Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

This is my first attempt at aquaponics, so far so good. Plants are in and they seem to be tracking well. Have no fish as yet, im waiting for my system to show signs of nitrites and nitrates. I have 0.25 to 0.75ppm of ammonia so far. The system is only a week old.

Chase

System still going well but I thought I would have seen some change in my nitrites and nitrates by now, still reading 0ppm. Plants are taking off pretty quickly tho, they seem to do well on the Seasol.

I have planted: Spring Onions, Chilli, Lettus, Parsley and some Lebanese Cucumbers. Only had one cucumber plant die on me, this was due to me taking it out of its pot a little too rough.

So far so good,
Chase

Hiya mate, looks like a cool little system.
What are you using as an ammonia source?

ammonia source... mmm.

That would be pee im afraid. I have a willing provider, my 3 year old son. He is quite happy to pee in my barrel. Its currently a running joke in my family im afraid.

Uric acid takes a little time to convert to ammonia. It also does it over a long period of time. That means that a little pee goes a long way. It takes a while to cycle with it, and can cause an ammonia spike if not careful. Patience is key.

These are my test results so far. If anyone has any comments they would like to give based on these please let me know.

Chase

looking good
it all starts small soon you will have plans to get bigger and bigger
bathtubs workwell
cheers b&v

Seeing nitrites and nitrates for the first time. System is progressing well. have since added some Coriander, basil and Chives.

Progress is shown below:

Great test results I reckon Chasew. your system seems to be coming along very well. Another colum on your spread sheet showing water temps would be very handy, helps to understand the AP puzzle when all the pieces are in place.

Your PH will gradually drift down, What sort of fish and how many will you stock?

Graph of the results

Today I purchased some fish, yay. Four goldfish to be exact and I am really hoping they survive.

Given the fact that I only have four fish in my system and I have about 280 litres of water(TOTAL) how many more fish do you think I can have?

Chase

Hiya Chase, it's my understanding it's more about the gb volume than water volume, 1 fish per 20 lt media, rule of thumb. I'm guessing you have about 120 lt in your gb so a couple more wouldn't hurt. Run with your 4 and check your amm and rite levels in a couple of weeks and if the system is coping chuck a couple more in.
Btw I have 8 fish in 1700 litres of gb and the plants are still producing in my 8 month old system.

Well some bad news, unfortunately, I no longer have four fish, I have three. A rookie mistake on my part, I didn't check the bag to make sure all the fish had swam out and I tossed the bag in the wheelie bin There goes my fish and the $3 it cost to buy the unfortunate soul. Feeling a little guilty but I will go pick some more up tomorrow I think, a lesson learnt in the end.

Had to do some maintenance today as well, there was a slight leak in one of the pipes that was causing my water level to go down a lot faster than I would like. The only top ups I want to be making is from evaporation.

The poor unfortunate soul! lol, hard luck mate.

This is my system after 2 weeks compared to the first day. The growth is exceptional, I planted some Lebanese cuc and some spring onions in the ground and while they are still alive they have barely grown, this compared to what is in the AP system is phenomenal.

Im a little worried about my nitrite levels tho; They are up around 5ppm or greater. I have 3 goldfish in my barrels, are they able to cope with this level of nitrites?