Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Where is the right place to test for Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites ?

A) Sump Tank or
B) Fish Tank

I am finally getting close to cycling having plumbed and tested for leaks today.

Fish Tank. That is where you really care about the levels.

Thanks

Hi to everyone greetings from the Trinidad
New here but been reading a lot of your recommendation and information.

I got one question I've been cycling my system about 2 months and doing readings daily I started with
ph 7.2
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates 0
was dosing the system to about 4ppm ammonia and then i had a ammonia spike I then water change and let run for a few days then i got a nitrite spike did a water change and dose the system to 1ppm ammonia in about a week nitrite and ammonia went to 0 dose again to 1ppm and in 48hrs it went to 0 dose to 1ppn ammonia in 24hrs ammonia and nitrite 0 during the time from the second water change nitrate went up to 40 for a week and then spike to over 100ppm i stop dosing and the nitrates stayed up over 100ppm so i told my self that the system had cycled
I think its time to water change and add fish

system flood and drain twice and hour
1 IBC 1000 L
3 growbeds 15" deep 12" gravel media
1 sump 30" deep fills 3\4 full when all beds drains

can i run the system for 2 day without dosing after water change I want to add fish... how long the bacteria will last without ammonia?
thanks for the help guys!

Bump for last post and welcome to the forum Elkeithos

Right back at you and thank you Scotty435

You should be good for a couple of days or more - I've had the bacteria hold up for months on moist media in bags. When you get your fish ramp up the feeding slowly so that the bacteria in the biofilter have time to adjust to the load.

My tales and woes

The only thing I have added to the system is GH's pH down and kelp/seaweed extract (for the plants)
Although about 3% of the pH down has an ammonia component after 48 hours bingo ammonia was present in the system

my reason for the pH down is I wanted to bring my well water (pH: 7.6) down to around my desired pH for the system 6.6 - 6.8

After 8 days I started to struggle with very high levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate levels
NH3 8.0 ppm (perhaps plus)
NO2 4.0 ppm
NO3 160 ppm (see High Levels image)

So having done further research I decided to drain about 40% - 50% of my water and refill my tanks

This brought the ammonia down to between 0 and 0.25 ppm (good)
raise the pH to 7.7 (not so happy)
lowered the NO2 to around 1.0 - 2.0
however the NO3 levels are still 160ppm or there about
(see lower Levels image)


Anyone had a similar experience and care to share their resolution(s)

Do I need to flush out more water to lower the NO3 and NO2 levels?

What can I do the lower the pH but NOT raise the NH3 levels?

Thanks in advance

Typically how fast does the system take to cycle ?

at 7:50 am NH3 0.5 , NO2 0.25 , NO3 5 after reading added 500ml NH3 to 650 gal system
at 8:30 am NH3 1.0 , NO2 0 , NO3 20


Has this system cycled ?

I'm needing help. I've been cycling my system for a month and the last two days it seems as it the process has stopped and I don't know why. My water tests from the last three days are as follows:

9/23- PH: 7.8, NH3: 4.0, NO2: 5+, NO3: 160+, Temp: 78F
9/24- PH: 7.4, NH3: 2.0, NO2: 5+, NO3: 80,Temp: 87F
9/25- PH: 6.4, NH3: 2.0, NO2: 0, NO3: 0, Temp: 77F

Does any of this makes sense and if so what can I do to get things back on track? Thanks in advance.


Sent from my SM-T800 using Tapatalk

Why the sudden PH drop ?

The Bactria are PH sensitive from my research

I had a PH drop and then developed a NH3 spike

Could be the same problem??? not 100% sure

I'm not really sure what has caused the PH spike either. the only thing I've changed in the system during the cycling period was I had some algae starting to grow in the fish tank so I covered the tank top with a tarp. That was a week ago. the algae has died off. Could that be the issue?

very likely Yes

Algae will drop the PH ( in my experience and research )


https://blog.brightagrotech.com/algae-in-aquaponics/

just not sure how much of a pH swing will kill the bacteria
I do know the bacteria is ph sensitive and that
within the bacteria family needed for NH3 to NO2
certain bacteria in that family operate at their own pH levels (hope that makes sense)

it's why keeping the pH fairly steady is vital, and esp. in aquaponics never mind for the fishes sake

That makes sense. So sense I have the algae problem taken care of. It seems like I need to fix the PH and start the cycling process again. Am I right? Sorry for the beginner question.

Correct

Get the algae controlled humic acid helps with nutrient and colors the water keeping the algae growth out/down

Then get the ph to where you need to be based on my plants I like 6.5 - 6.8


Then is should correct itself fairly quickly as your results show you were almost there

Do you have plants in? If not get some in so they can start using some of the NO3
lettuce or any leafy greens will love you for it.

You need to start using up some of the NO3 160 is great,