Hello from Indianapolis and my setup

[Khanico]

Hi, I am new here and just started getting into aquaponics about 2 months ago. I reside in Indianapolis, IN currently.

I just finished cylcing my system when I discovered the plants I got from Lowes caused a huge aphid infestation. After pulling everything out I am now waiting for everything to equilibriate again. Ammonia is high (probably from the decomposing roots I couldn't dig out, aphid corpses, and lack of plants now to take up nutrients). Nitrites are 0 and Nitrates are still +. My fish are in a 10 gallon tank and haven't gone in the aquaponics system yet.

My indoor system:
--Aquaboundance Grow bed 12" deep, 44" long, 28" wide 7.5 sq ft of grow space filled with expanded clay balls (hydroton).
--Flood and Drain design set to run for 15 minutes every hour.
--75 gallon fish tank with 1.5" of gravel and sand on bottom. No fish in here yet until ammonia gets to 0.
--400 gph pump to move at least the entire volume of the tank when on for 15 minutes.
--Two air stones in 75 Gallon.
--10 gallon isolation tank with 4 koi and 1 pleco - cycled 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites. Recently treated for ich over weekend (store bought fish had it but otherwise healthy).
--Metal halide 400w light in hood with switchable electronic quantum ballast and fan blowing over the bed on 15 hour light cycle.
--Plan to add handfull of red wigglers once I add the fish to the large tank.
--After the Lowes aphid problem I am using seeds only and have these seedlings started: Quinoa, Red and green kale, lettuce mix, arugula, batavia lettuce, basil, dill.

This is setup in my dining room. It was doing great a week ago, and I was ready to add this fish to this system until I saw the thousands of aphids and some Ich on the Koi..ugh. Hopefully in a week or two I will be ready to add the fish.

Any suggestions to a newbie are welcome. Thank you.

[keith_r]

i wouldn't put gravel in the ft, unless you have an undergravel filter..
get the red wigglers into your gb now.. .especially if you already have plant roots in there..
aphids will probably last a while in the media, you might want to flood the bed for a while before adding more plants..

[foodchain]

Ich can be treated many ways. I have treated it in both marine and freshwater using a combination of the following...by adjusting salinity, garlic extract, temp, etc. Watch out if you use a commercial treatment for copper additives...any inverts you have really won't like it. Raising temp speeds up the cycle of the ich. Once ich appears gone in a normal tank/temp, it may have just changed cycles and then reappears a short time later. Raising temp forces cycle to speed up, exposing all of it to treatment. Garlic extract is typically used for hard to feed fish and increasing appetite. I have never had a bad experiece with it, even when adding to healthy fish. Some folks add to the food. I dose the water. Use Google, local fish stores, etc and you will see common application in reef aquariums but it does have other uses. Look into Iodine as well, this is really good for treating 2ndary infections, etc. Again, I have never had a negative effect. But research it for yourself before adding it. I have been told you CAN'T add Iodine drops...but I have used successfully. I use LUGOL's Iodine @ 1 drop per 80 gallons. All of the above has a lot more uses too. Even game fish like garlic extract when you spray your bait with it. Not sure of all the chemical/biological benefits, but I know it make my fish recover faster, and aids them when stressed or recovering. I have successfully used salt dips/fresh dips depending on type of fish to treat parasites, anchorworm, ich, etc. Google those too and see what will/won't work for you and your situation.
Look to the cause too, ich just doesn't show up in my experience. Did you introduce a new fish? large temp flux? Anything like that can stress them, the more stress they are under the more prone they are to getting ich among other things. After about 3 days of a treatment, make sure you change your water, this dilloutes out any surviving cysts, etc. Always research any treatment or additive to make sure it's appropriate for you, and your situation. Everyone's system is a little different. Also, ich cysts can live for a while in the gravel bed. Most meds only effect them after they hatch, between cyst and host is the easiest time to eradict them in my experience. Can be a nasty little thing to get rid of...prevention is always preffered. I suggest that as long as they are contaminated, keep them out of your system. Good luck.
PS...ich doesn't effect inverts at all....but if they are present when treatment is added, it most often if fatal depending on dosing. Garlic, Iodine won't hurt them. But salt/temp can stress them. They can introduce ich, even though they aren't effected by it. Just a heads up.

[keith_r]

avoid using aquaria chemicals to treat infections, as many "normal" treatments for fish are NOT intended for fish you would eat

most fish/systems will recover if salted to 3ppt, but some plants will suffer (like strawbs and cukes)
a "hospital" tank salted to 6ppt would be better treatment, some fish can handle up to 12ppt, but some can't.. whatever you do, investigate it prior to doing it, some fish don't like much salt at all..
oh, and as far as the type of salt, don't use "table" salt.. pool salt, or kosher salt are ok, as long as there aren't additives like anti-caking agents (i've still got more reading to do on salting/salt treatments - there's lots of info out there, and as is often the case, some of it is contradictory.. make informed decisions)

[Khanico]

Thanks for the advice so far everyone.

I only have seedlings (2-3 days old) in the grow bed right now, so probably not a good time for me to add worms. Once the plants are in more of a vegitative state I will probably add a few. Unless you think adding them now will help the bed to cycle faster by eating the dead roots I couldn't reach, but I fear some may die without enough food adding even more ammonia from decomposition.

The fish I have are koi, and I am not eating them. When I have a bigger setup and they are less like pets, I will raise tilapia for food. I used the API Super Ich cure on them in the 10 gallon tank, and it seemed to clear it up very well. Temperature is up (84 celcius), and I will treat one more time before adding them to the main tank. The koi were purchased from Pets Mart and a small neighborhood pet store. I am positive the Ich came with the fish. I went back to the store and saw Ich on a few of their other fish there.

I pulled the aphid covered plants out 2 weeks ago, and I believe aphids starve to death fairly quick, so I am hoping this took care of that problem. I will NEVER buy another plant again. Seeds only. That was a bad infestation.

I will definitely buy some aquarium salt to use next time...but hopefully there isn't a next time.

I will post a picture of my set-up once I get a picture on my computer. Thanks for all the help so far.

[keith_r]

get the worms in now! a dozen would be a good start, i'm sure there is plenty in there to eat for them, and getting them started now would be best
i've had aphids on my indoor system, they're hard to get completely rid of, but i added some ladybugs to my system, and haven't had a problem for a couple months

[JCO]

Welcome to the show....pull up an easy chair, relax and stay awhile. New voices are always a welcome addition to our family..! Whatever questions you have on you mind, this is the place to get the answers so pick a topic of your interest and start your own thread and Enjoy.

[bsfman]

Temperature is up (84 celcius)

I sure hope you meant 84 fahrenheit!

[urbanfarmer]

Greetings Earthling, and welcome to the addiction!

[Khanico]

Haha yes. I meant degress F. I always deal in celcius, so it was a brain fart.

My system looks fairly good now. I moved my Koi from the 10 gallon tank to the 75 gallon tank (at 76F). They seem to like it better in there (more space for the 4 of them and a pleco). I waited a week (with temperatures of 84F to give the Ich time to die) and now have 5 2-3 inch comets in the 10 gallon tank. I will keep them in here for 2 weeks and treat for Ich in a few days and at the end of the 2 week wait just as a precaution.

I added a handful of red wigglers into my hydroton bed. Some of the 2 week old seedlings are finally starting to enter a mild vegetative state and producing good looking leaves. No repeat infection from aphids it seems. So far so good.