Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Just curious what should a well established system levels be for ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates. I know nitrates are not a real problem unless goes off chart but what about others.

I did fishless cycling for few weeks while plants were growing. I have had fish for week. Fish seem healthy and most plants are doing well. I have been feeding very small amounts once a day for the last two days.

Heres what I got;
ph 7.6
Ammonia .5ppm
Nitrite .5ppm

Is this o.k or should I add some salt, quit feeding fish?

Hopefully I am o.k. Just not sure what good readings should be, and thanks to all of you for helping me along the way. I am already wanting to build a green house and double my system this fall.

As a guide...

pH: 6.5 - 7.0 is deemed "ideal" for a well established system, low 6's -7.5 is fine though. New systems tend to run a bit higher initially... mid 7's to low 8's, but most begin dropping pH shortly after cycling.
Amm: 0.0... If you still get consistent traces of Amm after cycling... you have too many fish, or need more GB's.
N02: 0.0
N03: 0.0 - 20 is about the norm... even 100 is fine, and most fish can handle up to about 400 for short periods, but consistently high Nitrates means you need more plants/GB's. In a well balanced system the N03 usually sits at 0.0 with the occasional trace showing up.

I would feed fish very sparingly every 2nd or 3rd day until the Amm drops to 0.0... if the Amm increases past 0.5 then stop feeding.
I would consider salting to 1kg/1000L for the Nitrites... especially if it reaches 1.0