Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

So if the ratio is 1 fish for every 20L of wet gravel, that should mean I need 9 tilapia I believe. Anyone care to check my math? 26" x 48" x 9" (9" is the stand pipe height, 11" is the gravel height) = 11,232. 11,232 / 1,728 = 6.5 cubic feet. 6.5 cubit feet = 184.06 Liters. 184.06 / 20 = ~9 fishes.

Since I have 2 50 gallon fish tanks, should I split the 9 fish between the two? Or are they okay to all be in the same tank? (I'd put them in the second tank, just before swirl filter)

Also, my readings just a few moments ago show nitrites up to just above 0.25 ppm and ammonia at 4 ppm. I'll do another reading tonight, and then one in the morning. If they are both at 0 ppm, it'll be crazy! It'll mean that it took me 6 days to completely cycle my system using ammonia and API Quick Cycle for bacteria.

Oh! I also wanted to show what I did for my SLO. I am using 2" PVC for the SLO, and at the base I attached a 2" to 3" adapter, stuck a really small piece of 3" pipe in it, and then attached a drain to the end that has a stainless steel grade on it (the drain can either go into 4" pvc or it can have 3" pvc go into it. Here's a picture of the two items:





It sits maybe about half an inch off the bottom. I might pull it out later and drill holes along the sides of the drain to help as well, but we'll see.

That is a neat idea.
I lost about 4 fish up my SLO on the 1st day