Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I built an IBC system and have had it going for about 3 1/2 weeks now. I put soluble seaweed extract in and have been adding ammonia. My ammonia levels got up around 6ppm and now my nitrite levels have spiked around 5ppm and my nitrate levels are from 80-160ppm. I have stopped with the ammonia and today the ammonia levels were down to .25ppm or less. The PH today is 7.6
I began adding plants about 1 1/2 weeks ago and they are looking good as of now. I plan on stocking the tank with Redclaw crayfish, I've already spoken with a grower and have some lined up. How long should it take for the nitrite levels to start coming down? My water temp. is in the 68-75deg. range. Here are a couple of pics of the system. I'll post more as it comes along. The picture doesn't show it but the drain from the plant bed comes in the back of the tank, the only purpose for the other line going in right now is just more flow, I added this line for future grow beds so I just have it flowing back into the tank right now.

Things look to be progressing OK, if not a little high with the artificial ammonia. If you've spiked the ammonia and aren't adding any more, soon the nitrites will reach their maximum and start reducing.

Although you're well into the inital cycle, I'd certainly lay off adding any more ammonia to the system until the nitrites have dropped to zero, and then until some of that excessive nitrate is used by the plants (and plant some more if you have the space). When you're at zero ammonia and zero nitrites with a reasonable nitrate reading, then give a small dose of ammonia again and wait until this and the corresponding nitrite reading are zero again. Do this as often as you have to until you are "fully" cycled i.e. you get zero ammonia and nitrite within 24 hours of dosing the system; then add fish/shellfish.

Although really high nitrates are great for plants, you do have to keep a lid on them as excessive nitrate levels, with a little bit of sunshine and oxygenated water will quickly lead to an algal bloom which in itself can cause all sorts of havoc. Try to keep your nitrates at "reasonable" levels (40ppt is heaps!)

Thanks for the reply, I haven't added any ammonia in over a week. I plan on adding more plants I just can't make up my mind what I want to add . I'm really looking forward to getting the crayfish put in, i've already got another tank waiting to start my second one and this tank is right next to my deck where my wife wants me to put her in another couple of growbeds. My youngest son who is 8 has already gotten an old aquarium out of the attic and is cleaning it up so I can build him one to go in his room. I'll keep everyone updated. Did I mention, this is a GREAT SITE!!

Whilst you're deciding on what to plant, nitrates levels are still climbing, so for now I'd just be grabbing a handful of lettuce seeds and chucking them into wherever you can still see media; they are fast growing, tasty and absorb a lit of nitrate. When you've decided on your "proper" crop, you can easily eat your way through the lettuce, pulling them out instead of just picking leaves, ala http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=327974#p327974

I'd be adding another GB, sooner rather than later; if you're only keeping shellfish in this system, you can have a quite a "low tide" so could probably add another 2 GBs of similar volume to the one you already have without needing to include a sump. Before adding/changing anything, always draw a detailed plan; measure twice, cut once.


Scott

Also investigate the stocking levels including male to female ratio. Don't just go by what the guy selling them says. They will attack each other and you will have deaths.

Neat setup, I gather everyone loves the sound of water in your house, noting the drop distance for the returning water.

James

Thought I'd post up after 1 weeks growth. All the plants look great and are taking off. I planted cucumber and bean seeds and they've come up and look great. The tomato's are taking off as is everything else. I have some spinach, and lettuce seeds started and will transplant them soon. The tank is inside my garage and is far enough away from the house that you don't hear the water running. I hope to add a couple of more growbeds soon. The nitrates are still high, 80-160ppm. The Nitrites seem to be coming down a little, between 2-5ppm, hard to tell with the color, and the ammonia is right at 0ppm. I want to get the nitrites down to zero before I try any more ammonia. Here are some pics from yesterday.

Hi Papaz,
Nice system, I have one similar. Nice to have you in the group.

Here is a growth update pic. The tomatoes you can see in the first pic at the top of the thread were approx. 6 inches tall when I planted them on May 17. I had not planted the bean seeds yet so they are only about a week and a half old. Looks like the system is cycling nicely and I hope to add crawfish in the next 2 weeks or so. The tomatoes are now 18 inches and the beans are 15. The nitrates are finally getting down to a manageable level. The PH has leveled off at 7.6 and the nitrites are coming down some but are still around 2ppm. The system is a little over a month old. I plan on stocking the tank with crawfish soon. Should I be adding any more ammonia or wait for the nitrites to get to zero?

Thought I'd post a quick update on how the systems doing. The Nitrites and Nitrates are at zero now and I just dosed with ammonia a couple days ago which brought the ammonia levels up to 2ppm but it was at zero within 24 hours. I have been out of town alot lately and have not had time to go and get the crawfish and the plants are suffering some, just added some soluble seaweed to get me by until I can get the crawfish, maybe this weekend. The strawberries are very yellow on the new growth but I read somewhere that this could be a symptom of a CF system. I plan on putting the system on a timer eventually. Any suggestions or comments will be appreciated. It has been a little over 3 weeks since I planted the tomato's and they were about 6inches tall when I planted them, they are 25-27 inches now.

Haven't updated in a while so here goes. My plants are still doing well, except the pepper plant and it never looked good so I pulled it up! I have some lettuce growing now also from seed that looks good. My strawberries are still yellow but I hope now that I have my crayfish in that they'll start to perk up!. I put 54 juvenile redclaw crayfish in today from Stickfins in Florida. They appear to be happy for now. My water continues to test good, and maybe my plants will take off now that I won't need to supplement ammonia anymore. Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

A couple of more pictures.

Papaz you could put more hose or pipe hides on the bottom to allow more of the redclaws to reside in 'safety'. In Australia, commercial yabbie producers place numerous 'hides' in the dams to provide habitat for the little fellas. See link below:

http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/__data/assets/ ... ayhide.pdf

I've got the pipes cut and have put one set in, I ran out of glue!! I will try and finish them tomorrow. Thanks for the link.

Thought I'd give a quick update. The system is coming along well and the crayfish have been getting along good. I had a mishap sometimes early sunday and I didn't notice until late Sunday evening that the pump had come unplugged!! Because I had just fed them on Saturday evening, the nitrites spiked and I ended up losing several crays!! The good news is I got the system back going and the nitrites went back down quickly and I was able to save over half of them!! The tomato's are almost 5 ft. now and the broccoli is putting on a head as well as the beans putting on. Lesson learned and I will be hard-wiring the pump this week!! Hope to add a couple of more grow-beds within the next couple weeks. Here are some of the latest pics.

Yellowing leaves with the green veins are a sign of iron deficiency; add a teaspoon or two of chelated iron to give them a pep.