Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Do you think my bacteria froze out through the winter left system running until filter froze then restarted after thawing out?
Below freezing one full week.

A significant number and probably most of the bacteria will have survived being frozen and I would expect the filter to still function although it might need a little while to adjust up to speed. There is a very good chance it is ready to go without any lag time though.

Thank you Scottie435, I was not sure what to do. It is getting some warmer days now and I feed when the water temp is above 55. I would like to add more fish but I am afraid to just yet until I see how my filter is working.

I am new to this so I don't see many post on the subject starting back feeding your fish. thank you for your reply. tshrmp

I'd wait and see how the filter is. You might be able to get away with adding more fish but you would have to watch the readings and possibly hold off on the feed to let them drop. Kind of depends on how many fish you have and how many you want. The more fish the less leeway you have.

Just wanted to give update as to how my filter and bacteria turned out. Just in case anyone else may have that problem. My filter and fish did fine. Infact I added 25 more catfish and I haven't had any problems with ammonia, nitrites or nitrates system working good. thanks

Tshrmp, thanks for updating, parts of my system froze this winter and it's good to know that the frost didn't really affect anything.

That's interesting indeed, I would not have expected the bateria to survive the freezing.
Do keep in mind though, that expanded clay doesn't hold up well to being frozen, it gets brittle quite quickly. Not sure if you're using it, but just FYI.

Wait what? It froze in Alabama?