Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

How long do you age pee?

How long is needed to allow the urine to reach the right pH and ammonia level probably varies by person and time of day. However, from testing of my own, two weeks was usually more than enough time.
(once pH reaches 9 most bacteria found in the urine of a healthy person is killed off.) (testing the pH would be tricky with the test kits though because of color, would need test strips or something else to check that.)

My schedule can be a bit crazy but get in touch when you think you may have time.

Here's a video of my system. It's been running for 12 days now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROkCs4nfwXQ

Have patients. When your ammonia and nitrite both get down below 1, you can dose again, otherwise, just watch the plants grow. I expect you will see a pH drop around the same time the nitrite starts seriously dropping.

Update: Plants growing like crazy.
PH 7.4
Amo 1 ppm
Nitrite Still High >5
Nitrate has climb to 10 ppm (I guess thats why the plants are growing like they are.)

Update:
PH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate 20 ppm

Well that was a overnight change!

Here are some more pictures

A video from inside the tank. Notice the single feeder fish that stayed alive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYdp2FnQHeM

Mark and wife stopped by at my place today and got his first look in person at another APers system. And they kindly took the last of my surviving tilapia off my hands. 9 were all I had left from the 12 that spent the winter in the indoor aquarium. I knew one had taken a jump out of the tank but I don't know what happened to the two other missing ones. They probably jumped too but got eaten by chickens or something before I found the evidence.

Anyway, 9 tilapia should be a good start to a system that is now mostly cycled. (Dosed to 1 ppm ammonia and back down to 0 ammonia and nitrite within two days is good enough for 9 sub six inch tilapia) After they settle in Mark can decide if he wishes to add more tilapia or if they would prefer some other fish as well. With only 3 1/2 barrels as grow beds I would probably only go for 24 fish that would be harvested at one pound for the first season. As the bio-filter barrel gets the rest of it's media, perhaps more fish mass would be fine but I don't know the details on the bio-filter media or operation to give a recommendation there. It's a new system so it's good to start light.


Thanks for stopping by!

Thanks TCLynx for Showing us around your system and for the vegies we had a great time I really like what you have done and it has given me some ideas. Thanks for the 9 tilapia they all made it to their new home and are very active & feeding this evening.

Thanks

Mark & Britt

Glad to hear they made it to their new home ok. Amazing aren't they? Most fish wouldn't eat right after a trip like that.

System Update: Yesterday I added 16 more fish for a total of 25. I plan to stay with that amount for now based on the advice of TCLynx. I tested my water this evening with the following results.
PH 7.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate less than 5 ppm

Question what should I expect from the water now? Where should the Nitrate be for the plants?

If the plants look happy, then there is enough nitrate. The exact level of nitrate doesn't really matter much. Fish can handle high nitrate levels but it is probably better for them if the level of nitrate is down within a readable range (I find it difficult to read anything above 40 ppm) but the tilapia can handle levels off the chart.

Many people run systems with 0 nitrates. Basically they are so well balanced that the plants are taking up all the nitrates about as fast as they are being made. As long as your plants are not showing signs of nitrogen deficiency, 0 nitrate is fine.

Just keep an eye on the ammonia and nitrite as you figure out the feed rates and check pH regularly to make sure it doesn't drop off the chart and cause a crash. Keep the shell grit on hand and perhaps some pool/water softener salt and enjoy the summer. Perhaps get some heat loving plants going ASAP.

What do you reccomend for Heat Loving Plants?

Sweet Potatoes, Okra, Southern peas, Bananas, Moringa, Jicama, Papaya, Malibar spinach (it's a trpoical vine not really like spinach.) Basil, Oregano, rosemary (the oregano and rosemary have been perennial in my system.)

I think I've heard somewhere that eggplant likes the heat but I've never grown it.