Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Guys, need a bit of help.

Here goes.... I have a new aquaponic system that I'm trying to get the water right. It has been running for about 3 months now of which I have had my gold fish in for about 1.5 months. I got a friend of mine to test my water (he never gave me the numbers of all the tests) he said all the levels are high. So I need to continue doing my weekly water changes as well as I should go to a pet shop and ask for a handful of stones from one of their older fish tanks so I can get my bacteria established in my system to get the process started.

But now I'm confused, I was at a pet shop and the guy told me that even if I do get live bacteria from an existing system, that my bacteria would die because it has no food as the ammonia is too high so once the ammonia breaks down to nitrates there is nothing to break down the nitrates to nitrites (sorry if it's the wrong way round, always get confused between the nitrites and nitrates) so he wants me to buy a vial of prodibio-Biodigest every week for the rest of my systems life span because that will feed my bacteria.

So now I am wondering if I am going to have to buy this stuff forever how do other people "feed" their bacteria in existing systems? My friend has never put anything in his water and he has his bacteria established and a healthy system what makes mine different that I need to buy all these fancy things?

Please try keep the big terminology to a minimum as I am still a newbie with all the aquaponic terminology and still learning about the amazing aquaponic world. Be patient please. Thanks in advance

We really need a description of your entire system, usually photos say a thousand words.

...it sounds like the pet shop dude just wants to get your money, because what he told you is [rude words go HERE]. There is no way your system is somehow ~~magically different~~ and needs $$$ expensive additions that nobody else has to use!

First, go to a different shop and get your own test kit! You need to be able to test your own water so that you know what's going on - if you can get an all-in-one kit that's awesome, if not, make sure you get kits to test pH, ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. Those are the essentials. It's also a good idea to get a thermometer so you know what temperature your water is at; temperature affects how well the bacteria will grow, and also how dangerous high levels of ammonia are.

You don't need to get anything special to get bacteria into your system, either. The right sort of bacteria are everywhere, all you need to do is give them the right conditions to grow. If you test your water and tell us what you get, and let us know what your system is like (Charlie's right, photos are awesome), we can help. For now, stop feeding your goldfish - if your 'levels are high' that's one way to get them down, the fish will be fine. Also, how big are the water changes you're doing and what water are you using?

As Mel said, the bacteria are naturally occurring and will show up on their own, you don't need to "seed" your system with water or gravel from another system.

For the beneficial bacteria colony to establish there needs to be an Ammonia source.

If the level of Ammonia in the water reaches or exceeds 8.0ppm during cycling (establishing the bacteria colony to a level that will sustain your fish) it will inhibit or completely stall the development of the bacteria colony.

During the cycling process an Ammonia level of 1.0ppm to 2.0ppm is more than adequate. More will not speed up the cycling process.

One group of bacteria will move in first and convert the Ammonia into Nitrites. Once Nitrites are present a second group of bacteria will convert the Nitrite into Nitrate, which plants can then absorb.

Once the system is cycled and as long as there is an Ammonia source, this Nitrification process will continue indefinitely.

Fish constantly give off Ammonia, not just through defecation and urination, but also through transpiration (breathing), so your fish are your constant Ammonia source.

P.S. Your pet shop guy needs to read a book or find a new profession.

Hi guys sorry for only coming back to everyone now. Hectic week.

To answer Mel: I have a ph tester and my ph is high. 8.6 or 8.7. I am using borehole water and I have had my borehole water tested and it's perfect. 7.2. I do have a thermometer in my tank and the temp ranges between 21 and 23 but it is winter at the moment so my temp in my green house keeps dropping at night and it's back up by lunch time. Sure summer will be better. My water changes that I do are 25lt of water once a week. I have been told that too much water out the tank could be stressful for my fish. I took pics just now just have no idea how to load them on for u guys to see.

To Mr Damage: If I had to take my fish out the tank and drain my system completely and start with new water everywhere could that help bring down the ammonia levels or rather not? If the ammonia levels are at the amounts you said above how long more or less would it take for the correct amount or sufficient amount of bacteria to grow and start the process?

I am trying my best to get hold of my own test kits so I can test my water just a lil hard in South Africa lol. And not to mention expensive (don't get me wrong not being stingy).

My pics exceed the 2 mb limit. Any other way to put my pics up? Thanks

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In the order of my pics : from my pump up into my filter (a.k.a my bucket ) , down into the grow beds and back to the fish tank

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Next question... what's in the bucket? I gather it's a biofilter, since you seem to be doing DWC instead of media beds. I'm also wondering what's lifting your pH...

The bucket is my biofilter. I have no idea wot is raising my ph.

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..
For the number of Fishies in there, I wonder if you have enough bio filtration in the system..
When you think that the Rule-Of-Thumb is 30L of media per fish, and you could guess what those goldies might be the equivalent of X-"FISH"
..

I have been told I don't have enough fish

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What are you using as media in the biofilter?

Also, when you got your borehole water tested, did they/you test it straight out of the bore? The pH can change a lot if you let water sit overnight with an airstone in it. (I forget the exact explanation of why, hopefully someone will chime in to explain!)

Mel I am using hydrotin in my filter. Just got back from buying my test kit so wen I'm done at work I am going to test everything in my water and let u guys know. That's to say I figure out exactly how to do it correctly lol. It looks so complicated

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It looks complicated all right but I promise the tests are really simple! Most of them are just "put in this much water, put in this many drops from the bottle, wait 5 minutes".