Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Seasol wont do a thing regarding cycling it maybe help to keep plants alive Power feed I would guess it would be the same
I always started systems with a few goldfish but on real feed not petshop junk that's only designed to keep fish alive not make them grow

Yes the above mentioned Seasol/Powerfeed plus about 1L of "tea" from my worm farm over a few weeks.

Ok I have gone back over the thread with a system that size 1 litre of tea will do nothing
You will get more benefit if you pee in the system once a day for a week
Somebody in America is or was running quite a large system entirely on aged urine Its called pee ponics
I would stick some fish in straight away all you will need to do is monitor your water daily for a while till it settles down
What fish are you thinking of running [its to hot for trout till end of jan or later ]

You've got ammonia and you've got nitrite so all you have to do is wait. Tea and seasol will help keep your plants alive but wait. Don't put any fish in yet - just wait. From my own previous mistakes I implore you to wait until those levels are at or damn near zero. Putting fish in now will cause undue stress. You have all the ingredients for success just let nature take its course.

Wonder where the ammonia has come from then? You are showing a decent reading for it.

Yes agreed seasol power feed and a litre of worm juice in that size tank wont give that reading

Ok, it seems seasol power feed does have ammonia.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25531

and

viewtopic.php?f=14&t=24344&p=496836&hilit=Mr+Damage+seasol#p496745

There you go you learn something every day

Well don't add any more of that then. Just regular seasol and worm tea for plant health and let the system cycle.

OK thanks all. I have pee'd about 3 times but 3L of seasol/powerfeed blend is responsible for the ammonia, using the product below.

http://www.bunnings.com.au/seasol-2l-hose-on-liquid-fertiliser-with-powerfeed-twin-pack_p2990059

Silver perch, but not before the biofilm has done its job! I'll take some more readings next week.

Awesome looking setup, I am suffering from fish tank envy

From my past experiences, waiting is the right thing to do.. I rushed my last setup and ended up with about 50 dead catfish in a short span of time. Just a few short weeks later, I had no issues in adding in replacements, and had no more deaths up til harvest. Once that ammonia and nitrites are gone, you will be good to go, and it shouldn't take too long now. I look forward to seeing it up and running, nice job on the concept and construction.

Thanks tgood, much credit to this forum and for everyone sharing their knowledge and experience.

I'm a little concerned that very low pH (as per reading below, 2 days ago) may affect the nitrification process. Should I consider trying to raise the pH over the course of the next week or so?

Yes, if the results of that pH test are correct then you need to bring the pH up. You might also need to add some buffering capacity back into the system - might be worth checking the total alkalinity of the system (aka carbonate hardness). Shell grit, Potassium bicarbonate and Dolomite lime (among others) can be used to add carbonates and raise the pH but you don't want to over do it. I usually use shell grit in a mesh bag so I can remove it if the pH climbs too high - unless I'm in the situation you're in now - for that I usually use potassium bicarbonate. CaOH and KOH will work if you don't need the added carbonates (but they are much stronger bases).

One week since the last readings, now I'm really confused!