Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

zeolite if that is the stuff Don't use it..

It is used to lock in ammonia and if you salt the system you will release the ammonia..

By salting the zeolite you recharge it..

it is good the help bind Ammonia but not in the long run..



Juergen

@Zeolite, thanks for the tip Juergen.

I recently changed a cannister filter I've been using for an aquarium that was using zeolite as a filter medium.

I guess in aquariums zeolite is still OK. Surprisingly, I found that the zeolite chunks that had been light grey-green when I put them in had turned bright turquoise 6 months later. (see photo below.)


I'd be interested to hear anyone else's thoughts on zeolite. It seems like a pretty common filter media here for hobbyist aquariums and ponds.

Now thats dam funny!!! hehehe

I like your work there fer9us, very handy having the 2 levels to work with, most of us would kill for that!

Thanks for encouragement Charlie. Still some ways to go before operational here... but I have worked out a lab where I can get the groundwater tested. Apparently they have a facility at the Health Ministry.

Charlie, I'm curious. Is that yabbie in yr profile pic that blue color as a result of photoshop? Seems pretty fluorescent. I have a bright red one in my aquarium here and he's really bright red tho yrs has much bigger nippers. I think they said it was from S. America when I got it, but can't be sure.

There was also a blue + red one too -- again smaller nippers, but he's been MIA all today after an escape the night before, and found him crawling around on the floor outside our bedroom yesterday morning. Yabbies are explorers by nature. Hope he's OK. Foolhardy if he made a second attempt -- it's about a meter drop to the floor!

Here's a couple of pics of my yabbie. Tricky getting the white balance right with aquarium lighting, but he is pretty bright red.

Finally got results of water test back from the lab.

Results were as follows

Total dissolved solids 167.6mg/l
Turbidity 4.91 NTU
Arsenic 0.007mg/l
Iron 0.43mg/l
Flouride 0.68mg/l
Cadmium <0.0002mg/l
Hardness (CaCO3) 122mg/l
Chloride 16.79mg/l
Chromium <0.009mg/l
Manganese 0.09mg/l
Nitrate 0.2mg/l
Nitrite <0.008mg/l
pH 7.62
Zinc <0.005mg/l
Cyanide <0.002mg/l
Sulfate <18.22mg/l
Potassium Permanganate (KMnO4) 0.95mg/l

Coliform 26 (MPN/100ml)
E. Coli 11 (MPN/100ml)
Salmonella Not detected
Shigella Not detected
Vibrio cholerae Not detected
Staphylococcus aureus Not detected

The lab said that the e. coli result was concerning and exceeded acceptable norms. We use this water for washing but not for drinking.

I'm interested to know if these levels of pathogen/bacteria and chemicals are going to be a problem in an AP setup. Would fish living in this water be OK to eat? What about veges?

If anyone has any comments on this I'd be keen to hear what you think.

Glad to have finally got these tests under my belt and am hoping that the steps ahead are not going to be prohibitively expensive or complicated.

The Fecal coliform/E. coli results could be an indication of contamination with fecal material. E. coli is a subset of the Fecal Coliform bacteria. These are normal flora of the gut in warm blooded animals. Many are opportunistic pathogens (they can cause disease if given the opportunity like an open wound...).

Your results would be bad for drinking water. Considering this appears to be a shallow well they may indicate contamination from a nearby source but the coliform levels are fairly normal for a lake or other body of water (due to ducks and other animals it's normal to find coliforms in nature). It is not uncommon for coliforms to be found in well water or a leaky cistern either. The bottom line is in terms of coliforms, the water would not be considered safe to drink but would be ok for a swimming beach or aquaponics(even though there is some slight risk). I suspect that most systems have some coliforms because of birds and other animals visiting.

http://water.epa.gov/drink/contaminants/index.cfm - you might find something useful at EPA's website.

For the closure of beaches the US EPA requires 235 CFU (colony forming units)/100ml

Both CFU and MPN (Most Probable Number) are estimates of the number of bacteria present in a water sample.

This site might put things in perspective as far as what's normal for a lake or open water in Washington(state of Washington USA)- http://green.kingcounty.gov/swimbeach/FAQs.aspx

Cheers

Thanks Scotty.

I'll take a look at these sites in more detail. My sister studied microbiology and since then has always pushed me in the direction of caution in regards to this kind of thing.
It's good to know that in general it's seen as OK to have some e. coli in the water in AP systems but I'll definitely check the sources you recommend for more info in the coming weeks -- That's really useful info.
Cheers
Now, since I'm in Australia and can't do the physical preparations or building of my system (in Jakarta), I'm going to have to focus on the background stuff.

Just cook the fish before you eat it

Do you have flouridated drinking water anywhere in Jakarta ?

@SuperVeg: No, I don't think so. There is a push from the government, encouraging residents and businesses to use piped water (which comes from dams) as opposed to ground water, because the city is sinking at an alarming rate under the pressure of rapid freshwater extraction.

Here's an interesting article with some background information on the water problems:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2001/08/30/most-wells-polluted-human-waste.html
and here's another
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2002/09/14/clean-water-clean-govt.html
and another:
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2002/09/10/expert-warns-people-about-contaminated-tap-water.html

I can't remember the statistics on it but in some areas it's sinking at around 5 centimeters a year and much of the city is in fact below sea level already. So, with global warming at our doorstep and weather anomalies causing freak tides much more often than they used to occur, seawater has become a much bigger threat to many areas and I think plans are afoot to construct a massive sea wall to guard against a tidal wave (why aren't they more concerned about regular flooding and rising sea levels???).

Anyway, getting back to your question, there was a bylaw passed a while ago stipulating that this piped water had to be potable by the year 2010, I think. But it's not yet, though, at least not straight out of the tap. You'd be risking some pretty nasty stomach bugs if you did that, unfortunately. The governor recently said, "You can drink it. You just have to boil it first." Politicians!

As for flouride, the companies that pipe this water are privately run and profit-oriented. Typically I wouldn't expect them to fork out money to put flouride in the water unless they were ordered to and held to account for it, monitored frequently, and the public paid another surcharge for it. Fresh water is a great industry to be in if you want to make a lot of money off poor people.

especially when you can pay a politician to make sure YOUR water will be used...good ol fascism at work

I think SV must mean chlorinated, otherwise I'm going to start thinking he's a Dentist looking for some new turf

I meant flouridated...the stuff that is "good" for your teeth......(not opening that can of worms)
Not a dentist either...not sure if thats a good thing or a bad thing

Ah, well then for any travel to Jakarta you'll know to take the fluoride toothpaste

Heck, we don't even have fluoridated water most places in Western Oregon (no where near me anyway) - I'm sending the dentists kids to school .

I stole this pic from the internet so Im not too sure, it does look photo shopped though.

Yours looks amazing - cant say Ive ever seen one such a bright red, Ive seen a light pink colour before but that is just out there!