Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all,
I am currently cycling my new system and yesterday put some ( 2 capfulls ) of sea sol in the system to help new seedlings along. I realised that the Sea sol I put in was the health stuff with no fertilser so today I bought some of the Sea sol with fertiliser in it.
I put a dolop in today and checked it after about an hour and there were bubbles on the surface of FT and I has a real stench to it.
I am a fraid I might have over done it with the doulbe application. The commets I have in the FT seem to be OK but I am a bit concerned, just wondering if anyone has previous experiance and if I should replace some of the water to dilute things down a bit ?

The commets should be very hardy....I think I would just let it keep cycling but keep an eye on it....

Should be alright... but Seasol with fertiliser?? Is it the one with fish parts in it?? I think those type have a content of ammonia in them and could raise your ammonia levels...

Use the one without the fertiliser

Save the fertiliser version for your indoor plants

There is a standard and a powerfeed. Then there is one with a wetting agent. Not recomended to use the one with the wetting agent.

I made the mistake with the powerfeed, Ammonia is high now, Lesson learned.

Thanks guys,
I guess the bubbles are the wetting agent.
I have had zero ammonia levels so far so if it gets up to a reading its probably not a bad thing. I will test water tommorow and act from there.
Still yet to get SP into FT maybe this weekend.
Cheers again for all your input.

I used the one with the wetting agent once, had heaps of bubbles. Drained half the water and refilled it, still had heaps of bubbles but the fish were fine. Bubbles disappeared after 3 or 4 days.

Have been wondering about these myself... If fishless cycling for first time could I use powerfeed to start off the high ammonia, then go to standard after cycling, then introduce fish after?

Fishless cycling is a good way to build up the bacteria in a system. I haven't used powerfeed but others have. A lot just pee in the FT to give it an ammonia source.

Once the system has built up the levels of bacteria its easier for it to handle the spikes when you introduce the fish.

Yeah, I'd leave the powerfeed alone and just stick with the seasol.

Just take a leak in there and let nature do the rest.

The more stuff you add, the more unknowns you have - just begging the Law Of Unintended Consequences to kick in !!

For those considering fishless cycling, it is recommended that you read up about it in this forum. I believe there is a thread under Useful Information.

I get concerned when some people talk about doing fishless cycling and then 1-2 weeks later consider adding fishes. Cycling with fishes or fishless takes about 2 months. Fishless might be slightly quicker. Fishless cycling is not a kick-start to cycling with fish. They are two different paths to cycling system.

The idea of fishless cycling is to remove the stress factor for the fishes and the owner while the system is cycling.

Although with proper management, it is possible to start fishless with an external ammonia source and then some weeks later lightly stock with fishes before, but I reckon this path would be more for the experienced APers.

good advice there ivansng.

Fishless cycling should be done without fish and you should not add fish until the ammonia and nitrite levels both reach 0 if you have dosed pre fish and don't completely fishless cycle.

Hopefully the comets survive the powerfeed. The seaweed extract we want of supplementing aquaponics is the one that has very little to near no Nitrogen, no phosphorus, and 1 potassium or 0.1-0-1 on the NPK readings.

If you use the stuff with more nitrogen, you are likely to overload the bio-filters and could harm fish. Also beware seaweed or kelp meal, if you add kelp meal, you are going to be adding more nitrogen to the system and if used with too heavy a hand, it can also overload the bio-filters and be hard on the fish. Anything that adds nitrogen or phosphorus other than the fish feed can put more load on the bio-filter and must be monitored very carefully even if you are an expert, if not an expert, you might not want to do it especially if the system is new and not fully cycled yet.

would a water change be necessary or let nature take it's course, my ph is 7.1 but ammonia is high due to the nitrogen, fish want air, have not fed them for a few days now.

I remember reading on the forum, it was a UVI system thread I think, in which they spoke of fishless pre cycling the system with a few days, 3-5 I think.

I think that is possible, but only with a source of bacteria from an already well established bio filter, and a good bit of it, you could be up and running in a couple of days, there are people here who have posted such achievements.

In any case the best thing to do is change up the water and hold feed for a day or so, if the fish are gasping add some other form of aeration, via fountain or a pipe with lots of holes dripping back into the tank.