Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

The biggest factor in cycling a bio filter is... Patience. :
One of my worst traits: A lack of patience.

Thanks for the explanation Ryan. I was thinking that the additional ammonia was actually helping my bacteria get established. I'm back to zero with ammonia, but still too high on nitrites. I know...patience.

This may not help but when I cycled my mini pond outside i wouldnt get that last oxidation from nitrite to nitrate.. All I did to my submerged media filter was add aeration and the next day it was all good. 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and only nitrates. Perhaps that shade cloth has that same problem. So as soon as your mbbr has been fully established with bacteria this wont be a problem.
Be patience like Ryan said

Patient.. (is that right?)

Patient.. (is that right?)

yeah, I'm going to be a mental patient if this thing doesn't get cycled this week.

May be annoying but would you rather have California weather in drought, or live here South Australia =driest state in driest contineint.

Give me rain and floods anyday. A bit of forward planning and flooding can be controlled (usually ) but droughts you just try and survive.

Tonzz, Yeah, good point. Watching the news and seeing all the fires in Cali makes me shut up and be grateful. Sometimes, I just like to bitch. I have so much to be thankful for, I shouldn't really complain about anything. God blesses me daily and I'm able to do what I love with a beautiful wife, family, and friends. I'm healthy and can pay my bills. What more can a guy ask for? Possibly faster nitrifying bacteria in their mbbr?

Lol. Not exactly what I meant but hey it works too apparently

11 days since adding new K1, still nothing really.

After cleaning shade cloth/netting, ammonia went up and nitrites went down below 1. Then after another day, they shot back up again to over 2. Stopped feeding again, wait 36 more hours, barely any drop? The water isn't even dropping PH from inlet of mbbr to outlet. It seems my homemade(almost free) bioballs were working better then the $800.00 K1.

I know patience. I'm running out.

It takes time my friend. 3-4 weeks.

There could be a lot of bacteria growing on that media and you would never even know it Chris. Hang in there .

If you want to speed things up you could try the proline nitrifying bacteria or add water from another established system. I think if you've already come this far you should just let nature do it since proline = $$$ and it's risky adding from another system. It will happen soon!

A song while you are waiting coach https://youtu.be/ErvgV4P6Fzc

Thanks Swede. I love GNR!

Sam, I'm waiting...patiently. lol

Awesome, good band no doubt.

Arg. must be a bitch to wait. Have you got shad-cloth filter bio-ball filter and the new mbbr filter all going at the same time? RAS isn't for the faint of heart I take it