Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi, My name is Art I'm in the Dallas area and I am a month into my first aquaponics system.

I am still cycling the system and have what seems like unusual readings.

ph 8
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrites above the chart on my ATI test kit >5 ppm
Nitrates 5 ppm

I have about 20 plants in a 14 square foot grow bed one foot deep,
and about 25 2" goldfish in roughly 80 gallons of water.
(The Goldfish seem happy even though the ph is a little high.)

The water has really become noticeably clearer over the last couple of days.

I've never seen ammonia readings higher than 1 ppm

The nitrites only became measurable a week ago at most and are already off the chart

The Nitrates were just detected two days ago for the first time

Is my system progressing normally?

Do I need to take immediate action to correct the Nitrites and or PH levels?


Thanks in advance for any help

Welcome gunnyart, sorry missed your post.

You are cycling and rites should start falling although they are at extemely toxic levels and need to be dealt with. Do a 30% water change and salt to 1ppt to mitigate against nitrite poisening (brown blood disease). Retest tommorow and report back

I would slowly lower the ph to something in the 6.8-7.0 range over the next 2-3 weeks. The nitrites will adjust on there own.

The most important thing is to take some pictures and shows us what you have

gunnyart,

Given your screen name, I don't suppose you where in the Corps at some point?

Nope sorry but we gave you boys a ride into battle. I was a Navy gunner's mate on a Gator Freighter.

As I'm 80 gallons or 302 liters I'm thinking 10 oz of coarse sea salt should bring me to about 1 PPT. Sound correct?

Did a 30% exchange with rain water and added 10 oz of salt. PH is down to 7.6 and Nitrites are still >5

We'll see how it is tomorrow. Thanks for the help.

Picture of my first system. Haven't tested the water this morning yet.

That there is one pretty system. Now it's just time to play the waiting game! Solid work though, look forwards to seeing how things go.

Thanks. I hope it works as good as it looks.

I had a dead goldfish this morning.

Nitrites are down to 2 ppm
Nitrates are 0 ppm (seem to detect nitrates every other day)
Ammonia is .25 ppm

PH is 8.2 should I drop it? Can I use vinegar to do it? Apple cider vinegar or white? How much?

Thanks again

I buy pure crystalline citric acid for use to lower the system's PH, you can find it in hydroponic supply shops, or buy it in bulk online on the cheap. I used 1 teaspoon dissolved into 1 cup of de-chlorinated water and added it through my GB in a 12 gallon system to reduce ph by about .4. With any ph adjusting chemicals, your best bet is to do a tiny bit at a time. I'd do a TBS at a time, using white vinegar, then recheck the next day. Quick shifts are never a good idea, especially since your fish are already under stress. Add it through the GB so it's already thoroughly mixed by the time it reaches your fish just to be safe

Already said this but that cladding is simply amazing! Great stuff!

The bamboo looks cool - might harbour a few earwigs though - could be a good thing if you are after fish food.

Very cool setup,love the bamboo look...im still in guinea pig testing phase with using a 55 gallon drum as fish tank and one 55 gallon drum cut in half as grow bed...i am using goldfish and locally caught guppies to cycle and it seems to be working...harvested some lettuce plants already and tomatoe plants are thriving well