Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Now you just need to practice lots of Patients for a while while you cycle. Some composting worms and a little hand full of worm castings might be a nice addition to the grow bed but that is just what I like to do. Just keep an eye on things and regular testing so you can see as things peak and start to fall to know when you have cycled up to your current fish load.

whoever told me to put egg whites in was a GENIUS !!
the tank is as clear as a bell ! I can see the bottom for the first time (and my little fish swimming around !)

I've been out of town for 2 days, and everything looks great ! The onions are even standing up !!!

Here's my water tests so far..


I've had water in the system for about 3 weeks, and added a couple of doses of humonia at the beginning, about 3 days apart.. there are 2 small bluegill and a medium sized bass in there right now..

Any idea when I can start adding 40 tilapia ? (I know I know, as soon as it's cycled.. but maybe I can add them half at a time ??)

You want your ammonia and nitrite to be down near or at 0 before adding fish really before you add fish.
Don't add any more humonia and keep testing till the ammonia and nitrite drop down, then you can add some of the fish and keep testing to see how it goes as you bring their feed up to a reasonable amount (if ammonia or nitrite start to spike again cut back on feed a bit till it drops again and so on.) Then once the feed has stabilized with the first group, then perhaps add the rest. I am hoping these are small tilapia and not biggies already. Much easier to cycle up a system with small fish who don't need lots of food yet in the first place.

still testing water daily.. not much has changed yet
TC, the plan for the fish is 50-75 2" to 3" tilapia.. is that insane ??

So I've put in some small transplants, and planted a row of edamame and a row of peas..
I'm running out of things to do out there !! HURRY UP AND CYCLE ALREADY !!

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Here is an updated chart of my water tests... I am the most impatient person in the world.. I have planted the GB and now working on a breeding tank for my non-existent tilapia (still waiting)

COME ON CYCLING AND CYCLE ALREADY !!!!

Here is an updated chart of my water tests... I am the most impatient person in the world.. I have planted the GB and now working on a breeding tank for my non-existent tilapia (still waiting)

COME ON CYCLING AND CYCLE ALREADY !!!!

I'm working on adding a NFT system.. I got a pump today that can pump from the sump to the height I need, and have a 10' gutter with 3" net pots every 8" filled with Hydroton..I started some lettuce seeds in Rockwool today, so It shouldn't be long before it's running, just a little more plumbing to do ..

In fish news, the largemouth has eaten the other 2 fish.. this is going much too slowly.. tomorrow I'm going to get 50 tilapia and salt to 1ppt, and drop 25 in the IBC main tank, and another 25 in a 60 gallon fish tank..

I'm way too impatient, but fairly lucky, so I hope it will average out...It's probably not the first time it's been done before

In plant news, everything looks great.. I have 25 varieties of plants in the bed, from onion and tomato to basil and soybeans - everything is pretty happy so far (I'm amazed at how fast the soybeans sprouted sown right in the GB) and I've been desperately searching for some Maxicrop to add, but haven't been able to find any locally ...

I'll keep you up to date - hopefully we won't be having 50 funerals at the end of the week..

I'd keep the largemouth and the tilapia separate or the bass is gonna be real fat!!

You getting the tilapia from Travis? How'd you like his place (assuming you could find it...)???

CB

I did get the tilapia from Travis ! What a great guy !! I found my way there via GPS, when it told me to turn I kept ignoring it until there was actually a road

The fish look great although they havent eaten since yesterday ... but i did get the NFT going !!

They ate today !! They finally got up the nerve to come to the top !
I was feeding at half past the hour, so whatever wasn't eaten in half an hour got washed out on the next flood..
But today, just before the flood I went in and saw them eating on the top..
They ate again tonight, while I quietly watched

So the next question is : How much 2mm floating pellet should I be feeding 50 2-3" tilapia ??

Sounds great! I love watching my fish eat, too... Hope they enjoy watching me eat when the time comes...

I feed 2-3 times a day and try to give about what they'll clean up in 10-15 minutes... I'm using larger floating catfish pellets, so they have to work on them to soften them up. I guess they'll grow into that size feed, but it was all I could get locally.

See my thread for a 'feed coral' made of a floating noodle and a $5 tupperware bin. ($8 total...) Keeps the feed from washing out if my timing is off getting to the FT for feed.

Travis show you some of his other stuff? He has a neat operation with a ton of 'experiments' in progress.

CB

Travis does have quite an operation ! Lots of experiments going on.. we walked around for a while with my 11m old boy, and looked in all the greenhouses and fishtanks...

All seems to be going well in the greenhouse, the fish are happy and eating well and the plants are looking good. The ph was high at about 7.8 (or higher) and Travis advised a pine straw "pillow" to go in the fish tank..I did that yesterday and added 45 gallons of rainwater today that had a ph of 6 (or less) = it brought the ph down to 7,2 tonight and I'll test again in the AM... hopefully the pinestraw will keep it there !

I painted a mural on the side of the GB to make things look more fishy and vegetably, mainly because I just wanted to hang out out there, and now my wife is convinced I've lost my mind ! (will post pics tomorrow)

So today's water tests showed the Nitrites still rising.. 25mg/l !!!
I've salted to 2ppt and will cross my fingers and wait..

I figured out how to keep the high nitrites from bothering me.. Stop testing the water !!

The fish seem really happy, and are feeding wildly, splashing around the top of the water (i feed 50 2-3" tilapia about a teaspoon twice a day, should I be feeding more ?? ) The water temp is 68 F

in plant news, everything looks great and is growing well, there are tons of buds on the squash, but one of the leaves had a whitish "mouldy" looking spot on one of the leaves, about 1/2" or 3cm across.. Does anyone know what it is ?? I removed it..