Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm getting ready to start building my first system/greenhouse but it will be at least 2 months before it's complete. I'm wondering if it makes sense and even if it's feasible to just hook up a fish tank and a couple of tanks of gravel and start water circulating now. I'm thinking that by the time I've got a whole system together I might have some gravel that already has bacteria growing and I could just dump the gravel into my new growbeds.

Has anyone done this?
thanks,
mark

Sounds like an idea to me Jazzy, trow in a few goldfish and "Bobs your uncle"

Who is this "Bob" person, and why would my aunt marry him?!?!



Any way to get mature gravel is great. Go for it, Mark! I built a small system first to prove some ideas. Hardly as soon as the gravel had good bacteria going, I had built the large system and used the first gravel to seed the system.

Just wondering, I have a couple of small outdoor ponds. Is it worth "seeding" my gravel GBs with some water from these ponds? No fish in the ponds - lots of tadpoles & other strange (small) creatures though.

Thanks! That's what I was hoping to hear! I'm filling up some tanks tomorrow!!!

Yep scott I would say it's well worth it. Just keep in mind if you seed the system it will only colonise in response to available ammonia/nitrite so could be worth feeding it a little fish food each day to get the ball rolling even if no fish

Thanks Don. I'm not going to plant anything in this bed, just want to get some bacteria started. Will it make a difference whether the GB gets sunlight?

No only needs oxygen and food. Sunlight (uv) kills bacteria good or bad and if the top gets wet will grow algae even in artificial light (cept green).