Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The lower level PH test will max out at around 7.6, so your pH is around 8.2, you don't need to do both. However, have a look for pH pen on ebay, they are cheap and so much quicker.

Sometimes the nitrates can come without seeing the nitrites first, give it a few days and see if they continue to rise, it'll tell if they are from the Ag-Grow or not. I think the powerfeed will have some nitrates too.

Once the nitrate starts to rise, or ammonia starts to disappear, go ahead and add your fish.

I will have a look for the Pen.

Should I test every 24 hours of will 48 hours do?

If you're cycling with fish, I'd do it at least once a day, but without 48 hours will be fine. You just want to wait for the nitrates to rise.

I decided to test the water again today, Had massive rain the last 20+ hours. Could that have effected the PH so much?

I also have no Nitrites in my system yet but the Nitrates have spiked... I can't determine if it is 10ppm or 20ppm but it's between those colours on the chart.

If the nitrates have spiked, it's all working.

Once the ammonia has gone down, add your fish.

What about the pH, will it recover it self over the coarse of the week... Or should I add something to lower it before adding the fish?


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Ok let's look at this logically.
It's winter, yes there are nitrates and that's good however I doubt the system will cycle terribly fast with this cold weather. I'd imagine the nitrates are from the fertilisers.
My silvers stopped eating a couple of weeks ago they're not assisting the system much now and if I didn't have trout in I'd need to be supplementing for plant growth in my established system. Due to my conservative stocking levels I can and have added Charlie carp, b&b and worm wee for additional nutrients, for the plants, knowing the bacteria in the system can do its work and keep the water suitable for the fish.
So the question is; would it be worth putting silvers in so soon?

Not an expert, but I would think your system will take a while before it levels itself out. Certainly longer than a week. It's too cold for things to happen quickly.

I'm with Skeggley. Don't rush it or you will get disappointed. I would not be getting any fish until at least Sept long week end. That will give your system some time to develop its own bacteria.

Skegg, my silvers only eat in the afternoon, once it has warmed up a bit. They enjoy a sleep in. Must be teenagers.

As long as he's going with fingerlings, you don't need to cycle first. It can be managed with just controlling feeding. So if Ammonia spikes, stop feeding until it drops down.

And if the nitrates are going up, with no more of the fertiliser being added, then it's saying to me that it's working. Once the ammonia is converted, and no more nitrites, it should be cycled.

Also, without fish, you can use hydrochloric acid (it's cheap.) to pull down the pH quickly, without worrying about hurting the fish.

quite a bit of rain in Perth last weekend, so you might find that will help balance out your pH etc.

what is your water source ? My Perth water from mains tap is mainly 6.8 to 7.0 in the FT.
(may be coming from your media ? - though usually pea gravel is iron which tends to go low pH)

Take note of Skeggley and Dr Bee - it takes a good while before the system settles, particularly while temps are lower.

+1 for pH meter - but don't buy the cheapest. As a rule the ones around $40 or so are better than the sub $20 ones.
Also best to get some standard solution to test / calibrate against.

Here is the results for day 9. I did not expect growth already, pictures to follow.

pH had gone down to 8.2 again. The ammonia is still at 1.0ppm, Nitrates still at 0.0ppm & Nitrates looks like 10ppm.







You can see the new leaves coming out from the lettuce.





Strawberries pushing out new leaves.





Broccoli had slow growth comparing to the other plants, but at least there is progress.



Tomato pushed out a new branch




For adding the fish or not adding the fish. Would it help if I add a water heater that can regulate the water temperature between 22 to 26 degrees. That would solve the problem of the fish not eating due to the cold weather.

If the heater is a no go then would it make sense just to carry on with the Power feed once the ammonia dropped back to 0.0 ppm. Then just add 2.5 caps again to get it up to 1.0 to 2.0 and have the bacteria do its magic to process it.

Hiya Jacko the greens are growing so that's good, half way there.
My point is is that the fish eat and make our fertiliser, if the fish don't eat, no fertiliser, slow growth, and your bio filter wanes.
Ok, so you could heat the water, yes that would encourage the fish to grow ,heat it enough and you could even grow barramundi year round.
Remembering that your GB is like a radiator and heat travels from hot to cold, it would take a lot of heating or energy to maintain temperatures. In a green house or similar, keeping the air temps up it could be worth it but without it could be quite costly. What are your water temps?
Unfortunately you've begun in between seasons.
So what are your options?
Get silvers and hope that you're lucky like dr bee and they eat.
Get advanced trout fingerlings.
Get goldfish or koi, although I'm not sure if they eat in the cold.
Continue with organic fertilisers, my personal favourite, really works on your patience skills.
Get fish and still fertilise. You'll need for your system to be well cycled for this.
Each has its pros and cons and ultimately it's your call. Two months if a long time to hang out for your fish, but I'd be surprised if your system cycled in less than a month. Plenty of time to plan for your inevitable expansion.

Darren, the rain certainly drives the pH down alright, 6 last time I checked. Our tap water up here in the hills has a pH of 8 which helps in the summer.

PH pens are really handy alright. Mine lulled me into a false sense of security as when I eventually got round to calibrating it I realised it quite a way out...

Keep in mind I may be wrong, I frequently am...

How's it all going Jacko?

I read your reply and I am still monitoring my system. Don't know what to expect as the water is stable where it is now.

Below is what the latest test shown for my system so far.

Day 11 Running Fish less with Power feed



Day 14







I have not tried anything to lower my pH. I cant see why it wont sort itself out?

The growth on my lettuce and strawberries is great. The tomatoes is now thickening their main stem so hopefully they show some new leaves in a few days. The broccoli is slow gaining size in the leaves but the number of leaves is unchanged.

I am not sure why I test 0 for Nitrites and the rest stays consistent?

yep - why I wondered at his levels. Mains supplied water in Perth is limited at 6.5-8.5 though in reality the shandying and dosing processes keep it at 7-8. In most monitoring studies it is typical that SOR is a bit lower (around 7, so 6.8-7.4 is pretty typical) while NOR is slightly higher and 7.8 up to 8 is pretty typical. Obviously for water that has sat for 24 hours to get atmospheric balance for CO2, chlorine etc .

There must be a reason that his pH sits so high at 8-8.5. The rain should have dropped it - in fact adding rain water would help to bring it down under 8 I would expect.


Hence question about water source and/or some media affect - it is almost like it is limestone water, which might make sense if a bore. But then very easy to balance down with mains water or rain water. Weird as pea gravel should be iron which if anything tends to promote slightly acidic outcome if anything.

The main negative with higher pH relate to ammonia toxiticity and warm water - various charts appear in forum - particularly in Perth where the system will get pretty warm in a couple months time.