Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Did about a 1/3 water change today. It's brought down the Ammonia by about half, but it's still around the 2ppm mark. Nitrites were bordering on 2.0ppm before I changed the water, they are back to around 1.0ppm now. Fish still kicking along but I don't like things being so out of control like they are.



I rang the water supplier today to find out if they treat with chlorine or chloramines, apparently they do both but the guy said by the time the water supply gets here there is almost none of both in the water. Apparently in the next 6-12 months they are going to be changing their system to add chlorine back into the water supply here.


Barrel system is still there, I've been thinking about doing that.

Probably where your baseline Ammonia is coming from, Chloramine takes awhile to break down.

I'd have thought they would have caused a similar problem when I got the barrel up and running though? I know it's a much smaller system but wouldn't it have presented itself when the barrel was cycling as well?

I might set aside some tap water and see how it behaves on it's own over time, and think about what I'll do from here on out with top up water. I might get a tank and hook it up to the carport to catch rainwater, seems simplest in the long run.

I'd have thought this as well so I don't know why now but maybe they put more in at certain times of the year because of water quality issues (caused by rainfall runoff or other issues which are unique to your area)

The other ideas sound good Azira.

I don't think it's the tap water causing the Ammonia in Tank 2, the water I've had inside to test hasn't returned any sort of reading, so I guess it's just a random pee phantom or something, lol.

I've tested Tank 2 twice more since I posted last and it looks as though the Ammonia has doubled and there is a trace amount of Nitrites. I've not done anything to that system so I'm not sure why it's there, but there are no fish so I'm not overly concerned.



Since the 1/3rd water change on the 8th of May the water in Tank 1 it seems much better, Ammonia down from 2ish ppm to about 0.25ppm, Nitrites from 1ppm give or take to 0.25ppm as well, Nitrates seem down to 0ppm. However I haven't fed the fish since the massive Ammonia spike so I'm not sure it's actually cycling properly. I fed them today and I'll test tomorrow and see where it stands.



I'm not sure it's properly cycled because the Ammonia and Nitrites haven't spiked in the same way as the barrel did, so I'm just going to keep testing and see what happens now I've fed the fish.



In other news the plants are doing well, tiny bit of new growth on all, I've got some more seedlings I need to get in ASAP though (got to have me some Romanesco!). Other than that I've only managed to slap 3 coats of paint on the capping timber, yet to do the other side and actually get it fixed on, but hopefully soon before the good weather vanishes!

Curse those pee phantoms! Make sure you give plenty of room for the romanesco. It gets big.

Whatever it was is almost done decomposing so that's a good thing

I suppose a pee phantom is better than a poop ninja though.

I think everything is a bit too closely planted at the moment but I figure I can always thin out later (I can't imagine I need all of the 15 brussel sprout plants, lol).


Good to hear!

At least a ninja is a living thing, phantoms on the other hand...

Tested Tank 1 today after feeding yesterday and and there is only 0.25ppm of Ammonia and 0 of everything else. I'll see how things are over the next day or two before feeding again just to make sure the Ammonia doesn't jump.




Very true, very true. Body waste from any spectral sources are never a good thing. Perhaps a spiritual cleansing with cranberry juice and plenty of fluids is in order.

I tested Tank 1 again today and it looks like the Ammonia has hit 0 or very close to it (Nitrites & Nitrates 0 also).

I fed the fish a small amount of food, if it comes back with another zero reading can I assume it's cycled?

Slowly ramp up the feeding while watching things, but yea, you sound like you are about there.

Yeah I'm not entirely convinced it's stable so I'll just take it slow and see what happens.

Thanks folks, I really appreciate it all.

That ammonia looks fine to me - zero, even ???

How long have you cycled for azira? One month?

Should be ready by now.

Mine took a month to 6 weeks in winter. and 2 weeks in summer

The photos aren't entirely accurate colour-wise, but now I'd say it's at zero. I think it's been about a month now, I'm thinking it's ready or close enough to it, I'm just being tentative given how things went a bit crazy. I don't want to push my luck, lol.