Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looks great.

OK. So the Water test kit has arrived. Had to run the HighPH test as well.
The water is about 85% tap water / 15% rainwater (my rainwater collection system really needs upgrading)



Looks like about:
PH = 7.4-7.6
Ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrite = 0 ppm
Nitrate = 10-20 ppm

Also, I discovered that the pump's power lead would reach to the garage so I didn't need to install a new outside plug. I've got the timer connected but need to test that the 15/45 cycle correctly drains enough water (i.e. that the holes in the standpipe are correctly sized). Once I've done that it is - Plants and Fish!

Right. I setup a 15 minutes on / 45 minutes off cycle on the timer.

I watched the water levels and recorded the following:

• Time for water to reach top of standpipe: 3 mins 30 seconds
  Time system is fully flooded: 13 mins 30 seconds
  Time to drain back to bottom of standpipe: 20 mins
  Time system is fully empty: 23 mins

As you can see, the timer is actually 17 mins on and 43 mins off (cheap timer!).

Is this good? Should I be making the holes larger / smaller?

Advice sought! Thanks.

That's just fine.... a minute or two either way... for either isn't a concern...

Looks all good to me. As long as your stand pipe is such that the bed isn't going to overflow while it remains fully flooded, this is all just fine. Time for it to drain looks good and time it is empty is fine. Just watch the plants for them to let you know if they want water more often. The time it takes to flood means you do have leeway to make the holes bigger if you want but for now there is probably no need to mess with it.

We have Plants! Day one.





IBC Build Complete Photo!

Well, my internet has been off for over a week which is really annoying (this upload by mobile data).
Here is the week one photo. No fish yet, just liquid plant food added.
We lost one tomato plant at the beginning but all the rest look healthy.

Looking great there Alastair.

That overhang makes me cringe though mate. I would hate to see a young 6 yo Master climb up for a look

Make sure your plant food has a source of ammonia to start your cycling process

Don't worry, I have jumped up and put my full (and not inconsiderable) weight on the overhang and it doesn't budge at all. It is both supported by the brace below and by the fence. I had the same thought originally!

Good point on the ammonia, my plant food has very little so I am adding my own.

Day 13 - Test results below. Coming along nicely.
Note, I added some ammonia yesterday.



pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 8ppm
Nitrite (No2): 5ppm
Nitrates (No3): 5ppm

Progress on the plants:

ALGAE!

Just returned home to find a very green sludge in my IBC. I guess I should be too surprised as it has been very hot and there is no cover on the water tank. Today, it was 35.5C (96F) which is like 10C above normal (so we have no air conditioning).

Anyway, my first thought was to drain the system and replace the water. Obviously, I would add a light-proof cover. I haven't had a chance to add the fish as yet. However, I would love some advice on this matter. I visited Mattltm last week (thanks Matt) and saw that he was very careful about avoiding algae (but I have not been!).

Anyway, your sage advice sought. Thanks.

Current state of plants (looking good!)


Algae'd water

Dont worry about changing your water mate. Just cover up the water and the algae will die off.

I wouldnt be in any great rush for fish yet. Those water parameters would have them belly up

A bit of seasol for the plants and a little patience will save you some grief.

Thanks for the advice. I have added a light-proof lid.


I hadn't realised how much water had evaporated from the IBC so I have filled it up. However, before I did so, I ran a water test to see what was going on. I've no idea how the algae would affect the results (especially as the water is somewhat green!) but I did it anyway. I'll re-run the tests tomorrow once the new water has cycled around.



pH: 6.6
Ammonia: 8ppm
Nitrite (No2): 0ppm
Nitrates (No3): 10ppm

Strong drop in pH and weirdly Ammonia is still high but Nitrites are low! Did the heat kill off my Ammonia-eating bacteria?

dieing algae will decompose and provide ammonia to the system for a time. The decomposing algae that gets pumped into the grow bed will help act as a future algae bloom inhibitor to a point but it is best to keep most light out of your water. Most Fish only need enough light to tell night from day for the most part unless you are involved in breeding something particular.

A small amount of surface algae in the future isn't really an issue but you definitely want to avoid the pea soup or dense algae mats in the future since they can really mess with pH, dissolved oxygen and cause water quality spikes that can kill fish.

If you had fish in that tank I would be saying do a water change to get the ammonia down to safe levels and then add tons of bubbles since the algae uses up all the oxygen overnight or decomposing dieing algae tends to use up all the oxygen all the time if there is enough of it.

Actually, if the ammonia doesn't drop down below 4 ppm, you may find a partial water change necessary just to get the bio-filter to catch up, sometimes too high an ammonia level can stall out some of the bio-filter bacteria a bit. But excessive water changes will also mess with the bacteria too so don't go dumping the entire system water and starting over.

Thanks TCLynx. My water test shows the levels getting back to how they were earlier albeit with high ammonia (per your description).



pH: 7.5
Ammonia: 8ppm
Nitrites: 2ppm
Nitrates: 15ppm