Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So After tons of reading i've finally got my system to work.
Installed a SLO at the urging of other members, left the low level piping in place but the valves are shut off.

Water is really murky from the pea pebbles, but from my reading on here, others have gone through the same situation and it should settle in a few days

quick video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1mHcptyPUIY

My next hurdle is testing the water.
Ive got test kits, but i havent been able to find conclusive acceptable parameters for the levels.

Can anyone post a link or post what ranges are acceptable.

once i find that the water is suitable, i'm going to purchase koi.
I'll be using the 1st, 2nd and 4th tanks for the fish and the 3rd is the sump.
Any idea on how many medium sized koi I will need to sustain 3 grow beds?

Thanks!

Just a Tip,
you need to cover the water as your nitrates go up you will get a pee soup.

Can you explain.
Cover the water as in cover the fish tanks? cover the whole system?

He means, when the nitrates go up, if there is sun getting to your tanks, you'll have algae growth, that'll look like a pea soups mixture. Stop the light getting in there, and it'll be fine.

How many litres does the grow beds hold?

It's hard to say exactly what the GB holds exactly, with the displacement from the grow media (pea pebbles) but i'd assume anywhere from 100~150 liters...

Maximum Safe Level of Total Ammonia - Mg/L

41 degrees F 50 degrees F 59 degrees F 68 degrees F 77 degrees F
pH 7.0 16.7 10.5 7.4 5.0 3.6
pH 7.5 5.1 3.4 2.3 1.6 1.2
pH 8.0 1.6 1.1 0.7 0.5 0.4
pH 8.5 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1
pH 9.0 0.2 0.1 0.09 0.07 0.05


Nitrite 0ppm if its 0.25 its bad
Nitrate 20-60ppm if its 120 its bad
PH 7~8.6 if below 6.5 add 1 tsp of baking soda for every 10g of water
koi prefer temp 35-85f

the table didnt copy very well, here is the original link to it

http://www.pondsystems.com/testing.html

So i got my first fish, didnt know Koi could be so expensive.
Ended up with a 18" and 3 fingerlings.

however they didnt pop up to eat this morning.. it is pretty cold outside so i'm assuming that since i'm not seeing them floating belly up that they should be ok.

Hi
You have entered the,’Patience Zone’
Do not adjust your PH. Do not overfeed the fish.
Test for; PH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate. Monitor the FT temperature.
Post your results.
Is your water still cloudy?
Do you have aeration?
Stand back. Have a beer and chill!
It’s tough I know but that’s your job
You are a Dad

Hi Titus, i've been working the past few day so i havent had a chance to test my ph, but i will to a full test tomorrow.

In my first tank i added 24 minnows, and 10 koi fish about 3~4"
in the second tank i put a big koi, about 18" and 4 about 5~6"

the first tank with the minnows and koi is very active, they come up to the top and feed, i can see them
in the second tank with the larger koi, they dont come up at all to feed.

the tanks all have air bars and have TONS of air, the little fish can be seen actually playing in the air, swimming in its wake.

the water is still cloudy but you can see about 5" before it gets too murky.

I also ordered some submersible LED lamps to put into each tank, so at night i can check on them..

I am a bit concerned about the 2nd tank since none of the fish are coming up to feed. Im assuming they're not dead otherwise they'd be floating to the top, lol.

Hey BadDad, where'd you find minnows? Sac/Yolo Vector Control was happy (even eager!) to give me mosquitofish. But I'd still like to get some minnows eventually.