Backyard Aquaponics
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Just purchased a super test kit from BYAP, now I will be Dangerous, I have the following results, can the guru's tell me if it is good or bad
Ph = 7.6
Ammonia = 1.5ppm
No2 = 1ppm
No3 = 10ppm
from what I can work out my PH is OK, Ammonia a touch high, No2 a touch high and No3 a touch low
How did I go, don't scare me now

Hi Nocky. A fully cycled system should have no ammo or nitrite. Nitrate is no biggie. If it is there, plants grow, if not feed more but not til ur system is cycled.
I would not feed until ur ammo and nitrite returns returns to zero. Seems to indicate u have a partly cycled system or a lot of uneaten food in ur tank. Will have to check ur thread. Hope u have heaps of water flowing thru, it will help mitigate the ammo and nitrite.

TT2 the set up as it is has been cycling for about a month, but the whole thing since easter, about a month ago I put in a 4800lph pump in a 2400lt system, my original pump was only 1200lph, a miss calculation on my part but things went a bit green for with small pump hence the change, things are clearing up in tank though and Collies growing on the side of the tank are just getting going so I think things are coming good, by the book I didn't think tests were so bad, Marron and Pygmy Perch like the PH level and Marron will live up to 8.5 or more, I think ammonia is a problem more than any, what is the solution there, more cycling?

You really shouldnt have any ammonia or nitrite at all...run the pump some more to help with that.

My big system still hasnt got any nitrate at all - everything still grows good.

None of them reading are to be scared of, its only a big problem if you cant see through the test tube

Just read ur thread, very innovative system. Some quick observations:
nitrifying bacteria need air, most of ur growbeds are in pots in the water 24/7. This means there are anaerobic zones of matter underwater, no ammo conversion, or at best slow conversion. Ultimately u will get hydrogen sulphide in the base of the pots and that is BAD.
The pvc tube will help but that needs to colonise with bacteria. It's only been going a while so still needs time. Whatever you do, don't put tomatoes or pumpkins in that tube, it will clog everything in no time and ur ammo issues will return. I would use it as a strawb or lettuce gb, even climbing beans for tank shade or snow peas.
Do whatever you can to get a blue barrel, cut it in half and fill both halves with gravel and do the loop siphon + standpipe thing. I guarantee ur problems will disappear. Build a small stand between ur tank and the shadecloth and let the barrels drain by gravity back to the ft. Put ballvalve taps on ur lines into these gbs. With a bit of tweaking u can run 24/7 pumping but have the beds flood and drain. It's neat.

You will ALWAYS have ammo and hence fish health problems if you do not add more gbs. The tubing is a nice start but no where near enough.

The aeration u are currently running is terrific as far as it goes, but u need somewhere for ur bacteria to do its nitro conversion thang. GBs man.

You need much more grow bed space. Please don't think I am being a prick, but you are asking for trouble without the extra gbs. They are the cornerstone of the whole aerobic nitrification process.

TT2 I have a in tank (homemade) bio filter as well but more grow beds will happen in time, I am experimenting with various idea's, I like hearing won't work as this is a challenge to make it work, I will be now determined to grow Pumpkins and tomato's sorry TT, you have to hit me with reverse psychology.
But the question remains how bad are my results? I thought we were looking for a bit of nitrate and the ammonia isn't that high

Many people think of ammonia or nitrite readings above 1 ppm of HSM and get ready to do water changes. If you have readings in those ranges as "normal" and not simply as part of initial cycling or sudden increase of fish/feed load, then I fear for the health of your fish long term.

You definitely need a good amount of additional surface area (gravel, filter media, whatever) in a highly aerated environment or better yet, flood and drain.

As to growing toms or pumpkins in tubes, I won't say it can't be done since people do manage to do it. Many people eventually quit doing it because of the regular clogging/overflow problems they get sick of dealing with.

I think things are still cycling as plants are just taking off, will test next weekend and see if any difference, I knew tge test kit would cause me more stress

man I just saw Outback Oz's ammonia viewtopic.php?f=18&t=2218&start=555 what am I worried about

And nothing died

Some people stress too much

Dont forget, that was a very short duration spike, 2 days from 0 to off scale, back to 0. Long term readings are bad....

Well a week later I have new test results
Week 1
Ph = 7.6
Ammonia = 1.5ppm
No2 = 1ppm
No3 = 10ppm
Week 2
Ph = 8.0
Ammonia = 1.5ppm
No2 = 1.5ppm
No3 = 10ppm

Ammonia is still the same, what do I need to bring it down, or is it not bad, PH is up a bit more, but Pygmy Perch and Marron can tolerate it but again how to get it down a tad, should I turn pump on 24/7 for a while pump is on 1hr of 1/2 hour all day and is 4800lph in 2400lt tank

You need more growbed space Nocky, or less fish life. Thats all

I would not run with readings like that, the system could very easily tip over the edge and get a big spike in ammonia, sudden temp drop or similar would bring it on.

Nocky, have you considered using a course sand in your filter rather than the large gravel? This would give bacteria a much larger surface area to colonise - not sure if your pump would be able to push water through it though? Stuffing it full of shade cloth might work okay too?

Another option, though requires a bit of work - put a layer of fairly fine gravel on the bottom of the tank and pump water (perhaps venturi aerated) through it - again giving more surface area for bacteria.

As others have suggested, if you can cut back on feed for a while you should see a drop in your readings.

You've obviously got some bacteria working - they may just need a little more time or a little more surface area to grow on.

What can you do to change the readings, Hum.

pH will depend on the pH of your source water and the buffering from any media you have. 8 is probably ok while starting to get cycled. However, you don't have anywhere near the bio filter capacity you need going there and the high pH is going to make that steady high ammonia reading far more dangerous to your creatures. If your source water has a pH at or below what you have going, I'd say do some partial water changes for now while you work on setting up an emergency bio filter.

To get the Ammonia and Nitrite down, you will need to increase your biofilter capacity big time and ASAP.

Here are a few ideas to get an emergency bio filter going quickly and cheaply.
Get any sort of bin or container that can hold liquid/be plumbed/and that you can figure out some way to support over your tank or next to the tank but higher up. Fill that bin with whatever you have that won't kill your fish. Gravel, soap free scrubbies, untreated shade cloth and netting, bits of food/drink containers plastic bottle caps, anything to give you surface area. Hook it up with a loop siphon or bell siphon and start pumping your water through it. Other light weight and not too expensive stuff you could get to put in it include perhaps lava rock (be sure to rinse first as it will turn your water red, it will still tint things red for a while even after rinsing but this is a gravel that definitely needs washing) busted up flower pots, bits of pond liner, small cut off bits of plumbing, heck, why not just dump the box of plumbing fittings into there till you need them. Anything, you really need more bio filter ASAP. That is going to be the only way to bring/keep your Ammonia and Nitrite levels down until you can get some more real grow beds online.

Either that or you need to be doing water changes until you can get more real grow beds online.

I know of some really big AP systems that use untreated shade cloth and netting as their primary biofilter. A nice big trash can full of it with the water pumping through with extra aeration (air pump and air stone) or do it flood and drain to get the extra aeration.

OB minus 2 this morning is a sudden cold change and maybe why bacteria are not growing, I didn't think my results were that bad, man Marron and Pygmy Perch have been living in Tank for almost 3 months, my PH has always been 7.6 - 8.0 but didn't worry about the other things because I didn't test for them.
TC my water originally tap water with almost neutral PH and gets topped up by rain water, have an in tank filter around 27lt container filled with gravel and Blue Metal plus shade cloth, also have around 30lts of Blue metal and 25lts of clay balls in grow bed and 50lts of blue metal and around 300 kg of river stone in tank, if ammonia was to stay at 1.5ppm is that bad, it may have been at the level for a couple of months with no effects on fish, marron and mussels and isn't nitrogen what we need for the plants, if I read the book right No3 is ok but No2 is a tad high?