Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Does anyone who lives near by have any healthy AP muck I could "borrow" ?

Please let me know!..

I don't mind peeing in my sump though.

Yep, the volume of the growbed/biofilter is the rock volume, including air spaces.


You will need a source of ammonia: either PURE stuff (no scent, etc) from the store or urea (either pellets or from humonia) or fish. Adding bacteria will give you a big headstart on cycling as they are beginning from a much higher initial population base...

Here is an earlier offer to give you some starter culture: viewtopic.php?p=224492#p224492


The most common problem with tilapia is preventing breeding. They will breed wildly once temps get up above about 80degF as long as the tank is not too deep. The adults don't eat the babies often: most cannibalism I've heard about is larger juveniles eating smaller ones. Those babies are always hungry!


There are many reasons to put a roof over your system: reduce excessive heat, prevent excessive rain from diluting your nutrients, protect from wind, prevent freeze damage or just keep things warmer in cold weather. I would not worry about rain contaminating things though..

Well I'm done with the system build

Right now I'm trying to get it cycled up right.

I have to add some rocks to the GBs to up the capacity and depth.
I'm adding 2 more half barrels at the end closest to the FT.

I can't seem to get the PH down below 8.2/8.4 and still no trace of ammonia, i've added about 1L of semi-fresh humonia over the past week since i've had the pump working.
I just added a timer so I could break the siphons.

Any input on getting the Ph downm or will it come down over time? or did I make a mistake of getting red lavarock ?

Here's the latest pics:

thats what i like, bunch of pics, just wanted to say before i go back and just check em all out.

Brando, request me on facebook, i've got a whole album full.
http://www.facebook.com/garfield1979

Looks good Garfield....

I wouldn't bother to much about the pH, it will be coming down over time. Try testing your water straight out of the tap, you may find that your water has a high pH to begin with.

hey garfield

looking good...

one question....

is that wood treated thats right there at the returns to the ST?

if so be careful as it will leach out chemicals into the water

jT

JT, yeah unfortunately it's treated, can't find 4x4's that are not treated around here.
I'm working hard to minimize the amount of water contact and might even seal it where the water hits it.

I wish i laid a sheet of plywood under the tank before putting it up there.

We'll see how it goes.

Thanks for the thought though!

Your water source is probably your problem with pH. That is a problem I had. The local water aquifer here is limestone, and that will buffer pH up high. The fish don't mind it but most plants do. Using declorinated tap water, my plants never grew beyond a few inches tall. I switched to bottled water for my small system, changed out the limestone bedrock gravel in the growbed, and my plants starting growing. I am still waiting for more rain water to get my bigger system going, so yeah, I have been waiting over a year.

Alright, I've been testing the waters for the past week and everything seems to be going ok.

My Ammonia is between 2 and 4 ppm, and I haven't added any in about a week.

My Nitrites is through the roof at 5 ppm (the limit of my test kit)

I do have Nitrates, they're between 10 and 20 ppm (the colors on the test kit are so similar, but it's closer to 20ppm)

my PH is ok between 8.2 and 8.4. I'm sure it'll come down over time.

I've put a tomato plant, some tomato cuttings and an onion, and they're ok, but when it gets hot during the day the plant wilts, but in the morning and evening it perks right back up. I'm only experimenting with these plants since I already have some Nitrates.

What do you guys think? Is this pretty normal operations for fishless cycling?

I'm waiting for my ammonia to at most be 2.0 ppm before I add more.

Thanks for your inputs!

Chris

Yep looming good

My Nitrites won't come down!! I've been cycling for about a total of 34 days and my Ammonia comes and goes but the Nitrites are being stubborn and are not descending.

I have to make the trip to the fish hatchery this weekend, i just don't see any other break in my schedule and I'm worried about losing another season due to this.

I know patience is advocated with Nitrites, but theoretically what could happen if I introduce the fish to Nitrite rich water? would it be the same as ammonia? death?

I've got plants in the system and they're coming along nicely however are really deprived of nutrients mostly because there's not enough nitrates and also the PH is around 7.8

Experts, what say you?

I'm thinking of getting between 50 and 75 fish, they are of breeding size (4") and maybe I could keep them in an aquarium and introduce them little by little.

Thanks in advance!

Don't sweat it Garfield.

Salt your water to 1ppt and that will negate much of the bad effects of nitrites on your fish.

Put your fish in, but don't feed 'em for the first few days and watch you ammonia and nitrites over that time. I haven't commented on the number of fish as I forgot to check how much filtration and FT volume you have.

And yes, be patient - nitrites could still take weeks to toally disappear.

Chilllidude. that's great news. I have 250 gal FT 250 gal ST and about 200 gal of filter. I have plans of adding other methods of growing, more beds etc.

Do you think until I have 1:1 water to GB ratio I should scale back on the fish?

What are your current nitrite readings?
If they're still off the scale, I don't think salt is going to get you through it. There's a way to dilute the test, TXLynx does it, but I don't know the method.

At the very least, get an aquarium ready with the ability to do quick water changes.