Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello aquapons! Im new to this aquaponics thing, but I am thoroughly addicted! Heres what I have so far..
FT - 30 gallons0
GB - 30 gallons
Media - half expanded clay, half growstone
21 goldfish
4 romaine plants, 4 red leaf plants, one garlic sprout, and a couple basil sprouts starting to come up.
250 gph pump with bell siphon flood and drain

So far I am between 1 and 2ppm on ammonia, no nitrites or nitrates. ph has held very steady at about 6.5. I added one ounce of maxicrop to get things going. I started with 5 fish and have added more a few times as Im not too sure about how many fish per gallon it should take and I dont want to over do it...

This is outside on my patio and the temps have been frigid for SoCal lately. It has been dropping down into the 30s at night and it gets back up to around 60 or 70 during the day. I have a thermometer in the tank and it stays fairly consistent at about 55 at night. Not sure as to why I havent got a nitrite reading yet but I think it may be the growbed gets colder than the Ft at night and the low temps slow the growth of bacteria, but I keep on checking it as Im impatient.

Will be building a new bigger setup soon I plan on using an airlift with 400 gallons or so. For now I am patiently (somewhat) waiting for some nitrites!!
attached a pic of my little experiment.

hayduke

Welcome to BYAP

Couple of questions.. how long has your system been running and what feed are you using?

Cycling with 21 goldfish in a 30 gallon tank (with 30 gallons filtration) sounds risky to me. I think you have too many fish for that setup. Add to that cold weather which will greatly slow the bacteria establishing and it's not an ideal start.

(BTW I prefer aquaponicist, aquapons is a recent made up term from the AP Gardening forum)

Charlie, today makes 5 weeks. I am using fish flakes and a little rice at this point. Would love to stop the flakes as they have plenty of ingredients I cant pronounce. They seem to enjoy the rice, they nibble at it for a while until the peices are small enough to eat. Keeps em busy, I would get bored stuck in an AP tank...



My bad...hello aquaponicists.
So much conflicting info on the web. one site says one fish is plenty for 55 gallons, and another I read says 3 per gallon. 90 fish in my tub dont seem like they would be happy. Im still not reading very high in ammonia tho...I have had 21 fish for about 10 days now. I had 11 before then and my ammonia didnt go above .25ppm

Welcome! Any pics Hayduke? I'm not too far from you in Chula Vista.

Hello Ronmaggi! Good to see SD is already on the BYAP map! At first I thought it was just for australians lol

Heres a couple pics. I could have sized them down a little I think. New at this forum thing maybe next time

Yea, you want to size them to 800x600 in the future. It keeps the rest of he page easy to read. Looking good though!

Welcome HayDuke.... what are the white pebbles in the grow bed...

Have you tried the "vinegar test"... to see if they bubble...

If they do... it would indicate that they'll probably release carbonates... are mess with your pH...

Ronmaggi thanks for the help!

Oz the white pebbles are growstone. 98% recycled glass, they are supposed to hold 3 times more air, and 12% more water than hydroton, and also release silica in a form which plants can use. They look like small lava rocks, which IMO would make great bacteria colonies. the ph is 8 so maybe it would be a good buffer? I was sold on 98% recycled glass. It is also really lightweight.

Ok... if they basically glass... they should be effectively pH neutral...

With your current pH of 8... you'll probably suffer some trace element lockout.. especiailly Iron...

You'll probably have to add some tracelements.. I'd suggest some Maxicrop+Iron...

Thanks for the advice rupert. Sorry I meant the growstone has a ph of 8, at least thats what it says on the msds. The PH in my FT is at 6.5. I also already added a little maxicrop, but I got the kind without iron.

Growstones, sounds like a good idea.

(from the website)
How to Prepare Growstones Before Use

Being made from vitreous soda lime glass, Growstones have a naturally high pH. When first in contact with water, the carbonates present at the surface of Growstones aggregates leach out into solution driving the pH up. In order to counteract this, Growstone has incorporated a pH buffer in the formulation of the medium. When Growstones first enter in contact with water, the pH buffer added to the formulation, leaches into solution and counteracts the pH rise.

As such, the proper preparation of Growstones prior to use does require time in contact with water to allow the buffer to act and stabilize the pH. The longer the time in contact with water, the more stable the pH later on.

Therefore, before using Growstones for the first time, it is recommended to prepare the medium. This is important for all relatively small systems. For commercial greenhouse operations equipped with acid dosing and injection units, we recommend simply soaking the slabs or bags overnight with pH adjusted nutrient solution.

Below are simple recommendations for best results.

Preparation Instructions


1.Open the bag at the top and poke small holes at the bottom of the bag.
2.Insert a water hose at the top to rinse. Let the water drain from the bottom of the bag.
3.Place the wet Growstones in a large container and fill with tap water until covered.
4.Let soak for about a day.
5.Discard the soak water.
6.Thoroughly rinse the Growstones for a few hours (ideally rinse under running water).
7.For best results, or for more sensitive plants, soak again overnight (ca. 10 – 12 hours).
8.Discard the soak water.
9.Place the wet Growstones in your Hydroponic system with the reservoir filled with water only (Growstones and water only, no nutrients).
10.Measure water pH with a calibrated pH meter and allow your recirculating system to operate for a few hours.
11.After this period, measure pH of the recirculating water.
12.Add all nutrients.
13.Let the system run for about 15 minutes (Growstones, water and nutrients).
14.Measure pH of nutrient solution.
15.Use pH adjusting solution to adjust pH to between 5.5 and 6.5.
The time you’ll spend preparing Growstones this way, pays off by giving you a pH-stable nutrient solution, which will be easier to correct and maintain later on.

Those grow stones sound awesome! How much did they set you back?

Unfortunately fish flakes and rice dont have the beneficial ingredients for optimum fish and plant growth. I think those with goldies usually use Koi pellets. The rest of us use aquaculture pellets.

They were slightly cheaper than the expanded clay.. Cant remember exactly but it was around $30 for the large bag



Thanks charlie. Pretty sure my goldfish are too small to eat any type of pellet. Just experimenting right now.. I think im going to start feeding them organic peas (smashed), rice, and leafy greens and see how they do.