Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hello everyone! I've gardened all my life and recently decided to try aquaponics. Since I'm new I was hoping to receive to some some feedback that might help me improve my setup. I've read through many of the BYAP threads and applied many successful techniques.


I began my system in a late April 2013 using local tap water. I aerated the water and added Vitamin C to eliminate issues with chloramine and chlorine. The tap water comes out at a ph of 8.2. When I need to top off the tank I aerate for 24 hours and add an appropriate amount of crushed vitamin C


The Fish tank is a 35 rubbermaid tub. It contains 13 small common goldfish. The Goldfish are fed basic pet store fish food. At each feeding they are fed enough that it takes them a minute to consume.


The grow bed is an 18 gallon tank filled with lava rock and has one foot of depth. I'm currently growing 4 unknown pepper plants given to me by a friend. He says they're hot. The peppers have been in the system since May 19th and were transplanted as seedlings.
The grow bed is fed by a 500 GPH pump that runs continuously.It takes approximately 6 minutes to fill and drain completely via a bell siphon. I realize now that I should have placed a media guard around the siphon and I am considering but the siphon seems to work very well.

Here are today's readings.
Date______PH_____Ammonia____Nitrites___Nitrates___Times Fed Per Day
6/10/13__7.8______0___________0__________80___________1

Currently the system is cycling. I am concerned about the health of the fish due to the high nitrate levels so I will cutting the feedings to once per day. My goal is the cut the nitrate levels to below 10ppm.

Thanks for reading.

Welcome to BYAP. You have a neat little system there. Nitrates dont start being harmful to fish till they are approx 400+

As your plants grow they will consume more.

Thanks for heads up Charlie. I'll post some updates as things move along.

I was hoping if someone could tell me what these brown spots are in my FT. They appear only on the side that receives the most sunlight. I'm assuming it is Brown Algae or Biofilm but I was hoping someone could confirm my assumptions. Also, regardless of what it is should I do anything? Thanks everyone!

My guess would be algae as well. If it gets bad enough, invest in a small plecostomus to keep things under control. I recently added 3 small ones to my 150G tank and they had the algae bloom cleared up in all of about 72 hours. I stress small b/c they WILL get bigger. No sense in having to create food for them sooner than necessary. And before you know it, they grow, move off to college and you'll never hear from them again - unless they need to borrow money. Umm.. Wait.. That doesn't sound right...

Will they take care of me when I'm old or will they throw me in a nursing home?

Ok I'll let it be for the moment as long as it doesn't get to weird or hairy. From some pieces I've read the brown algae is part of the tank's maturing process. Can the algae kill the fish?