Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

3 days ago I woke up to find that my 168gallfish tank was completely drained and my fish were all struggling to survive in the 1-1/2"-2" of water that was left. I refilled the tank as quick as I could with the usual water and same temperature. Since then I've done a number of +50% water changes because my ammonia is suddenly extremely high. I'm assuming it's due to stress but I'm wondering how I can get rid of this ammonia and how I can help them be more comfortable. I'm afraid that too much water changes at this point may be a bad thing. The tank is visibly clean. I dragged the bottom today in case there were any dead fish causing this ammonia spike but there weren't any. I haven't fed them so as not to contribute more to this spike. Before anybody asks, my dog helped himself to some fish water and somehow managed to disconnect the flow pipe to the grow bed so the pump just kept pumping the water onto the floor until the tank was empty. I have permanently rectified the problem.

Stress will be part of the problem, check all the pipes and pump for dead fish too. Do you know if your source water has chloramine?

Other than that your simply overstocked. 50 fish in 650L FT with 400L of GB, your under filtered. Sorry to be blunt but hope you get it sorted.

Thanks for the reply. I've had these fish since the beginning (jan 2014) and have never had any issues with water quality or fluctuations in readings once we finally cycled back in March I think. I'm not sure why you think I'm overstocked. Please explain. I'm on well water. No chloramine.

25 fish per 500L of wet media is a documented safe ratio, you can get away with more for a period of time but eventually you will see rise in levels, similar to what your experiencing now. I know talapia can handle higher densities much like carp but you will consistently be needing to monitor and manage water parameters. Why not just add more biofiltration?

It seems I can't grow anything in my current gb so honestly I haven't considered adding to it. I was gonna reach out to this group about those issues too but just figured things would eventually work themselves out. Patience and time. Lots of both lol. The problem I had with my fish tank this week was much more serious in nature so I didn't hesitate to post. I was hoping for some tips on how to help them recuperate but I guess no one has any.

lol... do be like that.. of course we did.. I know you may be a bit stressed out but you still have to be open to suggestions.. I too was overstocked once.. had 300 talapia in 750L ft with total system volume of 1500L. it worked for a while but as charlie said. the water monitoring was very very often... like each time before I feed I always had to look at ammonia and nitrites.. but thats in hindsight.. to correct current issue.. stop feeding IMMEDIATELY.. and stop doing so large of water changes... secondly because you reached this state.. you will have to remove anything that is producing ammonia.. that's mainly cleaning out any filters of their solids... I noticed as well if a GB is clogged this too produces ammonia.. but if it is clog.. ideally it will be better to remove all media and lightly rinse them on the floor to just remove solids.. you dont want to wash them fully to completely kill off you beneficial bacteria.. if you can't remove all media then don't bother to touch it.. partially cleaning can lead to more problems like nitrite and ammonia spikes.. a next solution will be to add more aeration in FT as well as GB if possible.. if GB is flood and drain no extra aeration is needed.. but if u want to increase nitrification you can lower your drain level a bit for more media to be exposed to the air.. if u got Continously Flooded or DWC beds.. air stones can be buried under the media to help with aeration..
finally as Charlie point out.. you can always increase you bio filtration.. some bio balls in a container with airstone where some of your water can flow through will help your situation alot..

But to help you even be you got to gives numbers of amm nitrite ppm.. as well as pics of your system will be appreciated..
But again I say.. STOP FEEDING IMMEDIATELY. till you start to see a decline.

I can't say that I understand just what happened to drain that water from the FT..

IF you are looking at change, then a good place to start would be ensuring that the FT can NEVER again drain..
..
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I'm always open to suggestions Cookie and I appreciate everyone's input. I understand that you guys think I'm overstocked and I'm not arguing that. I'm just trying to make sense of it and understand. This issue with the ammonia spike has to be a direct result of the fish lacking water and not just a coincidence. I did stop feeding them since the incident . The amm is down between 0.5-1ppm today.
Boidoi the problem has been rectified.

Good to hear the good news NOAN.. when ever you are ready for the plants part.. don't be afraid to ask.

As Skuggley pointed out ^^, that slightly disturbing statement raises more questions than it answers.

Have you got some pics of your system, Noan. Sometimes a picture paints a thousand words and it will help us help you, thats what we are here for.

Often I see members posting of issues when they are overstocked, usually they can only purchase fish in 50 or 100 numbers and then find themselves in a spot. Its just a simple misunderstanding and we will get you on track. I too like cookie was once overstocked but after finding BYAP I was quickly back on track, don't take any comments here as anything but constructive.

Like Cookie pointed out, stop feeding and stop large water changes as you are stalling the biofilter. You have been cycled for some time so you have an establishes ecosystem which will help but the wastes produced are overwhelming the biofilter.

you have a few choices, add biofiltration, or add a pre-filtering device, or remove fish.

What are all your parameters at the moment, including temp?

Hi Guys.

Here are my readings from this morning.
NO3 20ppm
NO2 0
PH8
KH 240
GH 0
Amm 0.5
Water and room temp are 24 degrees.
PH is normally 7.

Along with all the water changes, I also added 3 live boston lettuce plants that were grown hydroponically in hopes to help breakdown the ammonia.
Here are a few pics of my system and plants and a bit of a history. I direct seeded and planted sprouted seeds back in April. Most of them died off over time. The only plant that ever produced any fruit is my sweet pepper plant just recently but once it did, the leaves turned spotted yellow and the 1/8"-1/2" fruits stopped growing. There are new leafs growing on this plant and a flower this morning. My tomato plant had a total of 5 flowers and never any fruit.
I reseeded a few of the same varieties in September most of which never came up. I know these things can take time and I've been patient, but it's been over 7 months so I know I'm missing something.

Here are some pics.

A few more.