Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Got the gravel in the grow beds ( 2 off 300ltr each) and been testing the flood drain cycle, I'm getting one cycle every 15 minutes so 4 cycles per hour approx, does that sound about right or do I need to adjust it?

Been testing my levels for a couple of weeks now, Ph 7.4 - 7.6, Ammonia - .25, Nitrite - 5ppm and Nitrate - 10ppm. I don't have any fish in the system yet, am I close enough to cycled to put fish into the system safely?

Hiya mate, as you have gone this far without fish you deserve a medal. the sys appears to be close to cycled. Once you can add some ammonia source and the readings be trace the following day, you are there.
What fish are you looking at for your ft? What have you used as a amm source?
Oh and 4 cycles an hour is perfect especially if you want to switch to a 15/45 min timed process.

Thanks skeggley, I added pee originally and then used dissolved Urea as my Ammonia scource, and have been adding Seasol for a bit of nutrients and am now also using Charlie Carp to help things along. I was thinking of using Gold fish for a while until I learn more about controlling everything as a whole and then adding Silver Perch once I'm more sure of what I'm doing.

Update...
I bought a few seedlings last week, Lebanese cucumber, Zucchini, Cherie and Roma tomatoes, Basil, a couple of lettuce types, Beetroot and some Marigold. Planted some in the grow beds and some in the soil and the plants in the soil are kicking Butt but not the ones in the AP. I have heard that even after cycling is complete the growth rate can be slow for quite a while before everything really kicks in so I will try to be patient. When I put in the Pea gravel I didn't clean it well enough, when I move the gravel to plant things there is still mud around the gravel at about three inches below the surface, will this inhibit the growth rate of the plants?

A couple of days later and am now seeing good growth with the tomato plants in soil pots in the AP growbeds as compared to the toms planted straight into the gravel and the toms in the traditional veggie patch. I wouldn't have expected such a difference and yet the cucumbers in the soil pots in the growbeds aren't doing as well as the cucumbers in the soil. Just a little confusing,,, All the seedlings were transplanted on the same day.

I'm new here and new to the idea of aquaponics so i will be lurking and reading. Seems to be a lot of good information here. I live in Lake Charles, La. and if there are any members out there that have info on where to buy startup supplies or what seems to work best for you in our area I would appreciate your input.

G'day Lonie,
welcome to the forum

envious of your tomatoes in feb
Love the look of the system now.
hows your fish>

Thanks Jay, my tomatoes are actually doing nothing much at all in the AP, the ones in the soil are doiing far better. I'm finding a mixed bag of results with different veggies, some do good in the soil and some are better in the AP. I've got 8 Koi in the fish tank but they are relatively small at the moment but they are healthy.I had a look at your system the other day, you must have had a pretty decent harvest

Yeah the tomatoes in my greenhouse system were hit and miss - some were huge, some didn't even grow past fist flowers.

I had no luck with eggplants or capsicums in my new system.

The best things I've grown have been lettuce, asian greens, spring onions, snow peas, kale, brocolli, cauliflower, parsley etc

Things with fruit have been harder - cucumbers, caps, eggplants.

Basil went okay.

I think the maturity of the system and PH are important.
The nutrients and planting density also.

Got some more pictures?

I think you hit the nail on the head, my pH is still a little high but I don't think the plant density is a problem. It would be good if the more long term growers could tell us how long it was before they got good all round growth. I will update photos shortly

Photos taken tonight... 1st photos from the soil garden.

Now some photos from the AP system... the Beans are just about done now but we had quite a lot from those small bushes, the Beetroot in the photo is in a plastic pot with soil in it, part of an experiment I was doing to see if pots in AP would work, turns out it worked very well compared to others straight in the gravel or in the soil garden. It's a bit of a mixed bag at the moment, some plants doing well in the AP, others not doing anything but most plants in the soil doing very well this year. I think my AP system simply needs more time to mature.

How's it all going HC?