Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Whhhoooo Hoooo our CHOP system is cycling as of today.
It takes 5 mins to fill the grow bed and then the bell siphon empties it, is this OK, or is it too fast?? Really don't want to slow it down anymore as the pump is cut right back to about 1/4 flow and am afraid I might burn it out.
Also with the water tests, what is the ideal PH, Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate readings please.
We (my hubby) is actually getting a bit enthused now have had a few moments where we had to do little trials to work out the process of pipe from the fish tank to the grow bed, and what height it needs to be to get it to siphon into the grow bed. But we have it going and will add 2 more baths in the next week or so as time permits. For our grow medium we used the bottom half with white gravel and then put about 5 inches on top of that with clay balls, geesh they are expensive little suckers
We have had torrential rain here over the weekend and it is like a big mud puddle all around the system and we still have to build the shelter for it, still sorting out everything but at least we have a start, so 6 weeks from now we will have about 30 trout swimming in the tank.

If you are worried about stopping down your pump too much put a T piece in the pipe to the beds with a valve. Aim the outlet of this back into your tank and adjust the flow so you get the correct water supply to your GBs. That way your pump is not pushing against too much pressure, your Gbs have the correct fill/empty timings and your water is aerated to the max.

<a href="http://s931.photobucket.com/albums/ad153/Froglips50/?action=view&current=DSCF2602.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i931.photobucket.com/albums/ad153/Froglips50/DSCF2602.jpg" border="0" alt="Photobucket"></a>

This is the photo of our first real system

Thanks for that Rob, it is comforting to know that it is cycling ok, did not wash the clay balls so water is a bit cloudy, will clear they tell me, has 6 weeks to do it so I hope so, not real good at adding pics how the hell do you do it

Go to Quick Reply then click on hte Preview button at the bottom.

Now you have the whole set of controls.

Write your message, organise your photos (no larger than 800x600) then look to the bottom of the page and see the Upload attachment section. Browes to the first file and add it, do the second and third (it is limited to 3 photos per entry). Once they are uploaded then Submit your reply.

Good luck, it gets easier

If you want the water to clear faster grab an old sock and put it over the pipe to the GB or if you build it the pipe back to tank....it will start collecting the finer particles that make the tank cloudy

Yes, this works... Put some filter wool (you can get them from aquarium shops) into the socks as well. I had milky water a week ago, now it is crystal clear...

Good to see you guys on board have you got any fish in there yet? you need to add ammonia in some way or other to get it to cycle, goldies are a good option as they're cheap

By the way, putting up videos is a lot easier than the pictures, give that a go

Thanks guys have not been on here for ages

The sock trick is awesome, cleared the water in no time flat
I have decided to leave it over the outlet into the fish tank, thanks so much for that it is little things like this that makes life so much easier