Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Give them three in the morning and two at night... check your ammo before the night feed..

Im only giving them 2 at night.
Shoud i go upto 5 per day?

Sorry Darrell... thought you were feeding 2 spoons twice daily... was thinking of Bree...

Nope... move to 3 spoons per day to start with... split into two feeds preferably... if the system handles it without too much of a blip... then you can go to 2 x 2 spoons...

Gone to 3 spoons since Friday and all ok so far. Amo risen a little but only the slighest hint of green. Nitrites 0, Nitrates just showing.
Harvested my first feed of Rocket, lettus and corriander on the week end, what a joy
Trout look like they have grown a little as well.

sounds good darrell now, a hint of green means nothing as Ph is low and temp should be low also, temp here this morning 1.4c and 5 at 9am I can't get my nitrites below about .5 but I am sure it's because of this *frack* ing cold

RWTD, looks like your system is close to being cycled.

I believe I have the same setup, 1000L + 2GB. My system is at the point where you were where you had Amm 1 but no nitrites and nitrates. I think the system has been like that for almost over a week now. Although I believe there was some rain that came through and possibly stuffed up the system. Have been feeding 40 trouts every other day, sometimes two days once.

It was good to know that you have experienced something similar. Gives me some light at the end of the tunnel at least.

Hi Ivansng
I have the same system with 49 trout and some goldfish. I have now increased my feed to 2 table spoons morning and night. The Amo has risen a little but nothing to worry about. My PH however has now started to drop down to 6.2 so I spose this is just another part of the cycling process. I have added a little ph up to bring it bach as close to 7 as possible.
My veg have really taken off with several feeds off it in the last few days. I bought some snow peas and sugar snaps a week ago to plant in the dirt bed but left them on the gb for a week, I planted them this weekend but the root had grown so far into the gb it was very hard to pull them out. The roots had grown about 150mm into the gb, wow that was fast.

RWTD, it is good to know that you are reaping something from the growbeds. My wife is patiently waiting for her vege she planted a few weeks ago to grow. I think she is slowly thinking that if she has put them into the ground, she would probably have something to eat by now.

I have put the same veg in our dirt bed and they are no where near advanced as the ones in the AP system.
Mind you the chooks give them a little touch up when they get out

Well I think the keyword is "advanced". My system is still thinking about cycling. Still a baby.

Well its been a few months of plain sailing but since going to the 4mm pellets the water quality has gone south. The PH is constantly going up to 7.4, AMO 1, rite .25 and the rate 5.0. The system has had great readings for over a month now but all of a sudden it has gone to s!@t.
Is it the change of season?
The water temp has gone from 10 to 15 over the last few weeks.
Any feed back??

What's your current feed rate Darrell? .... and how often?

Drop a feed out every day for three days if you're feeding twice daily... otherwise just feed once a day for three or four days...

Despite appearances, with the warmer weather... and extra feed... your system is probably still not completely cycled...

Your water quality... or appearance is probably due to the fact that the little buggers are just doing their business... and more of it... trout are actually surprisingly dirty...

What's your pumping cycle?

I am feeding twice a day. How much is an unknown, its about a cup a day or a little more. How much should I be feeding them at this stage? I have been running the pump 15 on 30 off for 12 hours and 15 on 45 off for 12 hours over night. I have just changed it to 15 on 30 off 24/7 to see if it clears the water a little. I will cut the feed to half a cup per pay for the next few days.

Maybe a bit too much food. They will probably only have 3 - 5 pellets a day each, I think your's are relatively small?