Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

for what its worth, i've cycled 2 systems with fish.. so much easier

Cool - how much do you use and how often?

An update-

A week of adding ten gallons of aerated water a day but the number still haven't changed. Haven't been able to do Don's suggestion of shell grit yet to get the ph up to help with nitrification, it's still holding at 6.4 - ammonia is still high at 8 so can't go with fish yet. Nitrites and nitrates still holding at zero, both of them.

I'm about to have to be gone to work a conference for a few days and I'd like to have that shell grit in there before I go, see what things are like when I get back. Still think the ammonia problem is that starter bacteria that got to hot and I think the heat killed it. I figure it is dead bacteria in the system keeping the ammonia up. I've listened to everything everybody has been saying on several different discussions and it is the only thing that makes sense.

Maybe if I get the ph up and it improves nitrification that will take care of the ammonia problem. Otherwise I don't know what my next move is.

Bonanza - spend most of the week in Albuquerque New Mexico teaching at a writing conference - while I was there I hit some greenhouses and scored some fall vegetable plantings. I brought home several kinds of lettuce, red onions, garlic, leeks,parsley, carrots, broccoli, parsley, sage and probably something I'm not remembering. Will be significantly adding to the bio-load in the growbed hopefully after church. While I was gone we had our first freeze but with no heat in the greenhouse other than the water beeing heated to 74F the air temp in the greenhouse only got down to 67. Starting to think will only need additional heat only on brutally cold days. Will test the water when the sun gets up and hopefully the ammonia will be down enough to add the fish. If not, perhaps the additional bio-load will start converting that ammonia. Also introduced some oyster shell before I left and will see if the ph is up a little as I understand that will increase the nitrification. I have to go to another conference this coming weekend and will check the Dallas area to see what I can find. Would like to score some tomato plantings.

A progress report on plantings - left side growbed





right side growbed

The ammonia is down by half to 4.0 - hope it keeps coming down so I can add fish

All those plants may help more than you realize. I think they help stabilize the system also. Good luck on your trip.

I hope so, Don, thanks

I just went back through you thread real quick looking at the pics. Where is your supply line dumping into the Grow beds? Is the pipes going all around the bed with holes evenly spaced all around? If it is I think I have another suggestion, Try putting in a pipe to let the water in at the fartherest point from the siphon. You may be having the problem of not getting a good circulation of the water through the length of the bed. The water at the end may not be flowing so you would have standing water there. As I remember you are running a pump 24/7 and the siphons dump when the beds get full. Is that right? Or are you doing Constant Flood?

Yes, pipes going all the way around and it is constant flood although I have much fewer holes in the pipe down by the standpipe end. It maintains a water level about an inch below the surface of the media.

I haven't had time to move the plumbing to feed from the far end yet as opposed to all the way around but I have completely drained the growbeds a couple of times before testing and ammonia came down to 2.0 - ph also came down to 6.4 and nitrates and nitrites continue to be zero. The retention of water in the growbeds may indeed be much of the problem.

Success - Ammonia is holding steady under 1.0 - actually 0.25 this morning, I just introduced a dozen fingerling catfish and we are off and running. I still have to re-rig the feed line to introduce water from the far end and drain at the other end but I'll get that done. I have a sump tank in now that I use to aerate top water and I plan to also use it to catch overflow if the power shuts off and the FT starts to overflow. Haven't entirely figured that out yet.

keeping the topic updated - ammonia went to zero - still haven't changed the plumbing to fill from the far end but I do drain both beds in the morning - added a dozen fingerling catfish - ph holding around 7 and showing a trace of nitrites with zero nitrates - have a bunch of tomato plants coming up in the GB from seed - more than I need so when it comes time to weed them out I may see if I can plant them in small containers and trade them to a nursery out here for store credit. Both my fish guy and nursery lady said that might be a possibility. Going to have extra carrots too. My wife's 70th birthday party will be this weekend and we have a lot of relatives coming in. I wanted the greenhouse looking real good for them to see as a number of them are interested. I haven't been harvesting the salad stuff so they will look extra lush.

This is only a suggestion being a retired truck-driver and getting snowed in there in Amarillo for 3 days
you may want to think about snow buildup on back side of green house by the building. Just a thought.

have it in mind, thanks - avd if it gets that cold some extra heat

Had a bunch here for a family gathering and a number of them were very interested in my greenhouse. I think my son and some cousins are all interested in trying it. I told them a good starting point was to get on this group. One cousin in particular has a tank in his back yard and he was buzzing with ideas for starting one. He has more room than I do and with that tank could do something really cool. I expect to see some of them show up on here before long.