Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm sure I cycled too, currently have 50 Murray cod in there, and 7 very large and fat goldfish (they were supposed to be sacrifical). Plenty of poop floating around in there, but nothing showing up on the tests.

But probably too lightly stocked until they get a bit bigger. Everything still seems to grow quite well.

it doesnt sound too lightly stocked, but i dont know the volume. who knows why you never saw the ammonia, it would have been there at some point though.

They were tiny when I got them, and not big eaters.

I think I just had a very large amount of media in comparison to the fish waste, and had plants growing nicely before plants were even added.

Thanks for the suggestions and input everyone.

I just took my levels again and here is what I've got:

06/03/14 Unit #1 Unit #2
pH 8.4 8.2 (Unit#1 rose .2 ppm)
Ammonia 0 0
Nitrite 0 .25 (first reading above 0)
Nitrate 0 5 (first reading above 0)
Temp 66 F 66 F

Good news: no dead fish yesterday or so far today (that's a first since getting the fish).
Bad news: pH is rising in unit #1 | NO2 & NO3 rising in Unit #2

QUESTION #1
How should I lower the pH?

QUESTION #2
Is there a "best practice" for adding alkaline (high pH) tap water? I'm using a 5 gallon water cooler now - setting it in the sun for 2 days after filling before adding to tank.

QUESTION #3
I have 2 rain water barrels (55 gal each) that are full but the water has never been tested and has been allowed to sit for years without any dumping. What are the risks and/or precautions associated with incorporating this water into the systems? The barrels came with the house (bought in 2010) and I've never cleaned them.

Thanks to all for the awesome support.

GW

I'm not an expert, but I would dump those rain barrels, clean them out and start collecting rain water.

For the high pH water, treat your top up water with muriatic acid down to a pH of 6-6.5, let it sit 24 hours and then add it to the tank. That way you are not adding additional carbonates.

Also the tetra flakes won't do much for growth of anything, fish or plants. If you need to make the aquaculture pellets smaller, just mash them up.

Thanks ronmaggi. Now I'm saying to myself, "duh"! Of course I should have just ground the pellets! Hikari Staple is a higher quality food, no doubt.

Speaking of food, any suggestions for a high quality fish food or feeding regimen?

Thanks

GW

If you are crusty like me, you would order some organic feed. There are about three suppliers online. The quality from all three is great. One I hadn't ordered from before because they don't post their phone number on their website. However, they send the phone number in their confirmation email. So now I feel comfortable ordering from them too. The pellet size is slightly smaller, but my tilapia still smash them.

Thanks for that. Do you have any brand names to recommend? Or suppliers?

Try your Google fu.

Nice.