Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Now that I have the system up and running, it's time to think about populating it with bacteria, plants and fish.

I have a bathtub pond up the back that has had lillies growing in it for about 2 years, and there's a bit of green slime in it (I guess that would be algae). To boost the bacteria production, is it a good idea to grab some of this water and add it to the GBs?

Also, I was thinking about grabbing some seedlings tomorrow. IF I do, naturally they need some nutrients. I read here that Seasol can be added whilst there are no fish. If so, how much should I add?

There will probable be a bit of 'sludge' in the bottom of the bathtub. Thats the stuff you want to bury in the growbeds.

I recall someone saying that the bacteria are not really present in the water - but are in the solids.

Seedling can go in straight away - and seasol can be added when there are fish as well - if you are nutrient deficient.

Add enough seasol to turn the water a bit brown.

A word of warning, dont do what I did, you can if you want, but I dont recommend it, its heart breaking.

Now you have your system set up, cycle it with ammonia, and bacteria and no fish. Or all sorts of hassels you will have, with fish dieing , ammonia spiking, mega huge, and constant water changes.

Wish I would of, or cycle with a few goldfish and guppies. Good luck mate.

If you have a worm bin, a few worms and a small hand full/blob of castings into each bed can help kick start your little eco system a bit too.

I highly recommend the fishless cycling. Urea or ammonia, if you can find the pure stuff, works as does a little old fashion humonia (as in urine.) And the plants won't mind growing in a fishless system if you keep feeding the bacteria you are growing the plants will get fed too.

I'll try some sludge from the pond and some castings/worms from the worm farm. That should give it a good start. A fishless cycle is what I intend to get up and running.

I'm now trying standpipes with drainholes. They take approximately 20 minutes to fill and about 5-10 to drain. Given that, what would you recommend for timings for the pump (including day/night differences)?

Thanks again everyone

Hi Ryan

Just to throw a spanner in the works. I am toying with the idea of having both autosiphons (loop not bell) and stand pipes in my beds and running the system on a timer.

Basically if the pump turns of before the siphon kicks in then the stand pipe will take over and slowly drain the bed. The stand pipe will also act as an overflow if the loop siphon ever gets clogged up.

It mean a little extra plumbing and cutting two holes in the grow beds but hey it does provide multiple options.

Finally got around to taking some snapshots of the new system!

Things I'm mindful of are:
The amount of aeration. When I had the siphons, they provided a lot more "splash". Currently the standpipes are constantly trickling out a lot slower. Not sure if this will provide enough oxygen. How do I test for DO?

Pump cycle. The system is currently taking about 20 minutes to fill, and about 10 minutes to drain. I've got the pump set at 30 minutes on, 30 minutes off from 5am to 7pm, and not pumping at night. Is this suitable, or can anyone suggest a better routine?

I've added about 3 caps (30ml) of Seasol to feed the plants whilst on the inital fishless cycle. Is this enough, and how much/how often should I add more?

I've bought a test kit, and yesterday before the Seasol it showed about 7.8ph, no ammonia, no nitrite and I'm yet to test for nitrate, but I assume that would be 0 also. I'll test it again tomorrow night. Ran out of time this afternoon.

Nice job on the barrels Ryan... wish I'd strapped mine like that...

yeh, worked out pretty cheap, and also keeps them from spreading

Very neat, way to go

Way to go Ryan

Most who use a timer have been working at 15 on 45 off, so 30/30 would be okay and also add more aeration...if you switch off at night though, you should have an air stone or 2 running in the fish tank if you have fish in there (not required until you stock the tank)

Seasol will probably give you an NO3 reading, but you really need to cycle the system before bothering with it

Keep up the reports

Seasol has nothing to do with the Ammonia side of the system?? It is a nutrient drink, not a nitrogen drink.

30 / 30 is fine. Air overnight needed.

hi ryan,
My syphons are always out of sink. I have a timer with bell syphons, sometimes a bed will partially fill and then the pump will turn off. This will be the first bed to drain next time and it has not seemed to make much difference. Others may not aggree.

Is it possible to run it on a 30/30 cycle 24/7, to keep the DO up during the night?

Hi Ryan

I think 30/30 is a little excessive. I run 15/45 24/7 so I would suggest 30/45 or 30/60 24/7. I kept very quiet while you were dealing with auto-syphon issues, as you know I work on the KISS principle.

I do like your stands, very neat. Good work.

cheers
Derek