Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Small update, tested today and things are changing, not entirely sure what it indicates but it's something I guess, lol.



And in other news, I picked up my IBC's the other day, and a bunch of bits and bobs to get them set up. Only thing left is the pumps, kind of an integral part, lol.

those IBC's look like new, do you know what was in them?

Sweetener apparently, my guess from the small amount of residue in the outlet is glucose, but I really have no idea.

They are in pretty good condition really, quite happy with them. Only real 'issue' is the diameter of the tap outlet, it's bigger than standard and I couldn't find a cap locally to fit. I looked up the tank itself on the manufacturers website and got the details of the cap it supposedly needs and ordered a pair from the UK. Here's hoping they fit, lol.

that doesn't sound right, they should have std BSP fittings?

Apparently they can vary. It's a Schutz brand tank which can come with either the 2" or 3" outlet, the latter I ended up with. If you look on page 10 of this link you can see the various outlets, the one I have is number 8.

http://www.schuetz.net/schuetz/media-ca ... _de_en.pdf

I can't really complain though as they are in great condition, massive thank you to Journeyman for the contact.

Another update, more for my own reference than anyone else's interest I'm sure, lol.

Tested the water today, from what I can see the ammonia has dropped down close to zero, but nitrites are definitely higher than the last time I tested. I'd say they are sitting somewhere between 0.50-1.0ppm. Nitrates are up a bit too, around 5ppm I think. It looks like the pH has dropped a bit too, so something's going on, here's hoping it's positive, lol. Fish and plants seem happy so that's something I guess!



In other news, I've started prepping the spot where the IBC setup will be going, should I bother starting another thread for that? It's really not that interesting a system but I do have a few (more) questions.

if it's a separate system it may be better on another thread.

Save confusion if they get mixed up.

We are interested in it for sure.

Yes, start a new one and call it something awesome

Don't forget the obligatory trade mark

Ok I'll start another thread, but I don't think I can think of a decent name for it, lol.

If its the same supplier I provided Journeyman with over at Shepparton he has heaps of caps and normally supplies them with them. Just ring him and advise him the ones you picked up didn't have caps and I'm sure Gerry will be more than happy to post some over to you. He did this for me on my second pick up as he was at work when I went around to get the ibc's.

Tested again today, was mainly wondering if the water top-up I did yesterday evening made much of a difference. Not quite sure if it was the water I added or if it was going to do it regardless, but it is different from yesterdays test. Not entirely sure what it means, lol.

Roughly seems to be:

pH: 8.0
Ammonia: 0-0.25ppm
Nitrites: 0ppm
Nitrates: 0-5.0ppm




Aww poop, I already went out and ordered some caps. Ahh well, I know for next time, thanks for the info (the caps and giving the IBC info to Journeyman who gave it to me, lol).

I was hoping someone could help me interpret the test results I've been getting the last few days, I'm not entirely sure what it indicates.

I topped up the barrel with some tap water which I think accounts for the slight increase in pH, but the other readings are sitting pretty much at zero for today's reading. Can someone help clarify for me what it means, please?

I threw the test results into an online graph generator to see if it gives a better picture of what's happening so far. I guesstimated a few results that looked halfway between the colours on the card, it may or may not be useful though, lol.





Any info you can give I'd greatly appreciate!

Hiya Azira, looks like your butt ugly system has cycled.
Your top up water seems to have a high ph though. Are you treating it?

Cool! I was wondering if it had but it seemed rather quick so I wasn't sure. I thought maybe the water I added mucked things up a bit. Even though there wasn't much of it, it is only a small system.

The top-up water was straight from the tap, I haven't treated it with anything. Should I do it with future top-ups and when I start the IBC system going?

Thanks for the feedback!

The warmer weather will speed the nitrification process, although your system has cycled it will continue to find its balance as bio loads increase and decrease.
Generally it's regarded to be good practice to keep a quantity of water to top up water levels. This way chlorine in tap water can break down and ph levels can be adjusted to suit the ft. As the nitrogen cycle progresses the ph will drop and adding alkaline water into an acidic ft can stress, even kill the fish.