Jeff's Backyard System - Here We Go!

[Jeff]

Keith - Thanks for the feedback! So it sounds like I shouldn't let the Ammonia get to zero. Even though it's high right now, just wait until it drops back down to possibly .25ppm, and then add a little bit of pee every couple of days while the nitrites are reproducing and increasing. Then when the nitrites begin to decline, I should probably see some register of the nitrAtes in the system, and then my system will be just about complete. That's when I would add my goldfish and plants.

Is that the gist of it?

[foodchain]

Correct! Ammonia is bad, but typically especially with a new setup I wouldn't let it get to 0. Once established you want zero. This is the cycling process, if you rush it you could end up with new tank syndrome. Print yourself off a copy of the nitrogen cycle I think it's pretty cool when you stop and think about it.

You can add your goldfish now....that's basicaly gotten you the same results by peeing in it. Your pee replaced the goldfish. It's nicer on the fish to do it this way.
My opinion: For what it's worth, let the amonia come down some and then add the goldfish. I wouldn't wait till it hit 0 though as Keith is right this would starve the bacteria...you have to keep them fed. Goldfish produce a lot of waste. So if you wait too long, your bacteria will be low, and then have a big surge from goldfish waste, you will see water parameters spike up, then slowly level off as the bacteria multiply to meet the new waste levels provided.
Nothing happens fast but death.
Make sense?

[Jeff]

Just an update. I haven't planted anything nor added fish yet, because the ammonia levels are still too high:



That being said, I am seeing unknown seeds sprouting in the grow beds. I have no idea what they are, so I can only assume they were dropped there by birds, or fallen from the skies during windy days.




I just wish this ammonia would go down already! Should I just plant in there now since the system obviously works, but just wait on the fish until the ammonia drops? Should I do any water changes? Or just wait?

[Madmax478]

Bet thats Higher than 8. IMHO that take a month of sundays to come down. Have you consider doing a 1/3 to 1/2 water change.
Yes I'd add some plants.

Richard

[bsfman]

Just an update. I haven't planted anything nor added fish yet, because the ammonia levels are still too high:

That being said, I am seeing unknown seeds sprouting in the grow beds. I have no idea what they are, so I can only assume they were dropped there by birds, or fallen from the skies during windy days.

I just wish this ammonia would go down already! Should I just plant in there now since the system obviously works, but just wait on the fish until the ammonia drops? Should I do any water changes? Or just wait?

I wouldn't do a water change. The ammonia will come down (and then your nitrites will be thru the roof for a couple of weeks). I would go ahead and plant. The plants will uptake ammonia and nitrites. When nitrites start coming down, then add the fish. It'll all be cool.

[urbanfarmer]

bsfman is right!

Plants prefer ammonia over nitrate. You can definitely plant (as evident by your weed seed germinating and growing). You see, it takes 5 molecules of ATP for a plant to strip nitrogen from 1 molecule of ammonia, but it takes 15 molecules of ATP for a plant to strip nitrogen from 1 molecule of nitrate. So you see, it's more efficient for plants to get nitrogen from ammonia and why nitrogen fixing bacteria (rhizobia) typically fix nitrogen in the form of ammonia (the customer is always right, aka the plant). Why the hell do I know this?!?!?

Also, if your pH was low enough, the reading you have there is no big deal for the fish either, but that gets a little complicated.

I won't go into it, but the kit you have reads the TAN (total ammoniacal nitrogen). Ammonia is a weak acid in water therefore speciation occurs as a function of the pKa... oops, I'll stop, so... what I'm trying to say is "that you get 2 types of ammonia" one is unionized ammonia and the other is ionized ammonia and the one that hurts the fish is the unionized form. Too much info? ...sorry...

If you have any questions just ask.

[Jeff]

UPDATE: Well, my ammonia is still out of control. Hopefully with the weather warming up and the addition of plants, that will come down and my bacteria colony will get established:

[attachment=4:zy93iqxd]ammonia.jpeg[/attachment:zy93iqxd]

The good news is that I actually started to plant a bunch of veggies and seeds! Here's a picture of the entire system:

[attachment=0:zy93iqxd]1.jpeg[/attachment:zy93iqxd]

Here's a close up one the grow bed which has tomato and serrano peppers. I purchased them already as small plants and simply transplanted them into the system. I also spread some seeds in here for radishes:

[attachment=3:zy93iqxd]GrowBedRight.jpeg[/attachment:zy93iqxd]

In this grow bed, I have another type of tomato and cucumber. I also scattered seeds for some cilantro and something else which I can't remember:

[attachment=2:zy93iqxd]GrowBedLeft.jpeg[/attachment:zy93iqxd]

Finally, in the middle grow bed, I spread nothing but seeds. I put in green leaf lettuce, spinach, green onion, and bell pepper I believe. It's been four days but it looks like the green leaf is already sprouting:

[attachment=1:zy93iqxd]GrowBedMiddle.jpeg[/attachment:zy93iqxd]

I may have made a mistake and put the other seeds too far into the Hydroton, because I noticed a few seeds in my water pump! That means they got drained all the way down through the siphon and into the fish tank. Ooops! I hope not all of them are lost! I figure I would wait another 1-2 weeks to see what sprouts and what doesn't. If I see any areas where nothing is coming up, I will assume the seeds are lost and plant more.....only this time, I will just sprinkle on top of the hydroton and not put them too far down.

[keith_r]

i had the same problem with seeds washing into the ft early on..
one thing i found that helps is to wet the media all the way to the top and then drain before planting, the seeds stick to the wet hydroton a bit better
this isn't foolproof, but it did help, and as you said, in a few weeks, you can sow something else in any bare spots

[txdurk]

When I got my hydroton I cut a few small 1" holes in the bottom of the bag then a 2" hole on the top. I just stuck a hose in the top hole , ran the water on high, and agitated a little bit. Seemed to clean it up pretty well. I got no sediment in my FT when I cycled the system.

On those 110 gallon tanks, I'm not convinced the sides won't bulge out. They're made with LDPE iirc instead of structural foam. Pls let us know how they perform.

[txdurk]

Never mind. Looks like this discussion is old. My bad.