Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey people, I have just set up an aquaponics system and am in the process of cycling. All is going well except for the water is sort of muddy. The river rocks I used for the grow bed media were a bit dusty and al the dust has washed into the water. Will a swirl filter or any other method remove this dust from the water? I'd rather not change the water if possible as I'm in the middle of cycling and have planted the grow bed out.

As the system cycles and ages, dust and fine particles will mostly become trapped in the growbeds and tank walls as the bioslime builds up. I would not be too concerned about it for now.


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It will be refiltered by the growbeds. it may take a week or 2, or more.

there will be a layer on the very bottom. I used scoria and when i pulled my growbed apart, there was a 3-4cm layer of dust/tiny rock that locked together so well that it was like concrete. Im sure this would have created an anaerobic area, which is not neccessarilly a bad thing, but washing them well first is the way to go.

Thanks for the replies Ill try leaving it while it cycles and see how I go!

Hi Jimmyg

I recently had my system cycle after a month - Like you I did not wash my river rock gravel and the water stayed brown and murky for the whole month with two IBC growbeds and 275 gallon fish tank. So, just give it some time (It sucks I know). Tell you what though - I dropped an airstone in the fish tank towards the end (already had a spray bar that was the inlet from the sump tank) and that might have helped to speed the process up.

On a side note - I tested my river rocks recently with vinegar as I was having high pH problems and it failed the test. You're probably OK but I would test yours now if you haven't since you are still early in your cycle.

Good Luck!