Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My new seedlings were dying when I was using store bought liquid fish and then some seaweed based plant food. So I switched to my pee and the ones I thought were sure goners, were brought back to life. So the surviving plants have grown new leaves and are doing well. So far, it's just my peanuts and one bush bean plant. I have some new seedlings not yet planted in the group medium that I think will do much better than the first batch. I'm also amazed at how quickly one can collect enough pee to last for a long time in just one or two days (if you are a moderate water drinker). My system has been running on pee for about 2-3 weeks and it won't be until another 3-4 weeks before I'm able to get fish. I also had some little black bug snacking on my bean leaves but I removed it and spray the leaves with a water/garlic mixture and no bugs have been back.

I'm a big supporter of Pee Ponics for personal use. They say that a person's urine contains enough nutrients to grow all the wheat for one person.

Think about that, most of the population is flushing away enough fertilizers into the drinking water supplies to grow all the wheat and then the farmers have to buy fertilizers to spray the fields which causes yet more nutrients to wash into the water supplies.

No wonder things are out of whack.

thanks TCLynx for a most informative thread.
Dale

So, for my husband's sake, we won't be using pee-ponics. I have fish emulsion around, but have no idea how much to add. Tank is 100 gallons. Should I just toss in a few capfuls and wait and take readings or is there a recommended starting point?

Hi TCL
Totally agree I have always said how stupid it is to use 3 or 4 litres of good quality drinking water to flush a cup of urine down the drain especially in the desert (Alice Springs) or anywhere in Australia (the driest continent)
The case for dealing with our own shit is becoming increasingly important especially when you consider the approach that most governments have used over history
which is basically to move shit further and further away eg when sewerage overflows were polluting Sydney beaches the solution was to extend the outlet even further. This is not a solution but simply a temporary fix that will eventually have drastic repercussions.
We need to look at human waste as a valuable resource
I'm happy to look after mine as it doesn't stink

Humanure works very well and is the best way to re-cycle nutrients. When you insist on flushing, all that valuable compost gets contaminated with all the other stuff people flush down drains that make sewage sludge inappropriate for use in organic farming. Granted Humanure might not qualify for "organic" certification because the animals providing the manure are probably not entirely "organic" since people tend to take all sorts of drugs and eat/drink all sorts of nasty things but using humanure for your own household, you can know fairly well what is being recycled through your own systems.

Hope no-one minds but I decided to BUMP this thread. I saw an interesting product I havent seen before when I was in Bunnings buying some Charlie Carp.

Its called 'GOGO JUICE' by Neutrog... has anyone heard of or seen this before?

"GOGO Juice

GOGO Juice is teeming with beneficial microbiology and is essentially a pro-biotic for your soil and plants.

GOGO Juice combines the “catalystic” power of the billions of beneficial bacteria with the well documented benefits of applying kelp, seaweed, fish, humic acid and manure. Hence, you are not only feeding your plants with all the goodness of a wide range of organic nutrients, but you are also providing your soil with the "workers" (beneficial bateria) that assist in breaking down the organic matter, maximising the nutrients available to your plants.

The carefully selected microbes have been proliferated utilising complex carbohydrates and sugars through a unique aerobic brewing system in which kelp, seaweed, fish, humic acid and manure have been digested by the beneficial bacteria."

The manure content Im not sure about but if its been brewed it would be safer? Any thoughts on what type of bacteria it would contain and whether they would perhaps be the right ones for AP?

Cheers

Interesting the spin they put on products hey.. You could also translate that as:

We mix a whole lot of crap together with water, leave it to fester for a while,then bottle it and sell it...

Hard to know exactly whats in it, and/or exactly how it will do in AP, but it's probably worth a try. Couldn't see a breakdown of whats in it on their website.

Yeah did put some in thought it sounded interesting and not too harmful - especially when I read the fine print on the charlie carp and it has wetting agents in it whereas this is all natural.

After adding a bit of stuff yesterday morning we finally have a small nitrite & nitrate reading today for the first time which is pretty exciting (Ph is still 8.2)... the ammonia is still a flat zero though which Im curious about... will test in a few days to see whats going on.

Im curious about what humic acid is?

WIKI is your friend................

Humic acid is a principal component of humic substances, which are the major organic constituents of soil (humus), peat, coal, many upland streams, dystrophic lakes, and ocean water.[1] It is produced by biodegradation of dead organic matter. It is not a single acid; rather, it is a complex mixture of many different acids containing carboxyl and phenolate groups so that the mixture behaves functionally as a dibasic acid or, occasionally, as a tribasic acid. Humic acids can form complexes with ions that are commonly found in the environment. Humic and fulvic acids are commonly used as a soil supplement in agriculture, and less commonly as a human nutritional supplement. As a supplement, fulvic acid is found in a liquid form with colloidal mineral

thanks steve should have googled instead of asked y'all...had to settle some kiddies into bed and was curious about it in an AP capacity.

wondering if it would be a good way of helping lower the Ph as well as spiking the system all in one handy bottle, as it sounds like a very natural acidic additive?

Not too worried about Ph as I know it will drop as everything cycles and settles, but if its something thats worth trying to cycle with, perhaps its a better product than Charlie Carp if you are starting with a high Ph as long as its regularly added so the Ph isnt fluctuating too wildly? We are still a while off being ready for fish yet...

BTW our tap water is sitting at 8 so whenever we are topping up we are bumping it up which wont be helping either.

Just read above post and realised it sounded like kids just got in bed at 10.30 at night... but were just restless and had to be settled

Just checked pics of todays tests and realised Amm did show as almost .25... and the Na is at 5.

Wondering if these results are just an artificial spike from what has been put in and will return to normal as the bacteria hasnt actually built up yet... or whether it is helping the system cycle?

Should I wait a couple of days and then push the ammonia up quickly till I see it at 1 or 2ppm using what I am currently using to test how quick it drops - or will the Ni & Na levels rise too much?

Cheers!

If you are fishless cycling, raising ammonia right up to 1 or 2ppm should be fine.

When buying stuff that purports to contain beneficial organisms there are always a few questions I might have.
1) are these the correct ones for my needs?
2) have they survived being on the shelf (just because one bottle has some on, say, Jan 1st of 2011 does not mean that the same bottle will still have them in April or June. Or that another bottle, stored under different conditions will have the same)

If the stuff is reasonably priced and you are sure it is non-harmful, it would make sense to add some to a new system and see if it helps. But it might make even more sense to get some bacteria from an already cycled system (or aquarium) that your neighbor is running...

It would DEFINITELY make more sense to "some bacteria from an already cycled system (or aquarium) that your neighbor is running..."

IMO... those bottled "bacteria starters"... are a complete waste of time... in fact IMO... they're a con...

Tested water today after adding all the stuff yesterday:

Ph - 8.1
Amm - 1
Ni - .5
Na - 10

So looks like system might be cycling

Also decided to test the Gogo Juice just in our tap water - 100ml water with about 1/4 tsp Gogo Juice.

Amm - .5
Ni - 0
Na - 0

Might test again tomorrow with 100ml tapwater with 50ml Gogo Juice and see if it will give a Ni or Na reading.