foot wide x 6 foot long x 5 foot high) tanks built out of hollow block sitting on an 8 inch thick concrete foundation. There is a 40mm drain pipe at the base of each tank so these tanks can be totally drained and thoroughly scrubbed, washed, rinsed and sterilized between crops to insure no possible cross contamination or pathogens being introduced to the starting waters of the next crop cycle. There will also be 3 40mm drains at the top water line which will direct this runoff to a designated floor sump and reintroduced to the first of the filtration tanks. This is merely a precaution to avoid possible spillage due to any backups or stoppage in the circulation system. There are a lot of different pumps directing water to the first filtration tank from the various locations in the facility. I will be using flow regulators, sensors and turn-on turn-off switches which must all be closely regulated, but of course there is always the possibility of a malfunction.

 

So I know some members have probably thought about or are presently interested in concrete water tanks whether it be for rainwater/freshwater storage, aquaculture/mariculture projects or agricultural/livestock purposes. You may be interested on how to actually build a sizable tank which can easily withstand the internal forces pressing outwards against the inner walls of the tank due to the sheer weight of the water being contained. So I will show you.

 

a. First line out and level the base soils which will be under your foundation  It is my personal practice to dig a couple of inches around the edge of my form to add an additional depth to my outer edge of the foundation and then level a 4-6 inch trench completely inside of the wooden form and then gradually bevel the soil up to the level of the bottom of the wooden form. I do this for two reasons. 1. is to allow an additions couple of inches of concrete to be under the whole length of my tank walls. 2. To add additional strength to the foundation edges in case we get an earthquake and help avoid any micro-fractures under my tank walls in the foundations.

if you look closely you will see where I had the soil level at the base of the form trenched an additional couple of inches deeper and added a small form board along the whole of the bottom of the wooden form and then beveled to the level which will be bottom of the foundation.

the wooden form is properly level as is the soil which was tapped with a wooden beam to thoroughly compact the soil which will be under the foundation, this will help the foundation to sit on a solid soil base and help avoid any stress fractures due to lose pockets of soil shifting under the foundation once it is under the stress of the weight being held above the foundation in the saltwater tanks. Some of these tanks in the facility will contain several tons of water weight. This is something one best respect, if not than after you have to repair a ruptured tank or completely tear out a tank and foundation as to have to completely redo building a tank will sure make you respect the weight later.  

I use surveyor cord and a line level to insure all four corners are properly level and a straight wooden beam and a carpenter level to insure the soil is level to the bottom of the wooden form.

  

Once that is done and I am satisfied that the wooden form frame is completely level and the soil is properly tapped and compact, then it is time to start making the rebar frame which will be made in the midway level of the wooden form.

 Just before we start pouting the concrete to the foundation we add the risers for the hollow block walls and to where the two partitions will be which will then divide this foundation into three equal parts needed to construct the three filtration tanks which will be sitting on this foundation.

and this is the finished foundation.

Now we have to wait a few days for the concrete to set and cure before we start adding the hollow block walls.

 

 

Just because we have to wait a few days for the first form to set and cure does not mean there is time to rest. We start working on the wooden forms which will be a 3 foot wide x 20 foot long wooden form which will be the two tanks which will house the breeding lobsters, the mating section and larvae collection area; and a 5 foot wide x 20 foot long wooden form for the large secondary working tank and primary reserve saltwater storage tank. The first task to properly level the ground where the two larger forms will be built.  

I did the same to the edges of these foundations in that I created a small inner trench and beveled the edges towards the middle before the rebar is added to help give a little additional strength and tapped the soil with a wooden bean to compact the soil which will be under the foundation once poured.

Now being true to form I have a couple of other projects going on so it makes it easy to allocate workers to any given task which best keeps the workers busy. This little time management trick I learned through my many years as a commercial landscape contractor and professional nurseryman. I am quite use to moving multiple crews on multiple tasks to best utilize labor and time management, so on this little venture and a small crew doing so makes it quite easy to quickly adjust to material shortages, supply delays or weather issues. So while the French drains were being covered I finished the second raised garden bed and started construction on a chicken coop which will house the 80 laying hens which were already delivered to the property.

Also a load of topsoil has arrived by boat from the mainland.

so soil is added to the awaiting raised garden bed...

and the new raised garden box is ready to start planting the seeds we have already started.

So while the concrete is curing and the forms are being made, lets show off the little garden we have stared over the last six weeks between tasks......

[jamesmusslewhite]

The property when done will be finely landscaped with fruit trees, garden/herb/flower boxes and beds. The fence lines will have trellises and will use vining vegetables to provide an organic privacy fencing.

My wife as been doing an outstanding job reworking all the orchids, planting the garden beds, building temporary trellises and planting along some of the fence lines.

Now I know what some of you are thinking... What is old fat James doing while the forms are being built, the concrete is curing and the wife is doing all that work planting the gardens? What the hell is James doing...... Well I will tell you......

I'm building that chicken coop which I posted the designs I drew a couple of weeks back.... CHICKENS, man CHICKENS!!!

 

The chicken coop will be strong and will have multiple levels with plenty of room for 80 laying hens to freely move about even during foul weather. Later I will build a PVC hoop chicken run to the coop which will allow the ladies to leave the coop and sort of free-range in the chicken run. It will be completely covered with chicken wire and covered with tarpaulin so they can freely move about the coop and chicken run even in foul weather. The garden beds will be incorporated along the outside to help provide additional shade and give it a good eye appeal. 

So let me show you this coop construction.

I think it turned out better than my drawing when I worked up the plan for this build...

Tomorrow I will be introducing 80 young feathered ladies to their new home... one more item to scratch off the long 'To Do' list.

[jamesmusslewhite]

A couple of more pictures of the garden work my wife has been doing while I have been playing with my hammer.

Well my wife has come to the end of what we had planted so we have put some more seed in the trays and she is busy watering the garden and has remained me that the concrete is cured and the forms are ready to be poured and the first three filtration tanks are ready to have the wall build, so back inside to show you what was actually being done while the chicken coop was being finished.

The second wooden form is built and the rebar added and the concrete is being poured.

 

 

Now as the second foundation was being poured the work was being started on the third wooden frame.

The third wooden frame is for the massive 5 foot wide x 10 foot long x 6 foot high secondary working tank and the saltwater reserve tank.

Now that the end of the second form could be safely removed without any damage to the freshly poured foundation and the third wooden frame could be connected the to the end of the second foundation it is time to start pouring the third foundation.

And there it is...

And now that the second and third foundations have been poured the first foundation has had plenty of time to properly dry and cure, so now we can focus our full attention on the first foundation and start building the three filtration tanks. This project has been progressing nicely.

[jamesmusslewhite]

While the second foundation and third foundation are drying and curing the first foundation is ready for the next stage and we are finally able to start constructing the walls. I feel that I should talk a little about the hollow blocks I am using. These tanks will be holding approximately 900 gallons (3,400 liters) of saltwater in each tank. And as a gallon of water weighs 8.35 pounds means that each tank will be holding just a little over 7,500 pound of saltwater weight. This saltwater will be applying stress against the internal wall surfaces. And as this area regularly experiences earthquake events these wall need to be strong.
 
The standard hollow block produced by most hollow block makers are at a ratio of 70-90 hollow block to 1 sack of cement which can be a bit too fragile for my liking. For this reason I have insured that my hollow block that are being used in the construction of these saltwater tanks are made at a ratio of 25-35 blocks per 1 sack of cement. This should give these hollow blocks the necessary strength which will be need. Also I will be showing another trick later in these pictures which will help give these tanks some additional strength through the use of rebar ribs being used on every second level of hollow blocks which will give the walls additional strength.
 
Now that I have given you a little addition information which can be quite useful for anyone wanting to built such tanks for water storage, lets get started building three 900 gallon filtration tanks.
  
If you look closely at each of the three sections you will see that a 1-1/2 inch (40mm) piece of PVC has been added. This is so the tanks can be drained and thoroughly drained and sterilized during regular maintenance between crops. This is to insure that any possible pathogens are removed to insure there is no cross-contamination or disease being carried over to the next new crop and also to insure that tanks can be flushed clean before being re-filled for the next production cycle. It should also be noted that these tanks will be lined with ceramic tile squares, so make sure if you plan on tiling your tanks that you allow enough height from the bottom of the PVC drainage pipe and the bottom surface of the tank to allow for the tiles to be laid. Now some may ask why tile these tanks. This is to help minimize the saltwater's surface contact to the cement to avoid any deleterious material within the cement, sand or rock used in the mix to be introduced into the closed-circulation system as well as to help protect the concrete from the corrosive elements within the saltwater as micro-fracturing within the surface of concrete could in theory allow saltwater to work it's way into the concrete over time and come in contact with the steel rebar which could weaken the tanks tensile strength of the tank walls over time. Also lime within the cement can effect the water pH causing the water to become more alkaline. so minimizing the saltwater contact to the inner surfaces, plus the tile lining makes these tanks easier to clean and sterilize so adding a tile inner lining to these tanks is a worth will extra expense.
 

 
earlier I mentioned the adding of a steel rebar rib at every second level of hollow blocks to add to the tensile strength of the tank walls, so I will show this rib in the next few photos. 

 

 

And these ribs will be added every second level as the wall continues to be raised, and they will help the tank walls maintain their tensile strength over the many years they will be used in this facility. This will come particularly handy when we get a good ground shaker and over three tons of saltwater are slouching about inside these tanks

 

 

Now all that is left is to add one last rebar rib and build a wooden frame so a solid 6 inch cement cap ring can be added to the top of the tank. This is so it will be easy to mount the protein skimmer racks and sand filter racks on top of the tanks as well as making it easier to enter and exit the tank during regular maintenance without damage to the top of the hollow block. Each individual tank will have three 1-1/2 inch (40mm) PVC pipe added for water overflow to the top of the hollow block  when the wooden form is being built. Then the cement will be poured in to the wooden frame capping off all three saltwater tanks. Then all that will be needed is to put a cement cosmetic coat over the outside surfaces of the hollow block walls and adding a tile lining inside the tanks. Now we get start on the second foundation which is the lobster tanks.