Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hello. I've been growing hydroponic tomatoes for about 3 yrs. now and I'm wanting to start an aquaponic system. I've figured out how I want my system to run but I don't fully understand the benaficial bacteria aspect. Does it occur naturally in the beginning stages or do I need to add it myself? :scratch:

The beneficial bacteria convert the ammonia output from the fish into nitrates that the plants can use for food (with nitrite as an intermediary product).

They do occur naturally, but you can jump-start your colony by getting some water/gravel/filter squeezings from an established aquarium. Without jump starting it takes most systems approximately a month to build up a suitable colony of bacteria.

Tam's got it. I'll add that temperature will also slow the bacteria down or speed them up. Room temperature is nice. Cold slows it down.

i used some gravel from the nearby creek to jumpstart mine. everything seems to be running smoothly i forgot to set wich date i started it at but its been over a month now. fish still alive as well as plants.

although i have a problem with earwigs eating my lettuce all 5 of the lettuce plants are demolished but the cucumber plants are going great!

just a word of warning. there is a potential of introducing nasties if you add bacteria from an unknown source such as a lake or even an aquarium. i would be careful with where you get your bacteria from and make sure its disease free if possible.

on the other hand there are some who feel ap systems have the potential to digest these nasties. its only when water quality is poor that these become a problem. ap systems provide all most ideal water quality when well cycled.

If you haven't seen it there is some good info here, and a description by Steve about half way down the page here (Steve's To Do List For Starting)

everyones pretty much got it covered.

Fish --> ammonia --> bacteria --> nitrates (plant nutes)

start with small number of hardy fish then introduce more fish in small batches if you can while cutting out or reducing feed after additions. useful info section is good.

Welcome T-man, nice to have another enthusiast , so have you started designing your next system yet

I havn't started construction of my system yet but now I have all the info I need. I plan on growing red nile tilapia in 2, 150 gallon deepfreezers and feeding cherry tomatoes in a NFT system. I'll post pictures and more info when everything is setup. :wink:

I was in a hurry thismorning when I replied to your guys' post and i forget to thank yuns for your help. So, thanks a bunch! The info was axactly what I need to know.

T-man, if you're going to utilise nft, then it's best to position it after the other growbeds or place another bio-filter drum before the nft.

Been found that the solids (fish poop) can attach to the root balls of the plants in nft leading to dry spots from "channelling" or root rot from the root balls becoming too saturated.