Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

This site is great and there is a shed-full of info here. Problem is, I don't have the time, skills or dependable enough internet service to sift thru the site to find answers to all my questions and various possible scenarios. Can anyone recommend an all inclusive "How to" manual or reference book that covers all/most of the basic theory and key factors in designing and operating a system? Thanks in advance

Dan

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/furth ... mation.htm

This is where I started with Joels book package. Comes with a CD and DVD and it is one I would recommend on aquaponics. People all around the world have bought it and as you can tell by this forum they have built systems and shared information with others.

+1
I once saw the dvd at my FIL's been hooked ever since.

+1.

If all you were looking for is instructions on how to build a little system, I might tell you to look up barrel ponics and you could download the manual but it really only tells how to build a system, not necessarily how to run it, maintain it, or keep fish healthy.

Here is a link to a few free dowloadable ones but I agree with the above, Joel's manual and DVD is a really good starting point.
http://www.farmfountain.com/links.html

and this one has a pic by Joel on it
http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/aquaponic.html

Thanks, that was the direction I was going to go in and you all confirmed it. Now, I have an IBC system set up, PH kit, Amonia kit and nitrate kit, where would I go in this site to get some guidance on what to look for with these test kits.

Pictures to come

Look for liquid test kits. They take more time to perform than the dip strips but have been known to be more accurate. After the first 5-10 times, you get into a rhythm anyhow. Most of us always check temp, pH, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. pH affects fish stress/health and plant intake, and the other three let you know how your two different beneficial bacteria are operating. If all of these are in check, then you are probably cycling good. Get a thermometer. You want water temps 75-80F, pH of around 6.8 normally (each system is different for this one), ammonia and nitrite levels at 0, and nitrate levels above 0 but below maximum (which indicates plants are getting enough nutrients but not trying to take more than you are supplying).

Actually, you can easily cycle with a much wider range of pH and temperature. There are many people here who started cycling their systems with a pH over 8 (me included) and water temps below 70 F. A high pH (so long as it isn't buffered there by limestone grow bed media) is not a bad thing to start since pH usually drops as cycling completes, even starting with high pH water, one should always be prepared to add buffering to their system as the pH starts to drop.

The warmer water temps are nice for cycling since it makes things go quicker but I started my AP adventure in winter and I still managed to fishless cycle in well under 6 weeks, though our winters are pretty mild.

I strongly recommend fishless cycling since you can get used to testing the water and making sure your system is functioning well before you are risking the life and health of your little fishies. You can look up fishless cycling for lots of info there.

Generally, bringing the level of ammonia up to about 1 ppm is plenty high enough to get cycling started, much more than that and it can slow the process down. Once the ammonia level starts to drop, you should see the Nitrite level rise, the nitrite spike usually takes longer to pass and if there are fish in the system, adding some salt can help protect them from the nitrite some. As you start seeing rising Nitrate readings, you know that the cycling is progressing. Once a systems is cycled up to it's "load" of fish, you want ammonia and nitrite readings to be as close to 0 as possible and the Nitrate readings hopefully somewhere in the middle. Some people have run with crazy high nitrate with no fish problems and other people somehow manage to grow great plants and yea their Nitrate readings are always 0 so don't stress too much about Nitrate readings right off.

It is a good idea to do a practice test on your source water just to know what you are starting with. It is also a good idea to run the pH test right out of the tap and then set some water aside for a day and run the pH test again just so you know what kind of variation you tap water will give you. Water immediately out of the tap may read falsely low due to dissolved CO2 and once it has time to escape, the pH will read higher, this phenomenon has caused many people all sorts of confusion.

"I strongly recommend fishless cycling since you can get used to testing the water and making sure your system is functioning well before you are risking the life and health of your little fishies"

Agreed 100%

I don't like the added stress of dealing with an uncycled system full of hungry fish. I've done both methods. Heck, I have a whole system that runs fishless normally My own special recipe of hydroponics if you will

Which system produces more veggies TCLynx?

it is hard to compare between the fishless and fishfull systems since they are comparable systems. One is under plastic and shade cloth while the other is exposed. One is around 1000 gallons of fish tank and the other is less than 50 gallons of fish tank.

However, I suspect they are pretty darn close in what they can produce veggie wise in a given square foot of grow bed. They both require about the same supplementation of iron and potassium, gallon for gallon (so while the big system might get a pint of maxi crop the barrel system gets a cap full) etc. With a fishless system you have far more leeway about how high you can run the nutrients and what you can supplement with and what pest control you could use on the plants but then you might never get to put fish in such a system if you are not careful what you use.

Awesome! To fish or not to fish, 'tis the question. Great way to start a system on pure ammonia and get the plants and bacteria going, then if the water levels are good, add the fish, if not, just keep it going as a complicated hydroponics setup. Either way you get veggies and experience for the next system.

I actually think it is pretty simple compared to hydroponics but that is just cause I hate draining and dumping out the old hydro nutrient then re-filling with fresh every few weeks or so.