Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have a 10gal system. Should I perform water changes on a weekly basis? What about the gravel bed?

Thanks

Ummm, no... And what about the gravel bed?

Huh?

Is there a problem with ammonia, nitrites, Ph etc. Are there fish dying, plants ?

If these check out and there have been no external contaminants (dirt from a poorly aimed shovel etc) you should not need to do a water/gravel change.

What is concerning you about your system?

Unlike standard aquarium maintenance, where water changes mitigate against the build up of Nitrates in the system resulting from the nitrification cycles, in aquaponics the plants absorb the nitrate. So no water changes should be required if you have enough plants.

Similarly, you should need minimal maintenance of your bed. Being a "living" bed, solids will get broken down naturally over time, or more quickly by microbial and worm activity, and will be taken up as nutrients by the plants.

You will not need regular cleaning of he gravel in the bed unless you are running your system above the recommend filtration capacity for aquaponics.

I have a ammonia source that is causing persistent levels of 2-4ppm everyday. Fish have been dead for 2 weeks. Plants are still doing great, but high NH4. Could there be a dead fish somewhere? I don't want to disturb the plants, but could there be something in the grow bed?

I believe part of your issue is the size of your system. Systems that small are very temperamental. But if you have persistent issues, it could very well be a dead fish in your system. How many fish did you have? One goldfish could probably power that system.

Fish are all dead, but I had alot in the beginning. How many plants can one fish support?

If your fish are all dead... and have been removed... then your ammonia should be falling...

Or are you actually still "cycling" a new system... or adding an "ammonia source"???

Quite a few.