Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Dave, your system sure is looking good. The temperature is just right. Tilapia like 80F the best. Make sure you can get to those little fishies. They grow fast and you not only need to see them you also need to catch them. Also remember they like to multiply. Make sure your water is not to close to the top of the tank. They also like to jump when they get bigger. I don't have lids on my tanks and I have lost about 5 fish over the last year when I had 3 inches of space between the top of the tank and water. They are fast swimmers, and high jumpers. Let me know if you get to visit That Pet Place. It looks like a great place for a days visit. I also order a lot through them and Doctors Foster & Smith in WI.

GF said "found clear ammonia at walmart this evening, stated it had something else in it ammonia hydroxide and a suficant?"

No No NO! Suficant = detergent = dead fish! Please don't go there!

Be very careful with chemicals, sometimes they don't list these nasties.

If it foams when shaken, it kills fish.

Surfactant = soap type stuff = BAD!

the ammonia hydroxide would be ok, just the surfactant is the concern.........

I am just a new guy. so I will only say this about cold cycling, it is a royal pain. My fish don't eat, they make no poo and I am going nowhere.

However it could and probably is all due to my inexperience. Until recently I had 11 tiny goldies in a huge barrel. I have only 8 left but I have reduced the amount of water so I can heat it. Maybe this will help.

How does reducing the volume help heat it?

njh- with a finite amount of energy (ex 500W) you can heat 250L higher than 500L.

500W is not a finite amount of energy (it's not even an amount energy). Recheck the theory.

NJH, I think you know what he means, x joules from a 500W heater will heat up 250L to a higher temperature than 500L.

DB, I just googled the kill a watt meter you've mentioned and it is not expensive at all! ($20) I have to get one too, I can't tell how much these heaters are running/using otherwise (it's too difficult to see the little lights in the tub haha).

Except that that is the wrong model. As always I'm in a dilemma (Njh's dilemma?): I see people making mistakes because their world model is wrong. do I:
a) say nothing and watch them fumble about in the dark (tried that for the last month, wasn't pretty)
b) try and hint gently where their model is wrong
c) tell them they are a bloody idiot on a public forum and upset them and make them dig themselves deeper?

A given power will certainly take longer to heat a larger volume, but a larger volume will stay hot longer too. Perhaps read Fourier's law of heat conduction again?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_conduction

This tells us that heat is lost through surfaces. Filling a cylindrical tank does increase the surface area, but in fact almost all the heat loss is through the water's surface (and mostly by evaporation). Thus emptying a tank to reduce heating costs is in fact the wrong thing to do because it reduces the water's thermal buffering capacity without significantly changing the heat loss (if that is the problem, put some insulation around the tank and put a lid on it).

A thousand pardons, I should have said that given a specific rate of energy consumption (ex 500W) or more specifically, a specific rate of energy conversion from electrical form into heat form.... I figured you would be able to figure out what I meant. I will attempt to be more specific to keep from upsetting your sensibilities.

We must be respectful of our venerable elders!

I'm bored with this, please start a new thread on it!

Sorry for boring you Dave but since I started this...

Lots of water, lots of energy required to bring the temperature up but also less temperature swing.

Less water, higher temperature swing but less time to heat.

My barrel is warmer today. The fish are more lively.

Less water also means that it is easier for me to keep an eye on the fish.

What I like most about this forum is people's experience. So your comments were welcome. Of course I reserve the right not to listen and make a fool of myself.

Now let's give Dave his thread back.

The nitrites are falling, still above 10 but less intense for sure.

The lettuce and marigold seeds I planted a couple days ago have sprouted!

The pH has moved from 7.2 to 6.2. The alkalinity is also less now (like 40). Steve, would you expect the alkalinity to change as the nitrogen cycle hums along, similar to the lower pH?

I rinsed and added a very small amount of crushed shells to help the pH. I am very leery of adding too much (especially the dust), because last year's system's pH went above 8 and stayed there after I added the stuff (too much and too dusty).

I hooked up the new bubbler tonight too.

This little article was helpful:
http://stason.org/TULARC/animals/aquari ... inity.html