Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

its happening

any day now...

I presume I should still maintain the every second day feed routine??

Excellent to see something is starting to happen.
Maybe those few warmer days really kicked things along.
Pitty the rain is supposedly back tomorrow.

Test again soon and let us know if things progress more.

Dont realy like the green one

Hmm... yes... waiting for the green one to turn yellowish, and the yellow one to turn orange or reddish.
And the purple one to either remain or turn bluish...

Ivan may take a week, but now things are finally happening let it go, it's not that green and not that purple unless it's changed since last pic, but still may go up, feed fish a little less until amm comes down, but sometimes takes a month for a system to cycle, you are almost starting from scratch remember

Well I have not done another test yet. Maybe later this evening. Well if the system is starting from scratch,
it is much quicker this time round. Last time, I waited 2 weeks and still no nitrites. Anyways, I will monitor the
tests over the next week or so. Reading the forum, I know that Ammonia and Nitrite cannot be too high, but
Nitrate can be high. I have already lots of sprouting seeds ready to take up the nitrate.

Patience... not really, just planning System 2. A diversion of attention.

well your system did have a trace of elements left, Amm at 2 will be safe for a while in low temps and low pH, just watch the fish Ivan, if they look sick then changes may need to happen, but for now let it be, nitrate is good for plant growth and a fish doc told me (posted somewhere in the forum) that nitrate will only be a problem if intending to breed fish

Nitrate isn't a problem unless > 500 ... and prolonged, and under some circumstances... don't worry about nitrate, you can always add more plants or growbeds...

Tested today about 6pm again.

pH - 8
Amm - 1+ to 2
Nitrite - 0.5 (up from 0.25)
Nitrate - 5

Come on Nitrobacter.

yes ivan it is coming along fine, don't stress if Amm and Nitrite goe up a bit more they will come down in a couple of days, just monitor the fish, as long as they are happy don't change anything keep doing what you're doing

Okay. I just added a bit more salt for precaution.

Patience Ivan... things are happening...

Just as a note... cycling a system from scratch (unseeded) will IMO take at least 6-8 weeks during winter...

Water test today at approx. 6pm.

pH - 8
Amm - 1+
Nitrite - 1 (up from 0.5)
Nitrate - between 5 - 10 (I think)

The nitrite is sure going up almost daily. Is it alright if it reaches 2?? Well from 1 to 2, there is no in-between, and since it is a comparison of colour, it could be 2+ quite quickly.

If nitrite reaching 2 is an issue, please let me know. I assume the fix is water changes??

Nope... just salt to 1ppt... don't feed and wait for the ammonia to drop... the nitrite will follow shortly after...

Patience....