Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I had a pretty substantial fish die off. 23 of 25 minnows died. Two minnows and two goldfish remained alive. Apparently the minnows didn't like the iron.

I immediately removed the fish and tested the water. I was expecting to see an ammonia spike. It was 0. So were nitrites and nitrates.

My nitrates have been at 0 for a while now and plants (except for a tomato) have ceased growing in my system again, so I've been adding fish on a weekly basis to try and get the nitrates at least to a low reading.

The real question - if it happens again, should I (could I) leave the dead fish in to produce ammonia and consequently nitrates?

I replaced all the fish and still have a 0,0,0 reading.

I think it would be best to remove the dead fish so you can properly control your levels by supplementing nutrients if required.

Thanks for the response. That is the logical move.

I had a couple of deaths, and I was curious about the same thing, since I was finally getting nitrite/nitrate readings. I was curious what people would say.

I wasn't sure if there'd be other toxins that'd leach out/be created from the rotting fish. And if they'd take out the other fish. Safer than sorry.

Commercial fish feed is basically processed dead fish so leaving uneaten fish feed in your FT isn't really much different from leaving dead fish in there

That's what I was thinking and why I was curious, but also had same concern as CBB - are there other toxins that may cause problems?

Guess I'll just have to experiment myself if I have any more deaths. In the mean time, need to go buy more fish. Still not registering any nitrates.

There is a you tube clip I saw about getting your system started that said to put a dead fish or crab in the system to get the ammonia started, they also recommended some bleach or peeing in your system?
Now please don’t anyone start a thread about peeing in your system just in case my daughter reads this website, no I have never peed in the water, but I did put two small bottles of stress zyme in my grow beds and the sea-sol, to get it going, before adding the fish and plants,

Urine as an ammonia source has been talked about a lot on the BYAP. Often you'll see the terms 'pee ponics' or 'humonia' used in reference to it. I personally find the latter the most amusing.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2534&hilit=Peeponics#p94324

TCLynx.

So I found a single dead fish today an I left him. Readings are still 0,0,0.

umm I like this topic.. soo you want to get your ammonia up quickly I see. Then turn to anerobic digestion.. basically let your solids accumulate in a localized point say in a RFF filter and allow a 'sludge blanket' to build up on the base of the filter. after about 3 to 4 day you will surely start to see ammonia levels... mind you spikes in nitrite will happen and algae bloom will occur as well.. concerning the dead fish being left into the system... I wouldnt encourage it because if it was a disease that caused the fish death in the first place... the sickness will bloom in you water for a long time if the affected fish is left to decay.

Gee thanks! Getting the kid to eat veggies that are grow in fish poo is going to be hard enough, if she even thinks or sees anything about me peeing in the water? then I am going to be eating a lot off veggies by my self,

I put a cover around my fish tank on Saturday, and I got high readings on nitrates and nitrates! On Sunday, Apparently, if you have any algae in your system they will adsorb it all? But once you make the tank dark, all those nitrates and nitrites are realest back into the water,

Vida? Is you system new? As they don’t recommend putting anything but leafy vegetables in your system until its established, and tomatoes are really hungry plants apparently, nitrate wise, I think the guy said to add potassium or your growth wont get any fruit?

The system is about 9 months old. It's been fully cycled since January, but I've been fighting with all sorts of issues.

My biggest problem seems to be my "virgin" water. It runs through a water softener that I haven't salted for years, but I can't bypass it. It seems to be doing a great job without the salt. So now I'm playing with calcium and potassium to raise hardness and try to get things other than the tomato plant to grow.

Currently, these fish aren't dying from disease, but system stresses. Can't find the dead guy today and I finally got the slightest bit of indication of nitrates. Not quite 5ppm. Interesting too, the ph dropped from 7.4 to 6.5 overnight.

Can't bring myself to pee into the system, and if my kids ever found out, they'd never eat a thing grown in ti! (not that I'm getting anything to grow anyway)

Vida, don't pee into your system but into a 'humonia' bucket. Then add humonia to your system as required, to achieve the chemical and biological balance desired. Surely your kids will understand that sometimes special additives are required to make things better!

Once you achieve some vegetable growth then you can concern yourself with whether or not the young'uns will eat it. My bet is that not only will they eat it but they will love it!