Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Darren, yeah the nitrate test procedure surprised me too. Yeah didnt do the inverting before adding solution 2. Just did the shaking at the end for a minute. I made sure I re-read the instructions and followed exactly when I started getting the Nitrite spike too , just in case I missed something there too.
lots of air with a 100mm air stone disc in the fish tank, plus I have my back system running 24/7 at the moment which recycles the FT water via a 12 volt 750gph bilge pump via a spray bar about 80mm above the water surface which gives pretty good aeration. I think it might be the aeration thats saved me thus far.
The only fertilsers I added was some blood and bone as per previous suggestion to the grow bed surface and sprinkled it in with a watering can. I suppose some of this could have got washed into the system when I pumped 150 litres af the aged water into one of the growbeds about a week ago. I have another 150 litres standing in sun and being bubbled for 24 hrs (added 1500mg of vitamin c for chloramines) that I plan to add tomorrow. I was thinking of adding 20 litres of fish pond water from the front yard just in case I had killed of the colony - thoughts on this? Possibly adding some API quick start which is supposed to have nitrifying bacteria added. It isnt a water aging product and does not do anything about PH or chlorine/chloramines. See details here. http://www.apifishcare.com/product.php? ... R2RgIo_5J-

I havent been game to feed the fish until its all sorted out, might just have to get some beer instead Beer for me, not the fish

I don't recall this one, but it sounds like a good idea. I can easily add a T on my FT return line as it is directly above my ST return line from my RFF, and then the line to the FT can be fully open relieving any pressure on the pump. I have a ball valve at each growbed which adjusts for the bell syphons so that shouldn't be an issue as I have split the flow from the pump with one side going to growbeds, and the other side going to FT.

don't add or play with the system too much - the bacteria will be there. Your system has been going for a while.
just keep the water changes simple - there will be heaps of bacteria coming from the other system water.
probably avoid the pond water for time being as it is likely to add other things and you don't want an algae bloom.

don't add the new water to the beds, add it to the sump.

cut down on all additives for a bit. Worse mistake is to add this and then add that.

make sure you do a (full) test on the top up water before you add it.
something not quite kosher here.

see mentioned previously but how many fish have you got (just the 10 ?) and what total size of FT
(presume just the one IBC at 700-900L or so) and how many grow beds.

this is starting to sound like a stocking and/or insufficient biofilter issue.

appears you have a drum filter there - is that working OK ?

>> as I have split the flow from the pump with one side going to growbeds, and the other side going to FT.

would have thought that alone would have been enough. What size pump are you using ?
If you have both sump + FT water going in to grow beds then maybe you are pushing too much water through the beds too quickly and not enough chance for nitrification to occur. That could be related to your spike problem as well.

Darren, 3600 litre/hr pump 1m head gives approx 2000litre/hr capacity, 1000litre IBC FT (full), 3 growbeds fully planted IBC beds 300mm deep with gravel. Test on top up water 0.00 nitrites and nitrates. Sump tank to growbeds and FT, FT to radial flow and return to sump with no return to growbeds. only 10 trout, biggest 180mm smallest about 100mm, didnt add the pond water as per your advice.

Havent checked the filter for use yet as its covered up to limit algae growth at moment but will do.

Good news though, nitrites dropped to 2ppm and nitrates up to 160ppm this morning before dropping and adding 150 litres of top up water as described earlier - to the sump this time. Added 300g of salt to cover this top up and the last one where I forgot about salt. Too late about the API quickstart, that got added to the water, guess it won't hurt too much. (Maybe it will tell the existing nitrobacters that they are not indispensable. )
Maybe the other buggers are back from holidays

More good news today - all fish are still alive. I dumped and added 150 litres of aged and bubbled tap water yesterday (vitamin C to remove chloramines) with 40ml of API Quickstart.

Nitrites were already trending downwards yesterday with a corresponding increase in Nitrates.

Today that trend continued. Chemistry now normal
pH @7.4, Ammonia @ 0.00, Nitrites @ 0.00, Nitrates @ 80ppm and water temp up slighly after rain overnight at 15.5

I don't think the Quickstart did much as the 'Trites were trending down anyway but it couldn't have hurt. Anyway the nitrobacters are back from wherever they were hiding.



And the trout were happy too - they got a feed, just a little one, but they smashed it.

Darren, 3600 litre/hr pump 1m head gives approx 2000litre/hr capacity, 1000litre IBC FT (full), 3 growbeds fully planted IBC beds 300mm deep with gravel. Test on top up water 0.00 nitrites and nitrates. Sump tank to growbeds and FT, FT to radial flow and return to sump with no return to growbeds. only 10 trout, biggest 180mm smallest about 100mm, didnt add the pond water as per your advice.

Havent checked the filter for use yet as its covered up to limit algae growth at moment but will do.

Good news though, nitrites dropped to 2ppm and nitrates up to 160ppm this morning before dropping and adding 150 litres of top up water as described earlier - to the sump this time. Added 300g of salt to cover this top up and the last one where I forgot about salt. Too late about the API quickstart, that got added to the water, guess it won't hurt too much. (Maybe it will tell the existing nitrobacters that they are not indispensable. )
Maybe the other buggers are back from holidays

Chemistry levels all good for the last 3 days with 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and up to 80 nitrates. PH is stable too, and fish are feeding well.

If all goes well over the next few days may look at adding some more trout on the weekend.

issue is your system is balanced with the existing load but not using sufficient nitrates.
adding more trout may not be such a good idea until you can establish that the system is using sufficient nitrates.
If you can see your nitrates drop noticeably under 50 within a few days/week then maybe, but if they stay up = not enough nitrate use for fish you have.

else what tends to happen is you get increases in nitrates, your pH tends to dump and in cases you start to see increases in nitrites and ammonia.

Maybe let this one run itself out. Need to get the veggies going and growing.

Anyone had any experience with this food for trout during summer. Just wondering if it luves up to its claims

http://www.skretting.com/en-AU/products ... -ht/967689

I changed my water delivery system last weekend to a ring perimeter distribution system (on some good advice) rather than a single point. I don't know if it is this or because the trout have been fed this week or a combination of both (which I suspect) but the plants have been given a bit of a buzz along.

Trout are feeding well and Nitrites have remained stable at 0 and ammonia between 0-0.25ppm pH stable at 7.4 and Nitrates at about 80ppm. Temps at 15 degrees. Trout are smashing the sinking pellets off the surface (this is what I was given when I picked up the fish), but I have ordered some 5mm floating pellets to wean them off over a week or so. I think I am seeing some growth in the fish too (maybe its my imagination?)

See the difference in plant growth over a week in photos.






Happier this week. it looks like its starting to come together at last

Bit of an update on my system. I have made an insulated lid for the fish tan with a lift up hatch to feed and access the fish. It works well

I have seen a 5 degree drop in temperature since fitting it but this may be partly to do with the winter temps we have had last week. Anyway water temp is at 10 degrees at the moment.

The veggies are doing well and one cauliflower is heading up and I can see the start of some broccollini heads and the snow peas are flowering. The chard is getting a boost along.

Fed the trout a couple of worms today as a treat and the the biggest trout grabbed the worm and snaffled it down. The rest of the trout seemed to ignore the offerings. I think he's the smartest in the tank and always makes sure he gets a feed. I have seen him chasing some of the smaller ones away.

I picked a very green strawberry the other day accidentally when picking another one. Actually it was quite white. Anyway it had a long stalk and I had nothing to lose so I stuck the stalk in the growbed and anyway it week later it coloured up beautifully and ripened.

Here's the strawberry ripened in the grow bed without the plant

I did not know Skretting made Summer foods. interesting and I do hope someone tries it so we can know. http://www.skretting.com/en-AU/products/spectra-ff-ss-ht/774770
Lid looks great however I am left wondering how trout left to grow in the dark will do? Please let us know.

Edited to repair link

Its a bit hard to see, but there is actually a shade cloth insert in the hatch to allow daylight in, which allows them to differentiate between night and day. They get filtered light through. I haven't noticed any issues yet and I recall seeing trout in underground rivers in caves in New Zealand and also at Abercrombie caves in NSW.

I decided to make use of the bottom of the spa tub that I was going to use as a sump tank originally but was too small. Got to work on my table saw and ripped up up hardwood slats out of my left over free timber from the aquaponics build.

I then tapered these on the long sides and screwed them to the outside of the spa tub with galvanised pan heads. Added a bit of galvanised strapping to the base, added a drain through the side and now abrcadabra..........

We have a wicking bed that fits in with the aquaponics and the wife's garden in front of it and looks a bit like a half wine barrel which also covers up the blue spa tub. I think I will plant some potatoes and other root crops and use the drain water from the RFF filter. Added some worms from the worm farm to it too.
Might makes some more using some more half barrels.

Veggies are still doing well and so are the trout. Water chemistry is still stable too.