Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

punctured a whole in my GB trying to add a piece or rebar to strengthen the side. I let bell siphon drain bed, shut off bvall valve to bed, dried and siliconed hole. How long can I leave it like this without having problems with bacteria? I can water the plants during the day if needed, but was worried about my bacteria. Any time frames?

If you're not running a high fish load then I think you would be fine even with a week of being offline. That is just a guess of course.

Thanks Dave...I've read anywhere from 4 hours to 4 days??

I had a growbed that was "offline" for a month and still had plants going strong. In fact I have one that has now been offline for about 6 months with no water circulating and only the rain to top it up and while i pulled out all the vegies/herbs, it now has a tree growing in it that sprouted from a random seed that a bird must have brought in.

It will be just fine.

4 Years is too long.

Is the question 'how long can I leave a grow bed before having to re-'cycle' it?

I think as long as the media is kept moist (but not saturated with water so that it goes anaerobic) you could get away with a week - though that's a guess on my part. Might still take a while to build the colony up to full processing capability though if they are not being fed during the downtime. One factor in this that may have an impact is how hot the bed gets with no water going through it regularly - if it gets very hot it may effect the bacteria.