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  1. #11
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    I came in and got to work.

    Initial readings on ammonia were 8ppm or higher since it was the last color on API test kit.

    I drained about 40 gallons of water and replaced it with tap. I don't have a RO right now but I put some Stress coat in the bucket as I'm carrying it. I also moved my tank a little to allow for a higher water level in the grow bed. So in addition to the 40 gallons I replaced I fit another 40 gallons in there. My back is killing me lol. I skipped on the hose for today because I just need the money elsewhere.

    Did another ammonia reading and I'm still between 4-8ppm now but it's better than a strong 8ppm. I won't feed the fish for a couple days and see where it goes. No deaths since last night so that's good. Fish are swimming in what appears to be a healthy manner.

    So I used the formula to figure out the amount of salt in the system. Guesstimating that I'm around 1.5ppt now after I dumped the rest of the salt I had on hand. I only had 2lbs of salt to start and some was already in the system and guessing 180 gallons of water or so would weigh 1400lbs. 2lbs to 1400lbs gets you 1.42PPT unless my math is off.

    My Nitrates were at 10ppm today before water changes which is probably an off reading. I might have not shook the bottle enough or something. I can't see it going down at all right now since there is nothing growing in there. My lettuce is still in a propagation tray.

    I'll update the thread tomorrow or the day after with more readings and hopefully I'll see some decline in the numbers.

  2. #12
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    Wells seems like there's a little progress.

    Ammonia 4ppm instead of 4-8ppm
    Nitrite 5+ppm
    Nitrate 10-20ppm instead of 10ppm.

    I'll keep watching daily until it's at 1ppm to start feeding them.

  3. #13
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    i'd up the salt.. you ph is probably a little high, which is saving you for now.. personally, i avoid aquarium products like stresscoat, as most aren't intended for fish for the table

  4. #14
    Members bcotton's Avatar
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    Its probably too late at this point but i figured i would mention it while i am thinking about it... if you know someone with a cycled system it could help to ask to have or barrow a few lbs of substrate from their system to speed up your cycling.

    brian

  5. #15
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    Quote Originally Posted by keith_r
    i'd up the salt.. you ph is probably a little high, which is saving you for now.. personally, i avoid aquarium products like stresscoat, as most aren't intended for fish for the table
    I'll get some more salt today. I didn't know that about stresscoat. I'll stop using it. I do plan on getting an RO system setup here.


    Quote Originally Posted by bcotton
    Its probably too late at this point but i figured i would mention it while i am thinking about it... if you know someone with a cycled system it could help to ask to have or barrow a few lbs of substrate from their system to speed up your cycling.

    brian
    I actually don't know anyone around here with fish. I actually have tanks with no substrate for breeding and holding some guppies. The guppy tanks are all at zero ammonia, zero nitrates, with very little nitrate. I do a daily vaccuum of the bottom of those tanks and that takes out about 5% of the water daily. They are very stable right now. The media in them is over a month old at this point so I might just give them fresh media and put the old media in the tilapia tank. I was holding out because I ordered some sponge filters for them last week and I was going to give the sponge filters a week to establish before changing the current filter media. Probably have about half a cubic foot of established media amongst all tanks.


    Thank you for all the suggestions everyone. It really helps!

  6. #16
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    Well things are improving.

    PH 7.6
    Ammonia 2PPM (did the reading twice to make sure)
    Nitrites 5+PPM still
    Nitrates 20PPM

    Yesterday I got a big bag of water softener salt at Home Depot and added 2lbs more making the total 4lbs in my system.

    I hope when I check Monday it will be near 0 ammonia and I'll start feeding them again. These guys are going to be hungry!


    I have another question. I did get some adult tilapia that I bought separately. I put them in a 90 gallon tank 2 days ago. They have African Chiclid sand as a substrate and 4" PVC pipes and fittings to hide in. They aren't really eating. I tried feeding them today and yesterday and they are just scared hiding in the pipes. The largest one has to be about 7-8" long and the rest are about 3-6" long. There are 8 of them in the tank. 6 females and 2 males. Is that pretty normal for them to get scared during shipping and have a longer time adjusting? My fingerlings were local these weren't. This tank has 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 0 Nitrate. Filters are over 1 month old on this tank. I switched them from some other tanks I had different fish in. I don't expect a problem with cycling.

    Hope everyone has a good weekend!

  7. #17
    Moderator davidstcldfl's Avatar
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    Quote Originally Posted by NeverResting
    I tried feeding them today and yesterday and they are just scared hiding in the pipes
    They'll eat in a few days...depending on the warmth of the water.
    Give them a week or two, they'll calm down.
    In about about 3 or 4 weeks, they'll be looking at you when your near and following you as you walk by...
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same." - President Ronald Reagan

  8. #18
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    Quote Originally Posted by davidstcldfl
    Quote Originally Posted by NeverResting
    I tried feeding them today and yesterday and they are just scared hiding in the pipes
    They'll eat in a few days...depending on the warmth of the water.
    Give them a week or two, they'll calm down.
    In about about 3 or 4 weeks, they'll be looking at you when your near and following you as you walk by...

    Thanks. Yea they ate overnight what was fed to them. I fed them today a tiny bit because the water was a little cloudy. I'll give them time. Water temp is at 85 in that tank with 2 300w heaters which seem like they are running non-stop. This month's electricity bill will be interesting between the heaters and lights.

    Main tilapia tank had .5ppm Ammonia today so gave them some food. Not much to not over do it. Nitrites still need to fall before I start power feeding them. My lettuce is a bit over a week old and showing 4 leaves. Going to transplant into the rafts next week. Still haven't made the rafts yet lol.

    Enjoy the weekend guys. I'll post up pics of the lettuce once I get it transplanted.

  9. #19
    Members bcotton's Avatar
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    This sounds normal. The ammonia spikes and drops several days before the nitrites spike and drop.

    If you havent checked on the fish over the weekend and they are alive today, you are probably through the woods. I would expect nitrites to start coming down if not already today or tomorrow.

    85 degrees is a good temperature for tilapia, but considering this is indoors you should be ok not paying to heat the tank. They may eat less and grow slower but to me there's a tradeoff and the cost of heat isnt going to give you a very good ROY in terms of extra fish growth.

    For my mozambique tilapia here in texas... I prefer the water above 70 but i dont panic or start to manipulate water temperature until it gets below 60.


    brian

  10. #20
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    Re: Hello from Orlando Florida!

    Hey Brian! Thanks for your info. I'm not worried about the cost atm because the system is small and it's not meant to provide ROY or ROI yet. When I scale it to a larger system I'll probably go heatless for the stock tanks and just offer heat for the breeding tank. I'm in a learning phase and with everything costs are always high during that phase so I allow for it. Fish are doing fine this morning, I saw them an hour ago, haven't fed them yet as I'm always wanting to test water before. Need to get some work squared away before I can go tend to my warehouse farm.

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