Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I will check my water quality levels on Wenesday when my kit comes from the US. In the mean time I have collected gravel from a slow moving stream, (do you have to throw out the snails?), and pond water from the second stage of a sewage oxidation pond. ( had to fight off the turtles to get to the water).

I anticipate the water should cycle pretty quickly under those conditions. So I will probably add some fish (about 10) from the same pond, to the water tomorrow, whatever I can catch and plant some weeds in the gravel to see if they will grow. I need to put a valve on the p[ump outlet because the full flood and drain cycle is only taking 3 minutes 15 seconds. I may also reduce the auto siphon pipe size. It is flushing in 20 seconds. Any thoughts? What should the proper cyle time be? I am assuming 4 times an hour. I sthat right?

Well Janet, as a wise man once said, " If I have seen farther than other men, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants." I guess that makes you one of those giants. Thanks for the lift...the view is great from here!

Hi DT,
Thanks for the complement.

Cycle time is variable in our systems--as with everything else! I believe that many people aim to cycle their total tank volume once an hour. I also think that there are systems (maybe one of EB's?) that cycle every 3-4 hours. I am aiming for once every 1-2 hours. I suppose the more cycles you get in per hour, the more fish you can support, but I think the main thing is to get the system running and monitor it to learn what parameters you actually have.

I just reconstructed my auto-siphon to take advantage of everything I have learned. I'm sizing mine up a bit, and repositioning it so I can get a better vertical drop. It's kind of fun, and I can drill PVC much better now.

You're welcome! Thanks for the advice. I just am not the patient kind. I want to moive on. So do you think that I will need to take 2-4 weeks to cycle with what I have said?

32 days, exactly. (LOL!!!) DT, if you ever needed patience, this is the time to find some. Believe in the nitrogen cycle, even though you cannot see it or smell it. You are doing the right things to speed things up. The only other things you could do would be to ensure that your pH is about 7.5 and that your water is about 77-80 degrees F. When I ran a lot of aquariums, I could stand up a new tank practically overnight. (OK, maybe a week with light fish load.) Regrettably, I don't have an aquarium up right now, nor do I know anyone who has an established aquarium. I took some rocks from the filtration in my small pond, but the water temperature was in the 40's F, and I didn't get a lot of bacteria out of it. So I'm doing it the slow hard way right now. I've been 'running' almost a month now, but since I've been playing with my autosiphon, the beds haven't had reliable water. I don't have the bacteria count up yet, but at least I know it, and I'm only endangering 2 goldfish right now. I expect to turn the corner this week, though. The re-designed auto-siphon will be running in a day or two, and I have enough coral/shells now in the grow beds to bring the pH up. (Tap water is 6.4 with almost no buffering. Eeeek! )

If you don't want to kill a lot of fish, take it slowly. Not kidding on this one. I won't tell you how many scores of fish I killed before I came to understand the nitrogen cycle.

I understand..... anyway since I am not home, I plan to throow everything out when I go back to El Salvador and start in on my REAL system. The fish will go back to the wild or the dinner plate depending on the size.

What about the snails, any problem there?

Snails do a good job at keeping things clean, however they will soon multiply to thousands if you let them. I have snails in my sump atm on my aquarium. Snails are everywhere down there, which I don't mind because they keep it clean but I wouldn't have them in my main tank.

Something does concern me about getting water and/or fish from a sewage oxidation pond. There may still be some nasty bacteria or chemicals in the water.

all natural so no chemicals but there may be some poo. but it is organic

dt, its good that people are understanding the auto siphon mechanics - it all stems from the patience, persistence and bloody stubborness of ones like Janet in the early stages

Well done :sunny: :sunny:

ps - take your time with cycling - it sets your system up

Well, it has been a while. Making Hay, silage and all that now on to the AP system. I have it set up with 15 assorted lake fish and the above mentioned sewer water. Levels are great, Water ph @7.0 and fish still alive. I went to the creek and got some water plants for shade in the fish tank and pulled some plants from the neighbor's yard for the GB. Nothing is turning bown and even some new things growing I didn't plant.

hey I want to post pics in this the way others do...can someone tell me how?
I see no place attach a file.

I figured it out... so here are a few pics

Well it's been up and running a week and no real quirks so... I will tear it apart on Tuesday next and transport it all back to El Salvador. There I will take what I have learned and apply it to my REAL system. I will probably set this one up as well for herbs. Probably Cilantro and Basil. Will maybe try
rosemary....any thoughts? I heard Rosemary is kinda touchy.

I've bought some rosemary seeds, but nothing is planted yet so I can't tell you how it goes in AP

Rosemary is kinda touchy???? Ha never believe it i got a rosemary plant that was grown from cutting in AP and it was very quick to spout roots and continue to grow