Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I finally have my first system setup and in my garage! After a lot of research I decided on a simple indoor IBC system, with a hope of expanding outdoors next year.

My hope is, that if I can sustain a system for this first year, that I might be able to expand the system to include outdoor growbeds that are incorporated with my indoor system.

I will be using a single 275 gallon IBC as the tank/GB. I'll be using compact fluorescent lights with a pulley system to raise and lower the different lights based on where they might need to be (has anyone else done this type of thing, I am just experimenting here).

I've posted some pictures below to show everyone my workflow thus far!

The system has been cycling now for a little over a week. I added about 30 goldfish to the system about 3 days ago, in an attempt to help the system cycle better.

I tested my water for the first time yesterday.

pH = 8.1
ammonia = 0.5 ppm
nitrite = 0
nitrate = 0

I'm guessing this is pretty standard at this stage, but I want to make sure and get input to see if I need to add anything to my system. I thought about adding a little rain water in hopes that it would bring my pH down a little, or possibly squeeze some lemon juice into the GB. Any thoughts?

During the system build I realized I bought a pretty poor air pump to try and create more aeration for my future fishies. Because I didn't want to waste an air pump I decided to try and figure out the best way to make use of it, plus gain a little insight for future systems.

I decided to build a small airlift pump inside my tank to try and make the best use of my weak air pump. After building this small airlift pump I was really excited about what I had learned, and it was moving a lot more water than I thought it could have. It seems to be making the best out of my 3.5w air pump!!!

Take a look at the pictures to see what I built.

Nice system !
I wouldnt bother altering ph, it will come down when the system cycles...

Just wanted to give a system update on how things are going.

pH: 8.0
ammonia:0.25
nitrites: 5.0ppm
nitrates: 5.0ppm

To me this looks pretty good, it's been 3 weeks and it looks to me like the system is cycling on track!

A couple questions. I have what looks like aphids on my pepper plants. I'd really like to find a good way to keep them off of my plants. I've read that you can spray some of your water on them daily and that helps. Is this true?

Also, I plan to add tilapia to my system. When is a safe time to add them, and how many should I add to my single IBC system?

Thanks all!

Don't add any fish until the nitrites fall to zero...

You can use a "high pressure" squirt of FT water to knock them off the plants; repeat as often as is necessary. You can also use a garlic + chilli mix. DO NOT USE ANY OIL BASED PRODUCT, commercial or home-made as it can suffocate the fish. You can add literally a drop or two of (environmentally friendly) liquid dish-washing detergent per 500mL of chilli, garlic and water mix to assist with the liquid sticking to the plants. Plant some flowers to attract beneficial insects, especially ladybirds. Do whatever you need to do to keep the ants away as they will farm the aphids; raising, tending and protecting them.

When your system is cycled i.e. zero ammonia and zero nitrites, you could add one fish for each 20L of filtration i.e it looks like you have about 200-220L of media in the GB so when your system matures it should be able to handle 10-11 fish (growing to "plate-size") BUT I wouldn't push this limit with an immature system, so maybe 7 or 8 would be a good start for the system's first season.

Personally, I prefer to add a time limit to the cycling process; when all of the added ammonia and the ensuing nitrites reach zero within 24 hours of feeding the system, this is what I call "fully" cycled and only then do I add fish. Even then, it can still take the system a few days to "settle in" to the new ammonia source (fish) so you still have to be cautious and vigilant.

The best way to know for sure would be to add a consistant amount of extra ammonia (humonia etc) and when the system can handle it (zero nitrites, and ammonia drops quickly after you add it (day or two)).
Then chuck the fish in and don't add any extra ammonia. Any extra bacteria from the excess ammonia will simply die down to the leve the fish supply.

I have been using something called "Fish Fertilizer" to help cycle my system. Putting a very low amount in once a week.

http://www.homedepot.com/buy/outdoors/g ... -8635.html

This stuff looks very similar to MaxiCrop LiquidFish. It is suppose to contain only organic fish matter, mainly nitrogens and phosphates. But I have a sudden concern about something that is on the front of the bottle, "Deoderized with Wintergreen Oil". I have added very little of this to my system, and it seems to be helping it cycle fine. But has anyone else used this? Should I stop use of it now before it causes any adverse effects?

Appreciate the thoughts!

i don't know specifically about "wintergreen oil" but many oils are harmful to fish, i wouldn't use it unless i heard from someone more knowledgable than me.. well.. there are plenty of those, so i'd be cautious with it until you hear from others...

Thank you Keith. That was the exact thing I was thinking. After doing more research and getting a few responses in here I have heard that oils in general are bad for fish. I think it is probably best for me to ditch this stuff and get some maxicrop with iron. My pH is a little high anyways, maybe the maxicrop with iron will help bring it down a little.

If anyone knows anything else about wintergreen oil, please let me know. If I need to do something to my system to keep it healthy I'd like to know!

"If in doubt, chuck it out!"

You could do a test by placing a couple of drops of fertiliser into a glass of clean water. If a film of oil develops over the surface of the water, I'd definitely NOT be using it, that oil could stay in the water and coat the fish gills and suffocate them, coat the surface of the GB media where bacteria are supposed to be colonising and a form barrier film of oil over the surface of the water which will slow/prevent air exchange at the surface boundary.

Pure wintergreen oil itself is toxic to humans (not too sure about fish though?), so in a closed loop AP system, even at low doses it could be absorbed by the fish, but at least if the fish have any muscular aches or pains, the oil will help make them feel better as it is one of the primary ingredients in DencoRub, Deep Heat and Tiger Balm!

If you're in any doubt, and obviously you are because you asked the question, I'd play safe and go find another safe product instead.


Scott