Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi TC, if you can find pure ammonia you can get cycling done with that. It took awhile to find some that didn't foam (foaming means detergents and dead fish) or have fragrance added, but the system was cycled in two weeks that way.

I was figuring on using humonia for cycling. I've been doing the experiments with aging the urine and such. One advantage of aging the urine before putting it in a system is that it is already converted to ammonia so the process doesn't need to wait for the urea to be changed before starting.

I got a pretty good deal on a chunk of pond liner today, 65 cents a SF so I got the 14' by 20' bit they had for a total of $182 before tax.

My plan is to make a 3' wide by 9' long in ground tank. It will extend 3' below grade and I plan to support the liner a good foot above grade to protect from run off water washing into the system during a heavy downpour which we do get on occasion. I only plan to fill the tank to a depth of 3' but the tank will actually be at least 4' deep. So, will have an in ground set up with a water capacity of 3 cubic yards (I like that the numbers and size of the liner work out so that I can order gravel or whatnot by the yard.)

In the picture I've pulled out the frame that used to shade the in ground tank and I've moved the troughs to become part of the drain system from the barrel-ponics rig down to the current in ground tank. The new lined pond will go where the troughs used to be (essentially where the photographer was standing to take the picture.) Now I just need to figure out where I'm going to put all the grow beds I'll need to run that much water!

Gonna have sand available soon. I'm getting ready to dig! I had to move the troughs that were the old Hydro system so they are now playing at being part of the drain from the barrel fish tank down to the in ground bin. I had to add another bin to allow draining without collecting too many extra leaves and such. (that bin was already modified and has been swiped for this purpose.)

I've built a frame for around the top of the lined in ground tank so that I can support the liner above grade to keep water from washing into the system over the ground. This frame will be on the outside of the liner and wrapped such that it can't contaminate the water. I will add legs to it when I can measure the right hight for them.

I've added the first 500 ML of Hummonia to the system to start some cycling! I would guess that there is roughly 100 gallons of water throughout the system and urrently perhaps over 80 gallons of media (50 + gallons of river rock in the half barrels, 4 + cu ft <or 28+ gallons of a mixture of stuff> in one of the troughs and another 1/2 cu ft (3 1/2 gallons) in the top floating plant tank.) A bit later I will take some tests to see if that amount of ammonia has any effect. There are already plants in the system so I expect that they will take up the nitrate quickly once it starts forming.

Started digging a bit and experimenting with how to "wash sand" or try and get the coarsest stuff of in the system.

Cut another barrel to make 2 grow beds that I can hopefully use sand in.

And here are the test results several hours after adding the bottle of Hummonia.

pH Hi Range 8.0 (looks like I'll need to lower it a little or balance with
rain water)
Ammonia 2-3 ppm looks like (higher than expected I think)
Nitrite 0 (as expected)
Nitrate 0 (as expected)

On a side note, my pH test strips are completely inaccurate. Ok I won't say completely because they will show a reading if something is really strongly one way or the other but the pH test strip showed between 6 and 7 when I tested the system water (essentially no change) and the drops definitely show a high pH. I've been using the test strips to check the urine getting to nine since they show the complete range but I expect they are causing me to age the urine longer than needed, hard to tell since even the hi range drops don't go to nine. I have an electric pH tester but it seems even less reliable than the papers.

Hi TC. Multiple folks have verified that the strips are only roughly accurate. Good for a ballpark, but not good for precise numbers.

Glad to see things moving along.

wow, 500 mega litres! you must have had a big night!

Steve, we're not being pedantic are we? I thought that was my role :-)

What is humonia btw? best I can come up with is the human-ammonia hybrid? I did a google define and came up with nothing

hummonia = wee or urine

uh huh, that was my guess... the terms ppl coin are crazy sometimes! :-)

I just had to copy this quote here so I would be able to find it again easier when I need it. I find searching for anything on this forum to be challenging.

Anyway, here are test results for this morning.
Water temp between 10 and 11 am 52F or 11C
pH still 8
Ammonia still between 2 and 3 ppm
Nitrite .25 ppm
Nitrate between 0 and 5, I'm going to guess around 1 or 2 ppm by the color.

Wow, I wasn't really expecting things to move along quite so quickly!

And of course that was a type-O when I put 500 ML, it should be 500mL or a half liter.

That is about all I can report for today as I worked a late load out last night and am going in to work a show at the convention center this afternoon. I am so torn between needing to work and wanting to stay home and play in the garden.

TC, wouldn't that be a pint in your neck of the woods? :-)

SHHHHH!

We've managed to all but convert the americans to using the proper units, don't undo years of work, KP!

hehehe guess I'm still bitter about only being able to get a schooner in NSW, no pints or pots... weird ppl... and a scotch and coke comes in a piddly little 5 ounce glass or something! What's wrong with a tumbler ppl!?
Oh yeah, and NO SHOTS in most pubs?!?!?! but you can order a tequila on ice! it's just a shot in a bigger glass! and no double shots, but they will give you a scotch on the rocks with your scotch and coke, but you have to mix it!
Sorry this should be on the ranting page...