Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

You know, I think VB has a point. Given the length of time, you would have some Ammonia and Nitrite if you weren't established. I was thinking that maybe your bacteria wasn't established yet due to massive rainwater changes, but maybe that doesn't make sense. I second the vote for a Nitrate test, I would remove the shells, and consider lemon juice used very carefully. (I hate pH bouncing. I killed half of a mated pair of severums that way.)

--Janet.

The nitrates vote has carried.

See it could go either way.......i know big red had such a HUGE tank that he wasn't registering any ammo or nitrite 3 weeks on (so cycle wouldn't have even started) due to low stocking densities.

gonna have to test! actually the more i think about it the more i think this is right......................



I never caught your tank size, but if its the black tank from the picture it look to be between 2000 and 4000 ltrs.

just do a nitrate test mate.

STeve

I will get the nitrates test some time tomorro

Its ruffly 1800 ltrs in all

Well I removed the sea shell and the ph dropped to 7.7 and ppm to 290 in about 2 mins.

The water has cleared up some as I can see the fish from about 5 feet under.

And the fish are moving way faster and eating more too in fact I have never seen them this active.

I also placed a lime in the water to see of this would have and effect on the ph. also I took some pics of the plant for comparison

Hi CG,
Do I understand correctly: You placed a whole, un-cut lime in the water? That will not affect the pH. Squeeze the juice into the water. Although one lime in 1800 liters of water won't make any difference. It does sound like things are moving in a better direction. Have you gotten a nitrate test yet? I was re-reading your earlier posts, and noted that you are only putting in one teaspoonful of food in each day. That's not very much food to make fish-poo out of. I still wonder if your nitrogen cycle is not started very well, but the best way to tell if your plants have what they need is to get that nitrate test.

--Janet

OMG, i completely missed the bit about a teaspoon of food in per day!

CG, if your ammonia and nitrite and NITRATE are all zero then up the food

start off with a table spoon per day for a week

Ok I COME with smiles and many praises to all the people that helped me with this system.

THANK YOU ALL

A check this morning shows that there was growth in the leaves a little but there was some and the water is crystal clear so I think it’s safe to say that the system has been cycled and ready to be stocked to capacity.

The changes made were to feed with a table spoon per day and to remove the outer pipe off the siphon to make it a continual flow (I will dump it once a day to make sure that there are no dead spots in the water circulation of the system. And to add a water fall in the big fish tank.

Once again thanks to you all for the help

How ever I did not source the nitrate test. But it’s working so I don’t think that it is needed at this point.

Which makes me wonder how much do you guys feed your fish per day is a table spoon a day very little?

Obviously this would be in relation to how big the system is but I would like a rough guide

CB, if you can possibly still get the nitrate test and keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite it would be wise.

The thingm with the nitrogen cycle is that a given tank will grow enough beneficial bacteria to support the ammonia load (number of fish and feed rate).

If you suddenly double the feeding quantity then the system will go through another cycle where the bacteria need to catch up to the new feed rate (ammonia output).

What i'm saying is increase the fish population or feeding amount gradually. keep it at a table spoon of a week or so at least then go up in increments.

How much do i feed? when i had 20 5inch silver perch in my tank i'd go through 25 grams per day

Don't know what koi are like, but if they're like goldies, then they'll eat till the get sick. perch are smarter, they eat until they're full then turn their nose up at the food. thats when i stop feeding until the afternoon.

Steve

this is why i feed so little because a koi will eat to death i will replace them with talapia soon enough. I think this is the better fish for the job.

(allso i am thinking of going vert, Mediumless Vertical ? hummmmmmmm)

good idea on the tilapia. Los of knowledge here with J7au and MF.

Get going with the setup you have now. run it for a few months, then when you're satisfied that everything is bullet proof start playing around with different mediums and stuff. makes faultfinding soooo much easier.

Steve

up date as to what i have been up too, mostly tending to the fish nowadays.

put in some letues heads raised the grow beds so the output fall direct in the tank.

the fish are doing well but the plants leaves are yellowing

how for the inside

can any one see the problem i am haveing? i cant. the fish are growing but not the plants the last set of plant were fried when i lef the system plug out for 3 days

do i need more fish?

Do a water test. If your nitrate is low, then you need more fish poo.

It's hard to tell from the close-up, but is it the older leaves or younger leaves that are yellowing?

If it is the older leaves that are going yellow, and the newer leaves are green but smallish, then you need more fish poo (nitrogen).

If the younger leaves are the ones yellowing, and the leaves are yellowing first between the veins, then you need more iron. Add chelated iron, or maybe just some rusty nails.

Those are the two most likely deficiencies. Shop around here
http://3e.plantphys.net/article.php?ch=t&id=289
and see if there are other deficiencies you like better.

btw, the rest is looking really nice!!