Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I meant nitrate=0

I ran the test again this morning and still the same results. Is this okay? Anyone, help! I would appreciate it, Thank you

On another note my squash has a big beautiful bloom this morning

If by the same, you mean a small trace of ammonia but no signs yet of any nitrites or nitrates, this is completely normal. If you assume there is only a natural amount of bacteria when the system starts, it is going to take a while for the first batch of bacteria to start feeding on the ammonia, multiplying and producing "visible" traces of nitrites; some time later the second bacteria will eventually start to develop and you'll see nitrates. The entire initial cycling process can take 6 weeks (longer in cooler conditions, less in warmer conditions). You aren't going to much change in the first three days since adding a few fish.

There is a really nice chart somewhere on the forum showing the process as time graph, I tried looking for it a couple of weeks ago and didn't find it, but image that you over time you are going to see a spike in ammonia then it will start to decline as a spike in nitrites forms and then declines as a spike in nitrates forms and then eventually the ammonia will drop to zero, followed by the nitrites and the nitrates will reduce in accordance with the number of plants you've got.


HTH

Scott

A typical graph.. timeline may vary...

That's not the chart I was thinking of, but it certainly does the job

Thank you I don't want to rush in and if it wants to take its time that is fine. I do live in a warmer climate. That is what I needed. I just wanted to make sure it was on the right track:)