Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello, my name is Jason and I just joined this forum, I live in Georgia USA. My wife and I have set up a AP system in our green house that was built for the purpose of the AP system.we have a 2'x22' grow bed with 6- 55 gallon barrels for the grow out fish, a 150 gallon sump, and a 75 gallon fry/breeder tank.
We are using a aquarium pump that pumps 2400 gallons per hour that is pumping to the fish tanks all the time and to the grow bed with a timer controlled valve set at 15 minutes every 2 hours to flood the bed.
We are using a 4" bell siphon over a 2" stand pipe to drain the bed.

I have had fish tanks for years now and this seemed to be the next big step in supplying our family with fresh fish and vegetables year round.

I went to a local lake and caught several bluegills and a channel catfish to cycle the system, the ammonia spiked pretty high and with several hundred gallon water changes, my levels are at 0ppm with a big algae bloom as well.

Also the Nitrites and Nitrates read 0ppm. Do you think it's ok to introduce the fish I am going to raise and breed?

We are going to use Blue Tilapia to raise and eat which are expensive to purchase, so I don't want to kill them.

Thanks for any help,glad to be on here with you guys.
Jason

From one new guy to another welcome. From what I read you don't want to loose that ammonia levels, but cycle through your grow media so you can form the bacteria that will change the ammonia to nitrites to nitrates that your plants will love. After a few weeks your ammonia levels will drop and your nitrite, nitrate levels will rise.

Fogbad is correct... most cycle the system with plants, first, adding the fish only after the system bugs are worked out. The bacteria that will convert your ammonia builds up slowly-- and requires the spaces in your media... what media are you using?

I'm deeply jealous of your 22' bed... and the greenhouse.

Pictures please??

Welcome aboard :-)

Just curious as to why you'd use both a timer and a siphon?

I run the pump all the time so I can aerate the water for the fish, then every hour the valve opens that feeds the grow bed.
Then the siphon drains it back into the sump to be circulated with the rest of the system.

I'm Jason's wife. We have had plants growing for some time now. Used seaweed extract to help the plants until the fish waste can be converted to the good stuff for plants. We are eating some of the lettuce with dinner tonight! Strawberries are growing like crazy, broccoli, cauliflower and cabbage and tomatoes are growing as well. Basil and cilantro has already been used for several recipes. I love being able to just snip off what I need to prepare meals!!

A few pictures can be found at viewtopic.php?t=15051

I need to take more to update.

How long has your system been set up Jason? If it's been a little while and your readings are at 0 with algal bloom been and gone then it should be safe to put fish in now, just monitor your levels and watch your feed rates to begin with,,

Thanks...

But why do you need the siphon?

Most people who use a timer just use a standpipe with a small hole drilled in it so that it always drains out fully. This means no bell and no outer siphon tube, just a media guard and a standpipe.

If you use a siphon then chances are the timer will turn off at some part of the siphon's cycle that isn't fully drained, meaning that the water just sits there for 1:45 until the valve turns on again.

Nebbian,
After thinking about your comment above, I took your advise and drilled a hole in the standpipe and removed the bell. It seems to be working a lot better now, thanks for the help.