Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just had a look back.. and yes... you wont be cycled after only 11 days...

As you've still got some fish.... adding ammonia could be difficult as Bunson says... if you do... only add a very small amount... and retest...

Adding ammonia might have a lag of several days.... so don't go adding any again... until the first lot shows...

Or you could just add some more fish.... feed very lightly.. and cycle slowly...

System is still in the early stages yes.

Ithe fish are starting to smash the food this morning. They look hungry as buggery. Only put in 20 4mm pellets and they took the lot. I will give it till lunch time and try em again..

I was considering more fish too. Maybe 5 more!

How about i just learn to be patient and just do what you guys suggest! Worst case I knock the lot in the head and just cycle with charlie carp?

I like the "learn to be patient" part. Keep going with the fish idea now that you have started with it. Absently killing the fish is wasteful, especially when it's not their fault.

The master test kit indicators hold their colors for quite a few hours, so you can take a test in the morning in one tube and keep it to compare with another test sample taken later in the day. We are looking for the very start of the nitrification process here, there is no point testing for nitrites or nitrates, yet, so just do a daily pH test and an ammonia check a couple of hours after feeding and compare this with test(s) taken earlier.

I think I will go with more fish, Golden Ponds have a few left at the 10cm Mark. I certainly will be careful with this lot........ see how I go

Only go with 5 I think

True for most.... but the ammonia test will darken after the recommended 15 minutes.... and wouldn't be a reliable comparison later...

Righto. 5 more fish added, they were about 20 cm each..

I added the tank water to the transport water and left them in it for an hour. I slowly rotated the water till all of the transport water was replaced with ft water. Left the aerator going the whole time and then put them in to the FT.

Water temp of the shop was 15 degrees. Mine is at 13.7 degrees. Is this going to have a huge impact? Ill give them a while to settle down then ill test the water again

They'll be fine... they adjust to temperature differences fairly quickly...

Don't feed them for a day though... and add 1ppt of salt... to ease the transport stress..

Salt added 1ppt. No feed will test water this afternoon... then test again tomorrow after feeding

Ph 7.2
Ph high 7.4

Ammonia between .25 and .5

Tested this morning

Ph 7.2
Ph high 7.4
Ammonia .75




Gave them a feed this arvo and results are as...

Ph high 7.4
Ph 7.2
Ammonia 1

PH High- 7.4
Ph - 7.2
Ammonia - .75
Nitrites - .25

Will test again this arvo

Good work. I think you've found the level of feeding which will produce the "right" level of ammonia. The nitrites have started so you've got some bacterial colonies starting to get established. No need to test any more than once per day (unless curiosity gets the better of you), so just keep the feeding regime about the same (you could it increase it very slightly as now the ammonia is starting to be processed, but there's no sense in pushing things too hard too soon). Watch for the nitrites to increase and be prepeared (maintain your salt at 1ppt) then simply wait until the nitrates appear, then the nitrites and ammonia to fall to zero (or almost zero). Keep up the pumping and aeration for now, then when you're fully cycled you can consider other pumping regimes.

When you say maintain the salt, how often do I need to be doing so?? Is this to help the fish through the ammonia stages, so they don't sufocate???

I need to understand this 100%, so I excuse me if i sound like an absolute pleb....

I am starting to understand the cycle process more and more every day. Thanks for the constant reminders and assistance.

Water temp is sitting at 16.5 degrees. I was using an infra red hand held previously and now i have a digital one in the tank. Alot more accurate..

Salt generally isn't used-up in a AP system per se, so any salt already added will remain there for a long time, so, to maintain a salt level, whenever you add more water (top up) just add the required amount of salt to the topping up water to maintain the entire system at the required level. If you need to verify the salinity, you can buy a refractometer, or simply take a sample of your water to your local friendly swimming pool shop and ask for their assistance (tell them it's for a pond, not a swimming pool).

Salt is a natural anti-bacterial agent, which wont hurt the 'good' bacteria we are trying to grow in the salinity we are trying to get and maintain. Salt also helps fish maintain their immune system which helps them fight off disease and encourages the slime layer found on many fish, like trout. Most important in our case though, salt (actually, the chloride part of sodium chloride, NaCl) helps the fish deal with high levels of nitrites where they may succumb nitrite poisoning aka brown-blood disease.

Sodium is also an essential element for plants so they will also benefit from a little salt. I have killed strawberries at 2-3ppt, so be careful if you're adding salt to system with them in it, although some people have kept their strawbs alive at higher salinity I wouldn't risk it. As the fish are more important to me, if I needed to increase the salinity in a system, I'd remove salt sensitive plants and keep the fish alive.

[edit] Just for comparison, the ocean is about 35ppt salinity, we are looking for much lower levels at 1-2ppt for general health, 3-8ppt to combat disease/parasite infected systems, or hospital baths/ICU at 10-30ppt (or sometimes higher) for very short periods for very sick fish.

Bloody hell Bunson..

That answers
More than one question I had.... Appreciate it. Keep the advice coming!