Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Wow! that last post got you going, so at the risk of pissing you all off heres what I'm going to do...

The dead fish which was fresh (about an 1hr out of the supermarket) went in whole and after 24hrs I got a reading of Ammonia 1 ppm. 24hrs later I got a reading of 2 ppm. and took the fish out. It was far from rotten and hadn't even started to smell too bad. As soon as my nitrates drop to zero I'm going to put a fresh fish in for 12hrs with the expectation that the reading will be 0.5 ppm. By the way here's today's reading... does it look ok?

4th day without fish 5th test

PH 7.2

Ammonia 0 ppm

Nitrites 2/5.0 ppm

Nitrates 40/80 ppm

I'm going to risk continuing with the fish as it is 100% natural and it was incredibly cheap less than $1.00 US, easy to use and very quick to work. I am not worried about anything harmful passing in to the system as the fish is so fresh and does not get a chance to rot.
I will record all the data so if anyone in the future is faced with the same or similar problems helpful advice will be at hand. I will make enquiries and let you know whether or not I can get hold of Urea easily here in Peru. As I would want to experiment with that the next time I cycle a system.

sounds fine,

Easy to get people worked up around here some times Anthony.. Sounds like it's working fine for you..

The fish are providing the ammonia... and that's what you want... with no other fish in there... go for your life...

If someone was to leave a dead fish in there to basically rot away, what would be the time needed after the fish is gone so the water is disease-free enough for live fish to go in?

I would probably eat the fish from the market and pee in the tank, but thats just me.
Go for it, its working

Okay, I have no intention of leaving the fish to "just rot away" as even someone as new to aquaponics as me can see that that would make for an extremely un-healthy home for my fish. The first fish was only in there for 2 days and the 2nd fish is only going in for 12hrs.
You might be asking yourselves why don't I just whizz in the tank, I can't as I am taking medication and will be for the next couple of months. I have a friend who has gladly supplied some urine, but as I had picked up on a blog or two that it had to be aged I did not want to wait to start cycling. Hence the dead fish which is natural, cheap and very easy to work with. As I cycle this system I will even have data that will work as a guide line for future use.

I wasnt suggesting that you do it...... it was just a question to further knowledge....

Yeah I realised that later. Please accept my apologies Yavimaya. It would be valuable research not sure how to go about it but I'll get back to you.