Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,

I have just set up a single-barrel system using siphon. I've let the system run for two days, without fish or plants, just to check if the system and the siphon are running correctly.

Today, before introducing the fish and plants, I have checked the pH using the strips, and its showing at 8, which from what I've read on forums here isn't too bad for the cycling process.

I had a few questions, I'm hoping you guys might be able to help me with:

1. I'm not certain whether to plant the seeds at the same time of adding the fish or at a later time, perhaps mid-cycling or once the cycling is complete? I will start cycling this system using small goldfish, about 6 to begin with and then add maybe 4-6 more gradually.

2. Is it recommended to add external sources of ammonia when cycling with fish (water & filter waste from another disease-free pond of aquarium)?

3. Are goldfish flakes enough to feed the fish?

4. I read on some other threads about introducing salt to keep the fish healthy. Is that a precautionary measure or to balance some sort of deficiency? Should I add it to my new system in the fish tank?

5. I also read about introducing worms to the bottom of the growbed, but I'm not clear as to what that achieves and when to add them.

6. What is the ideal time to plant the seeds in a fishless cycle? I'm making another similar system, which I will cycle using the fish-less method, to test and compare the results of both cycling methods.

I am really excited about this, and while these single barrels will work and I learn more about the processes, I am also working to design a bigger system which will allow me to raise edible fish.

1 you can put plants in before the fish seedlings are best when first planting out a system

2 to start the cycling you can use some water from the growbed of a friends system.

3 goldfish flakes are fine for the gold fish but you may need some aquaculture feed to get the vegetables growing well.

Don't forget we want pictures

Sent from my C6903 using Tapatalk

Thanks for your response Nat, I really appreciate your input.

Here are some photos of the system.




As I mentioned, I have setup two identical systems, with the only difference that one is cycling with fish and the other is fishless using pond water from a friend's pond.

In the first system with the fishes (6 of them), one goldfish died the first night and another the next night. The remaining four have been alive and well for the past 5 days. What I did was transfer the dead goldfish to the other system that is cycling fishless - was this a bad idea? I read it was good to use dead fish from an existing system to cycle a fishless system? Its been about 5 days since I've been cycling the second system with them.

There's bright news from this morning. The first system with the fish has started showing the basil sprouts It's really exciting...I wasn't expecting to see anything for a couple weeks atleast.

I'm planning on adding 4 more goldfish to this system, totalling 8. Is that a good idea?

With regards to the feed, should I alternate between the flakes and pellets? Would that be better for the plants?

Thanks again!

Looks to me you have about 1/4 of the barrel as a grow bed, which gives you about 50 litres of media.
This is probably enough to support / filter 6 gold fish. That doesn't sound like a lot but gold fish are dirty fish.
They poop as they eat, at least that is what the aquarium shop I got my feeder fish from told me.
I have a half barrel on its side with 90 litres of canna clay in it.

My systems started with ten fish, lost one to a cleaning accident and then a few weeks later had a terrible cold night and lost 7 more ( I thought Goldie's were tough, I've seen them in frozen over ponds ) I suspect it was the large rapid change in temp that got my fish, not a lot of water to buffer water temp change.

I would salt your fish system straight away to three parts per thousand. The wild swings with ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are quite rapid, and it's the quick change that fish can't handle.
I believe (read it somewhere ) that fish use the sodium to create their protective mucus. (The slimy feeling on them ) this protects them from a number of nasties.


Good luck and be patient
I'm glad I started small. I don't think my wife would have been happy to have lost a hundred $2 fish in a bigger system.