Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi All:

Ive been lurking around these forums for a few weeks now while I have been working on getting everything together for my first AP system. I went with a simple CF/Timered Flood and Drain IBC. Had some problems with finding a fitting to go into the bung cap threads so I decided to use a 1.5 inch uniseal to house my standpipe.

When the bed is flooded I have around 300L of water, and about 500L when the bed is flooded. Water level is constant atm as I am running CF.

I planted about 15-20 plants and added 15 goldfish to the system on Saturday. 1 fishy died in transit but the rest looked fine.

Sunday, all looked well, so I fed the fish a tiny pinch of goldfish flakes. They are scared of me but when i checked back a few mins later it was all gone.

I am now having a problem where 3 days later, my plants are looking yellowish already and kinda droopy. Also, 2 more fish have died.

I tested the water today and got 0 nitrite, 8ish PH, and .25 ammonia, which I think is ok for a new system. The living fish are acting very happy and not gasping at the surface or anything.

Any suggestions or is this just normal cycling system blues?

Also, thanks for having me and I look forward to becoming a member of this great community!

Here are some pics of the system:

Well done, and welcome to the mayhem!

Did all your plants grow from seed in the bed, or have you planted them from elsewhere. Small seedlings have a hard time with transplant into AP. Probably because their roots are so short and do not touch the water in the GB. You can also add a slop of seasol to get them going while you cycle.

Re. Fish. Your numbers are normal for a new system, just sounds like cycling blues +over stocking to me. I would have started with 5 goldfish personally, and added another 5 each week/fortnight if the first 5 survived alright. the fact that one died in transit (not knowing how far you transported them) doesn't say much for their chances in an uncycled system in my opinion.

Thanks for the relply!

I transplanted all of the seedlings, nothing from seed. I will try tossing a few seeds into the bed and see what happens.

The ride with the fish was short but the girl that took them out was kinda rough on them. I didn't realize I overstocked by so much! Good thing I didn't go with more

I assume I should hold off feeding them for a few days? Will they be ok?

I will continue monitoring stuff and post more updates later this week.

Thanks!

Your are not "over stocked" as such. Plenty of filtration in your bed for that many gold fish....but I just wouldn't have added so many up front to start cycling.

The situation is not dire. Just keep an eye on your ammonia and compare with the ammonia vs temp vs PH toxicity chart. viewtopic.php?f=26&t=12374&p=325456&hilit=Ammonia+toxicity+chart#p325456

Welcome Jetman

Are you only feeding with goldfish flakes? Im no expert with goldfish but I believe you will have issues with plant growth using standard flakes. The aquaculture pellets we use are formulated for max growth of plants and fish providing a lot of trace elements. It might be worth adding a spoonful of chelated iron aswell as some seaweed extract.

Can you send a link to the type of food I should use? I fed them with some all natural goldfish flakes that had no crazy named chemicals in them like the rest of the crap in the pet store

BYAP sell the protein pellets which can be found in the store section of this site but the frieght might be a killer. Not sure who supplies in florida, maybe TCLynx or Ryan would know. There is a bunch of aquacuture ventures in florida, maybe google your area.

purina makes a good fish food (aquamax line), just get the right feed for your fish... silvercup is another good fish food.. (used by many aquaculturists)
do you have an aerator?

I did a bit of ebay searching in regards to this and you can get pellets from there as well, not sure of the quality thou.

I do not have an aerator, but I have a 6 inch pipe with 5 holes in it for multiple streams into the water instead of a straight drain. Seems like that is creating a ton of bubbles and I am running CF at the moment so I hope O2 is good. I was planning on getting a small battery powered floating aerator as a back in case the pump goes out / power goes out for a small window of time. I found one that runs on power and switches to battery when the power goes out, might give it a shot.

I have resun battery backup. Works great. I have the smaller one. Would recommend the larger one if u can afford it.

System update:

I will post pics tontie when I get back from work, but things are ok. The peppers and cukes def have some small growth, mostly just broadening of the leaves, but they have white spots on them. I think the sun might have just burned them the first day, it was really hot. No more fish have died, but I havent fed them again yet. Planning to do so today.

I picked up some Maxicrop with Iron, and I was wondering what the best way to apply it to the system is and how much. As I understand, you can either spray it onto the leaves of the plants or pour it into the roots/growbed? What have you guys found is the best way to apply it?

i dumped it in my sump, next to the pump.. i used about a cap full for 4 "half barrel" growbeds... every few weeks (and a 110 gal ft - maxicrop will stain the water for a couple days

System Update: Lost another fish when I got home today. It was the last black fish. For some reason, only the black ones have died, the orange ones seem great. Dont know if that is just luck, or if they are just a slightly different species that cannot tolerate the conditions.

Fed the fish a tiny bit today and added a 1/2 cap full of maxicrop.

Water test:

Amm. = .25 - .5
Nitrite = 0
PH 8?

Looking at the plants, it definately looks like the marks on the plants are just burn from the 95 degree direct light they got a couple days ago. Working on building a little shade for them at least while they are seedlings. Pics attached.

More pics from today

Looks like the basil is a little bigger. Maybe not ?