Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So, here is my 1st system

(i wish i could take credit for the plants, but they were procured from Clemson University's Aquaponics Program, and installed as-is (or as-was))

CHOP media bed (or is it chop 2??)
270gal in fish tank,
135gal in sump tank (and grow bed)

One pump 1,100 gal/hr in sump

20 tilapia (probably 30 lbs of fish)

this is a used system, i bought with actively filtering bio-filter pea gravel

it has an 8" deep grow bed (IBC top)
50% pea gravel (already bacterial laden) & 50% new hydroton (no bacteria)

it has come to active duty faster then i had planned, as my next-door neighbors also got on the AP bandwagon at same time,
they got a pretty sweet deal on a whole "decorative fish pond" system, with a 4ftx8ft. growbed, and a 2ftx8ft growled, AND TWENTY ADULT TILAPIA
i am fish sitting till theirs is up and running, which may yet be some weeks

i figured it would work, since the pea gravel i got with my system already had good, working nitrobacteria, and nitrosomonas bacteria on it.

I AM HAVING HUGE AMMONIA PROBLEMS, despite starving the fish,
my family is accusing me of fish cruelty, and running a tilapia hunger-games operation
i am amazed none have died in the 8 days i have been chasing my tail, trying to lower the NH4.

after introducing the fish,
Ammonia was in 2's to 4's,
then it went to 4-6 next day

I added 2 bottles of ammonia lock

And 1 bottle of stability stuff (NH4 binder AND bacteria boosters)

Ammonia was hovering at 3-5
Then back to 6ish +

i then added MORE used (bacteria-laden) pea gravel to the sump tank, AND fish tank,
to the tune if about 1-1.5" deep

still no better

i THEN added a 100gal/hour aquarium filter (small, i know, but all i could get my hands on)



With ammonia absorbing rocks in 2 of its 8 compartments<image.jpeg>



And 2 more fist-sized pantyhose wads of Zeolyte,
Placed where pump flows into fish tank



2 more bottles of stability
4 or 5 more bottles of ammo-lock / ammonia neutralizer liquid

Still running 6ish to 8ish
Still no dead fish, somehow

Have now removed the carbon filters from the aquarium filter, and 4 out of 8 compartments have Zeolyte

today i probably did about an 80 (+/-20) gallon water exchange from the garden hose
NH4 is still running 6.0-8.0ish
pH 's have been between 6.6 and 7.6
nitirite is now 1.0-2.0
nitrate is 20-40

i may have hit upon the problem as i was typing this - - -
my neighbors system had 48 sq-ft x 8"deep, of active, bacteria-laden pea gravel.
mine initially had just 8"deep x 12 sq-ft of grow bed media

i have since added more gravel to the sump, and fish tank, and think i am gonna dump all the rest that I have - RIGHT NOW.

open to any and all ideas,

do y'all think adding all the rocks i can will help, to maximize surface area for bacterial bio-filtering capacity?

do i just need to harvest some fish?
some are about 2lbs, i am pretty sure

thanks,
jesse


Sent from my iPhone

You're over stocked a good guide is 1 fish per 25 litres of wet media

stop feeding
stop with the chemicals (most are not meant for fish you plan on eating)
get the zeolite out,, until you do DO NOT ADD SALT! (if you add salt, as normally recommended for high ammonia and or nitrites, the salt makes the zeolite "release" the ammonia it is holding)
do 25% daily water changes until you can reduce the stock

yeah, i forgot the 1:1 grow bed volume to water volume rule,
and was distracted just thinking that 1 fish to 20 gallons of water, . . . wasn't very dense.

I was dense


havent fed them in a while, and then not much the few days i did


so should these fish NOT be eaten??
reckon the chemicals have made my gravel and hydration "bad"? and they need replacing, and not just the water?


haven't added any salt, will get zeolyte out in am


by reducing stock, i guess you mean kill off a few and discard, rather than kill off a few and eat 'em?
if i discard a few, and then say a few more, and eventually get the ammonia under control, . . . will said chemicals wash out of the fish, and they become edible again (assuming they are strictly inedible now)

in a real quandary as to what, and how much to do now.

well, you said you were holding some stock for someone else.. if you're still overstocked when they get their fish, then yes, i'd cull some fish
regarding the chemicals.. it's a personal choice, that you need to educate yourself about.. personally, i would not eat them, but might consider them for breeding

i spoke to a PhD aquaculturist with 20 yrs experience, at Clemson University Aquaponics dept.
he felt that a month in clean, chem free waters should suffice, to purge them to edibility

he is actually going to fish-sit for the fish-sitter (me) till i expand my grow beds (and/or friends get a system up and running, and i get the ammonia under control

the fish have been moving the pebbles around the bottom of the fish tank,
- clearing out the corners, and making a "crop circle" of clear IBC-bottom
- i think that means they are fixing to spawn/breed (whichever is the correct term)

i like the idea of maybe even discarding the adults and sticking with the new span that i think are about to hatch

11 days, and no deaths, at least
i wish i had taken this at my own pace, instead of getting rushed, to help out my neighbor friends, and overextending myself