Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ok so here goes dont give me too much stick as after looking around the site I have realised I have a few things to do lol, hopefully you guys can help me out lol.

So i have bought an ibc system, i got a bit excited and setup it up quickly, and then got my fish anf plants and was happy as a pig in shit. I had 20 cod, they started to slowley die every few days after about a week in, i tested the water, high levels of ammonia, so i figured that the plamnts wernt doing their job, i then looked into it abit more, and started to feed the plants in the morning some seasol on their leaves and a bit in the growbed to assist them growing.

Since then i have basically lost all the cod, so given up on them, i need a few changes, the things that i think i need to change are as follows.

**I think i need to block the sun from the Fish tank?
**I think i need shade over the top of the growbed?
**The grow is too shallow??
**not enough plants?
**too many fish?


I have since added some clear plastic to cover the top of the growbed not sure if thats the right thing to do, and i have added another bag of grow media, but it is still lowish, and really hard to add to once it has been filled.I am now holding off with fish and when i get back home in a few weeks from work i am going to add some perch or somegthing, i think the wife said there is 2 cod left lol, they just didnt seem happy in there, didnt eat, and then started to eat each other as cod do, maybe they need a plant or something in their tank to keep them happy and have somewhere to be happy in??

The plants wont remove your ammonia... (they will use some during initial seedling growth)....

Your problem is that your system hasn't cycled.... the bacteria that convert the ammonia to nitrites.. then nitrates... just weren't present in the quantity required to use the ammonia... before it killed your fish....

Cycle your system up.... read up on "cycling"... and the nitrification process...

Keep your plants going with some seasol once, or twice a week.... then get so more fish.. and start afresh...

P.S.... fill your fish tank up...

Like Rupert said, your system is not cycled as yet, that takes up to six weeks in the best conditions. Don't feed the fish everyday and when you do, very small amounts, don't worry you would not stave them.
Also hoping that when you had 20 fish in there the water level was much higher, completely drain the the grow bed back into the FT, then fill the FT up to 3" or up to your overflow outlet, whichever is highest, then put on the pump to fill the GB. This will leave you with the max amount on water in the FT when the GB if filled.

really that much water? i was under the assumption that you needed the same amount of water in the bottom as what fills up the growbed?

I guess adding more water will assit in the water temp as well not moving much because of the more water

what about cover for the system?
should i have cover over the top of the grow bed to shade the sun and also to stop new rain water coming in?

As already said, you need to cycle up the system. The bacteria for your bio-filter need to colonize the media bed and that takes time.

When you get fish again, you need to get far fewer fish, that grow bed can probably only support Up to 12 fish intended to grow out to about 500 grams each for a first season. You can always stock fewer fish, 6 would be fine.



Yes wrap up and cover the fish tank. 1- to keep the sun off the fish tank plastic to make it last longer and block algae from growing in the fish tank. 2-cover to keep fish from jumping out and critters/small pets/children/debis from jumping in.

Shade. In a really hot climate and very sunny location, some shade is often beneficial during summer. Plants need sun but some mid day or afternoon shade can be really helpful in the extreme hot climates.

Grow bed might be a bit on the shallow side but it will still work.

You need to get your bio-filter cycled up before you need to worry too much about more plants. See it is the bacteria that make aquaponics work, the plants just use up the nutrients and feeding the fish provides the fertilizer. It is the bacteria that covert the toxic ammonia/nitrite into what the plants can use, nitrate.

Yes, you had too many fish.
Here are a couple blog posts I've done about cycling up a system
Fishless cycling
Cycling with fish

Now since you already ran the system with fish for a time, you have begun the cycling process, when you do get some more fish you should just make sure to test your water often after you get them and adjust your feeding based on the water test results. If ammonia or nitrite are spiking, don't feed the fish. Some salt in the system can help fish survive a nitrite spike and extra aeration can help too.

You have found the site here no so you can always come on and ask for help going forward.

Also if all your fish die, try peeponics (look it up) for a couple of weeks before you get more fish (if it has been less than 6 weeks since you started) this way your system will be fully cycled when you get more fish. The bacteria need an ammonia source to survive.

Just in case it wasn't mentioned, if you are going to cycle with fish, don't buy 20. Just use a few cheap goldfish

good point well notedd for future reference lol

Actually my advice would be not to use fish at all... I did and all it did was kill them all. Buy some pure urea from a garden store(bunnings for example if you're in Oz) for $5 and toss in one handfull each week and test your water once a week. As soon as you get an ammonia reading STOP adding urea and wait. Your ammonia will spike, then start falling rapidly. When your ammonia reads 0, your nitrites will have spiked. Then, when your nitrites get back to 0 you're cycled and can add fish.

Patience is key, don't touch the system or do water changes, let it cycle itself. only top up the water lost due to evaporation.

Goldfish won't add enough bioload to cycle properly. Urea is much stronger and will give your bacterial colony a good kick in the arse so adding fish afterwards won't be a problem.

Peeponics is advocated by some but only do it if you're not taking any medication etc. You don't want drugs accumulating in your recirculating system.

dr luke is right just chuck in some cheap goldies till its stable
cheers
Byron

yeah i think it was spiking int he nitrates when i was last home, so will def be cycled by the time i get back home in 4 weeks, during the cycling time should be the plants have good growth or very little? mine are growing ok, but noit the best, all flowering and such but not going all massive,

can someone also tell me if i have too few or too many plants in there?

i think there is one strawberry at the front, then 1 lettuce, then 2 tomatoes, then one chillie, then 1 tomoatoe, then 1 eggplant and then 3 capsium....

Just give your plants a feed of Maxicrop, preferably Maxicrop+Iron.... and they should perk up... until the cycling and feeding patterns are sorted out...

2 days until i get home to see what the misses has done with my setup lol