Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I have had the system up for almost a month and started by transplanting some basil and thyme from a nursery. Turns out they have aphids, so my wife and I decided to discard those plants and start fresh from seeds.
My question is how do I keep the water clean for the fish until the seedlings start filtering the water on their own? Thanks for any tips.

I do still have about 6 green onion plants that are growing about an inch and a half a day in the system. I don't think that enough though.

The plants remove Nitrates but most of the filtering is done by the bacteria in the system that remove Nitrites and Ammonia. I wouldn't be too concerned about not having plants for awhile, fish can handle pretty high Nitrate levels. You may get some algae growth because of the extra nutrients in the system that aren't being used so it's good to get some plants growing again.

As scotty435 said, you should be able to go for a while without concern.

If you are starting to get worried then you have the option of doing water changes. Just use your AP water for the garden and it will go crazy It is always a good idea to dechlorinate your water before putting it in you AP. Smaller changes more frequently is also much better than a couple of big ones.

A better option would be to chuck a tomato in there while the rest of the plants get established. They are a nitrogen hungry plants and a good way to remove nitrates.

Okay, that makes me feel a little better. I am going to do a couple water changes just to be safe. Thanks you guys for your input.

You can also feed less or not at all for days or weeks but most of us like to keep things going if we can. Watch your Ammonia and Nitrite, that will tell you if you need to slack off feeding the fish and/or do a water change.

I finally got a test kit and found my ammonia is staying at 0. I tested after not feeding for 2 days and then after feeding the fish. As seen in the chart my nitrate and nitrite are off the charts as the instantly go to the high end of my tester. What gives? Any input is appreciated.

I'd keep doing water changes for a few more days. I feel it should have cycled already, or be close to it. Woukd you happen to be overfeeding? Coukd you post some pics of your system?

Lately I have only been feeding them once a day and I only feed them about a tablespoon of pellets. But I did not feed them for 2 days before the first test and then fed them only once before the second test. I have attached a few different pics of my system. The water kinda got a brown tint after I put in the coco coir. I have changed out a little over a quarter of the water over a 3 day period and it will not take the tint out of the water. I am guessing it will go away as the coco is broken in.

Here are the rest of the pics

Water change is a good idea. Have you salted for the Nitrites? It helps the fish with the Nitrite toxicity. During the water change is a good time and you need to do this, if you haven't, then salt to 1ppt which is 1KG salt per 1000L of water. Adjust for the volume of your system and Use Non-iodized salt. Dissolve the salt and add with the change out water. I'd stop feeding until the Nitrites go down.

Update. I have found the cause of my high nitrate and nitrite, there was a massive amount of solid waste and rock dust in the bottom of my growbed. I removed all the rocks but did not rinse. Also built an in line filter from the fish tank and a larger filter for the sump tank that both grow beds drain into. I will be doing a water change and test later today.

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