Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey gents,

I removed it for the reason that I assumed it was not good while getting the system started. I was informed, from another thread I had going, that this was an algal bloom and not good to have at this stage of cycling.

As you'll see on this thread I've also raised the issue several times to get comments on if it is good or bad but no comments had been made.

To confirm the colour .. I'd say 90% brown 10% green to look at in the tank but on removing a piece of PVC I had in the tank as a hide, it turned olive green when it dried in the sun.

I didn't do it for looks I can assure you and if this is indeed biofilm and I was aware of the fact I would have left it alone.

I appreciate the advice guys. I guess we only learn from our mistakes

An update is that another 10 small goldfish were added yesterday and all are eating happily.
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I thought I'd include some extra pics re the brown slime as It may help others down the track.

The first point is that the only biofilm I've seen before this was at the BYAP display area. It is a VIBRANT GREEN.

I asked at the time if it was a benefit and was told that it is a fundamental part of the system, leave it alone.

My trouble started when a BROWN SLIME began forming in my tanks and sump.

Not recognising the colour I was not sure if this was the good biofilm or something else.

It was suggested that is was an algal bloom As a new guy the only algal bloom I've seen is in the swan and avon rivers. The water becomes completely murky in these cases. In my case the water was still crystal clear. If anyone has a pic of an aquaponics algal bloom I'd be keen to see if they are the same.

Now I have included a pic of the fish tank post cleaning. It has some of the original slim still present near the drain point. It in now almost black in colour.



The next picture is an area on the wall of the same tank that had the brown wiped off but has green groowing in the scratches of the tank. This looks more like biofilm as I understand it.



The last picture is a PVC hide I had in the tank. This had BROWN slime on it when I removed it ... BUT ... after it sat in the sun it changed colour.

I then wet one end to see if it would go back to brown but it went dark green instead.



My conclusion . . . still don't know, but I am going to take Charlie's advice and leave it alone.

New systems can sometimes go through what we call a 'pea soup' stage, this is a green algae bloom throughout the water caused by rising nutrient and fluent levels. Its fairly normal and all you can do to minimise or clean out is to increase turnover, air and shade the tank. Once the system ecology is established its rare to see this reoccur and the biofilm sets in on all surfaces throughout the system, it can start green but usually turns brown, if there are areas of the IBC wall that get sunlight it can stay in green in patches, all this is perfectly fine and its best for system stability to leave it be.

Bio-film is generally brown in colour, its a living build up of nutrient rich organisms and is much welcomed in a healthy AP system, fish like catfish love to feed on it, biofilm is the term used to describe the benthic population.

Dont panic, your system will be fine and it will grow back.

Heres a pic I took of the thick build up on my FT wall..

Looks like you stuck a carpet in your tank Charlie

Yea it's pretty amazing. My hand is underwater in that pic and you can see the water quality is clear and free of suspended solids.

I read that post as algae dramas in the sump - Thinking you had the green algae as its an open sun source.

Nevermind... your biofilm will return.

Thanks for the clarification Charlie .. Onwards we go.

So we added 10 new goldies 4 days ago, doubled the feeding rate, a splash of humonia (which I've been advised by a good mate, who's in the aquaculture industry, probably isn't such a good idea), a few drops of seaweed extract, a few showers of rain (not my doing but hey) and BOOM.




Now I'm very happy with this but not sure which was the dominant factor to make this happen. Never mind ... I'm going to just keep feeding the fish and leave the rest alone.

Also a few illegal aliens, which I was keeping in the GB's as the budgie in the coalmine so to speak, have suddenly got a bit of a wriggle on.

Might be time to get planting.



All comments and philosophies welcome as usual.

Todays results as per yesterday's

I'm aware I've got the Nitrate in the wrong place ....

All is good for now.

Well it seems the pretty colours are gone.

Over the past week all results have returned to 0.

This is probably due to the fact that this week I've refrained from tinkering. The fish are fed 3-4 times a day and that is it.

Seems that a few drops of seaweed extract and a few slashes of humonia really can influence the water tests.





This week I've also noticed the fish are eating the remains of the biofilm in the bottom of the tank.



The weather is cooling rapidly now. Min. air temps down to 6°C at night. Water temp currently ranging from 10 - 12°C over 24 hours.

I planted out the grow beds last weekend due to my excitement over the colours on the water test. I'll include photo's on next post.

Attached are some pics of the grow beds.

The first is last week before planting. Some illegal aliens (I think they are spinach) had popped up and started to get going.



These next 2 are the progress after 1 week. Not to bad really. Definitely better than their brothers and sisters that ended up in the ground.





We've gone with cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, pak choy, spinach and 2 varieties of kale. These were germinated 3 weeks ago in seed trays .... so they're not bunnings steroid plants that will keel over as soon as they are in the real world.

The same are in the ground so it will be a good comparison.

The only negative with the GB's is they are only getting 4hrs (max) full sun due to their position. I didn't really have much choice for this system so we'll just have to wait and see.

Hopefully we can keep the plants healthy even with no system activity at this stage.

They are beetroot - or ruby chard

Cool, what is ruby chard good for?

its silverbeet

nice with lemon and garlic

Another week has passed, still no movement in water chemistry but the fish are super hungry and the plants are growing

I'm considering adding more goldfish to move things along. Currently we have ratio of

19 fish @ 5cm long : 300L wet media : 1780L water in tanks/sump. So plenty of room for more fish by my calcs.

I'm still resisting the tinkering urge with regard to physically adding ammonia to the system.

All comments welcome as usual.