Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Sonshe,
Get a water test kit so you can actually see the buildup of the 'sewage' that Mike is describing. The kicker is that you can't actually see the poisons that are building up in the water--bits of poo swirling about are not necessarily a bad thing, but ammonia and nitrite are. You might also check to see if your municipality uses chlorine or chloramine in the water. Either one can damage both the fish and the bacteria you need. Chlorine can be gotten rid of by letting the water rest in a clean bucket for a few days before using it in the tank. Chloramine will require treatment with a 'water ager' or 'de-chlorinator'. Ask at the aquarium store.

In a 10gal tank, I would start with 1 or two small goldfish for the first month. As cool as your water is, it will take some time for your sewage treatment plant to come on-line.

Most if us fish keepers would have experienced new tank syndrome once or twice. It is a problem that you cannot see and really just sneaks up on you. Introduce fish slowly, bare minimum get a two or three tetras to get some ammonia in the water. Live bearers don't go so well, anything hardy. Goldfish may not give you enough indication of the water, (they are too hardy). Test the water every couple of days, your nitrite and ammonia will be up and down like a yo-yo during the first week or so. Once the ammonia and nitrite starts to level off add a few more fish. I would do a third or quarter water change every week too, more if ammonia or nitrite spikes. Once the two tests read Zero 0 then your tank is cycled. This doesn't mean you can add a lot of fish at once, but you can start to add many more fish gradually.

My brothers friend just bought a 4 foot x 1 foot x 1 foot aquarium, he got it home, filled it with tap water, ran the filter (sit on the side type ones) for two days than bought over 20 fish and put them in. I almost had a heart attack. He reckons cycling is BS and you don't need it... He doesn't own a test kit, his Oscar has white spot and I tried to tell him... He is going to definitely lose many of his fish soon, no doubt about it. That is the wrong way to set up a tank.

There is a right way to setup a tank and the really wrong lazy way. And ALWAYS listen to experienced fish keepers, they have most likely made the mistakes before that you can't afford to make.

If my plants are planted in, say a wool rock cube, and the roots are growing through a hole in the styrofoam and into the water, how does the above #4 work? Or if the plants are planted in aquarium filter fiber, I don't understand how you can transfer anything from the aquarium part of the setup to the plants. Won't it just run right through and back into the aquarium?

Have to admit, I'm feeling "denser and denser".

Sonshe... Michael is suggesting that "IF" you were using pots then you could transfer some of the gravel from the bottom of the tank into the pots. The gravel contains the beneficial bacteria that the system uses to breakdown the fish waste solids .... fish poo....

As you are thinking of using Rock wool cubes you wont need to do this...
the cubes will absorb the nutrient rich water and waste and serve as mini-bacterial laboratories... in the same way that the gravel from the bottom of the tank would have if you were using pots.

It's all about providing a medium (surface area) for the bacteria to attach to and grow... and do their magical thing of breaking down and converting the fish wastes/solids into water bourne nutrients...

.... which the plant roots then take up into plant growth....

... this removes the nutrients from the water, effectively filtering/cleaning the water and preventing the build up of algal blooms and ammonia and other nasties which eventually lead to low oxygen and death of fish....

There are many growing mediums that can be used...

regular gravel, coco coir, rock wool, clay balls, etc etc.... it doesn't really matter which you choose in one sense anyway...

...it's all about providing the bacteria with somewhere to live...

... also gives you somewhere to plant your seeds and/or anchor your seedlings...

Don't feel bad about asking questions, that's what this forum is about... we were all newbies at one stage...

... hope this helps

...yes what Ruprt said, thank you Rupert.

My preference in a small 10 gallon/raft setup is not to have any gravel on the bottom of the tank in order to keep an eye on fish poop buildup. Starting with the gravel on the bottom of tank is ok to get the bacteria colony started, but I would gradually transfer all the gravel to the pots, or remove it all together once the pots had sufficient bacteria strength to clean the water. Whichever you chose to do is fine as Rupert helped point out. Are you feeling any better? I have some Excederin....

Rockwool needs to be above the water or you will suffer with root rot. Simply wait for roots to emerge from the cube, and plant it so the wee roots are just touching the water, but not the cube. Nature will do the rest.

I *think* I'm "getting" it! At least the first step! LOL
Thanks, guys.
If these fish live, will probably be a few weeks before I'm pestering you again. Have to make another trip to the pet store for a water test kit.

Question: Will tetras and gold fish co-exist in the same tank? Don't want to lose the wee little babies I purchased -- gold fish -- but want to do what you suggest and that is to get some tetras.

Answer: Yes BUT.....

Don't buy more fish just yet. You have some goldfish survivors left, let them do the work of building up your bacteria factory in the tank for a week or two. Let's focus on setting the tank up right first off, then add fish later down the line. As Janet said, a cheap test kit is a good way to wrap your head around the whole bacteria nitrogen cycle idea. Pick up some closed cell foam for your floaty raft (One of those drugstore styrofoam coolers will suffice) and a couple 3-4 small plastic starter pots and maybe a little bag of pea gravel (not aquarium gravel but pea gravel from your local nursery or gradening store).

Your Whisper 20 Power Filter is not going to be useful in this application. If you can return it and exchange it for a little air pump, tubing, and air stone at the pet store, that would be necessary. You will have to drop an air supply into your tank.

To recap:

1) No more fish YET

Go to pet store for:

2) water test kit
3) exchange Power Filter for Air Pump and Air Stone

Rite Aid or Longs for:

4) Cheap styrofoam cooler

Local Nursery for:

5) about 3 lb.s of pea gravel
6) 3-4 small plastic starter pots

Come back here;)

Tetras are tropical, goldfish can handle cooler water. If you are heating the water to around 75F, then both will be happy. If you are not heating, you will kill the tetras eventually. But as Mike says: Don't buy any fish yet.

Ah huh! Now you're speaking my "Aquaponics for Dummies" kind of language!

Question --just because I need to know why things work or why they don't: why won't the Whisper 20 Power filter not work in this application? Is that because it doesn't aerate the water enough for enough oxygen?

I'm getting more and more enthused about all of this! Thanks.

Good guess really because you are partially correct.... the Power Whisper 20 does more than aerate water. It provides a resevoir and filter system for a bacteria colony to thrive, and acts as a sewage treatment facility. In aquaponics, we replace or supplant the bio mechanical power filter (Whisper 20 and others) with plants. If you kept your power filter it would take away the purpose of having the plants. The power filter would dillute your concentration of bacteria from where it should be, nearest the plant roots and your plants would not do as well as they could. Removing the powe filter from the equation gives your plants maximum opportunity. However, removing the power filter takes away it's other function....aeration. Hence the air pump and air stone. Does this help?

Well, here's a second opinion...I actually think it would be OK to run the power filter. The power filter would host the bacteria. The bacteria would consume ammonia/nitrite and release the nitrate to float in the water. As the water circulates throughout the whole tank, the plants would absorb it. No power filter is capable of removing the nitrates, and that is what your plants need.

Sonshe, there is no single right method in aquaponics. Most of us just use what we have and give it a shot.

The filter will need cleaning, and will remove solids otherwise available for the bed. Many micros are lost. A system with a mechanical filter as opposed to without is obviously better for AP's garden side.

and actually you could ust remove the filter media if you wanted.

AA, You clean filters? There's the problem!!