Ammonia levels in cycling, odd readings - Aquaponic Gardening2024-03-29T06:00:19Zhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/forum/topics/ammonia-levels-in-cycling-odd-readings?commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A532096&feed=yes&xn_auth=noRainwater's usually pretty da…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-12-01:4778851:Comment:5325722013-12-01T03:44:00.160ZFriendlyAquaponicshttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/FriendlyAquaponics
<p>Rainwater's usually pretty darn guaranteed. Unless you live on the South end of my island, where the acidic fumes from the volcano deposit on people's roofs, and then, when they are rinsed off by the rain, end up creating catchment cisterns with pH in the high 3's and low 4's. It's really simple to fix, though; just add some calcium carbonate (finely ground oyster shells), and your pH will shoot right up to 7.0 and balance there for months or even up to a year and a half at a…</p>
<p>Rainwater's usually pretty darn guaranteed. Unless you live on the South end of my island, where the acidic fumes from the volcano deposit on people's roofs, and then, when they are rinsed off by the rain, end up creating catchment cisterns with pH in the high 3's and low 4's. It's really simple to fix, though; just add some calcium carbonate (finely ground oyster shells), and your pH will shoot right up to 7.0 and balance there for months or even up to a year and a half at a time.</p>
<p>We're at the other end of the island, and our rainwater has a pH of 8.2 sometimes. We've used it with no problems to start and fill systems now for 6 years. Aloha, Tim...........</p> I read the Clean Water 11-27-…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-30:4778851:Comment:5322882013-11-30T15:30:11.603ZJeff Shttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JeffSullivan
<p>I read the Clean Water 11-27-13 and it was quite informative but I don't believe I saw any mention of rain water. How does rain water stack up as a clean supply?<br></br> <br></br> <cite>FriendlyAquaponics said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/ammonia-levels-in-cycling-odd-readings?commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A532277&xg_source=msg_com_forum#4778851Comment532277"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Guys</p>
<p>There's ONE good reason for high…</p>
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<p>I read the Clean Water 11-27-13 and it was quite informative but I don't believe I saw any mention of rain water. How does rain water stack up as a clean supply?<br/> <br/> <cite>FriendlyAquaponics said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/ammonia-levels-in-cycling-odd-readings?commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A532277&xg_source=msg_com_forum#4778851Comment532277"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Guys</p>
<p>There's ONE good reason for high ammonia levels showing up in a system that has just had a huge water exchange such as this; you're putting new ammonia into the system! Well, not eggzackly, here's how it works: many municipalities now use chloramine for chlorinating water with, because it's much cheaper and longer lasting than plain chlorine. But unless you have a "total chlorine" test strip, or a test strip that test for "chlorine AND chloramines", then all you will see is high ammonia levels, because the ammonia strip responds to the "'amine" portion of the chloramine, making it look like you have high ammonia levels in your system. If you read our "Clean Water 11-27-13.docx" that I attached a couple of posts back, it tells you both how to measure for chloramine (I'm almost certain that is what your problem is), AND how to get rid of it. Aloha, Tim..........</p>
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</blockquote> Guys
There's ONE good reason…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-30:4778851:Comment:5322772013-11-30T02:03:57.285ZFriendlyAquaponicshttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/FriendlyAquaponics
<p>Guys</p>
<p>There's ONE good reason for high ammonia levels showing up in a system that has just had a huge water exchange such as this; you're putting new ammonia into the system! Well, not eggzackly, here's how it works: many municipalities now use chloramine for chlorinating water with, because it's much cheaper and longer lasting than plain chlorine. But unless you have a "total chlorine" test strip, or a test strip that test for "chlorine AND chloramines", then all you will see is high…</p>
<p>Guys</p>
<p>There's ONE good reason for high ammonia levels showing up in a system that has just had a huge water exchange such as this; you're putting new ammonia into the system! Well, not eggzackly, here's how it works: many municipalities now use chloramine for chlorinating water with, because it's much cheaper and longer lasting than plain chlorine. But unless you have a "total chlorine" test strip, or a test strip that test for "chlorine AND chloramines", then all you will see is high ammonia levels, because the ammonia strip responds to the "'amine" portion of the chloramine, making it look like you have high ammonia levels in your system. If you read our "Clean Water 11-27-13.docx" that I attached a couple of posts back, it tells you both how to measure for chloramine (I'm almost certain that is what your problem is), AND how to get rid of it. Aloha, Tim..........</p> Hi George,
From your readings…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-29:4778851:Comment:5325342013-11-29T17:05:40.935ZHarold Sukhbirhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/HaroldSukhbir
<p>Hi George,</p>
<p>From your readings I see you have built a healthy population of bacteria in your system and that the cycling process is well underway. You have two choices. You can leave the system to cycle as it is presently or speed things along a bit more, with a partial water exchange to reduce the ammonia content. I won't do a complete water exchange though as this could reduce the size of the bacterial colony you've already carefully built up, and also, you would still have to add…</p>
<p>Hi George,</p>
<p>From your readings I see you have built a healthy population of bacteria in your system and that the cycling process is well underway. You have two choices. You can leave the system to cycle as it is presently or speed things along a bit more, with a partial water exchange to reduce the ammonia content. I won't do a complete water exchange though as this could reduce the size of the bacterial colony you've already carefully built up, and also, you would still have to add more ammonia to the system as well. All said, at those temps you'll cycle fairly quickly with your present water chemistry.<a rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer;"><img src="http://www.bkserv.net/images/Smile.gif"/></a></p> I'm confused. If your tank is…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-29:4778851:Comment:5324552013-11-29T15:46:25.373ZJeff Shttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JeffSullivan
<p>I'm confused. If your tank is only 30 gallons why don't you just dump it and start over?<br></br> <br></br> <cite>George Moreo said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/ammonia-levels-in-cycling-odd-readings?commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A532232&xg_source=msg_com_forum#4778851Comment532232"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Hi All,</p>
<p></p>
<p>I did a 10 gal water exchange today. I have well water no chlorine in it, its pretty good as water…</p>
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<p>I'm confused. If your tank is only 30 gallons why don't you just dump it and start over?<br/> <br/> <cite>George Moreo said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/ammonia-levels-in-cycling-odd-readings?commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A532232&xg_source=msg_com_forum#4778851Comment532232"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Hi All,</p>
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<p>I did a 10 gal water exchange today. I have well water no chlorine in it, its pretty good as water comes these days. I am still getting that high ammonia reading though. 10 gals is a 33% water exchange for my system. After I tested the water from my tap just to see if anything may be somehow in my water supply, but it comes up 0%, so I don't know why I am still getting the high ammonia reading. Should I exchange more water?</p>
<p>BTW thank you Tim for the suggestion, I have some oyster shells in the garage for the chickens. I will add them tonight. Good thing I'm doing a fish less cycle, or I'd have a lot of dead fish right about now. I do have an air stone, plus my system floods and drains around every 15 min or so, which in essence is my whole tank once per hour. My current readings are as follows:</p>
<p>Temp 82, pH: 7.2, Ammonia: 8.0 odd color, nitrite: 5ppm, nitrate 5ppm</p>
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<p>Thanks again to everyone its great to have support starting a new venture. <img src="http://www.bkserv.net/images/Grin.gif"/></p>
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</blockquote> Hi All,
I did a 10 gal water…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-28:4778851:Comment:5322322013-11-28T02:39:11.066ZGeorge Moreohttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/GeorgeMoreo
<p>Hi All,</p>
<p></p>
<p>I did a 10 gal water exchange today. I have well water no chlorine in it, its pretty good as water comes these days. I am still getting that high ammonia reading though. 10 gals is a 33% water exchange for my system. After I tested the water from my tap just to see if anything may be somehow in my water supply, but it comes up 0%, so I don't know why I am still getting the high ammonia reading. Should I exchange more water?</p>
<p>BTW thank you Tim for the suggestion,…</p>
<p>Hi All,</p>
<p></p>
<p>I did a 10 gal water exchange today. I have well water no chlorine in it, its pretty good as water comes these days. I am still getting that high ammonia reading though. 10 gals is a 33% water exchange for my system. After I tested the water from my tap just to see if anything may be somehow in my water supply, but it comes up 0%, so I don't know why I am still getting the high ammonia reading. Should I exchange more water?</p>
<p>BTW thank you Tim for the suggestion, I have some oyster shells in the garage for the chickens. I will add them tonight. Good thing I'm doing a fish less cycle, or I'd have a lot of dead fish right about now. I do have an air stone, plus my system floods and drains around every 15 min or so, which in essence is my whole tank once per hour. My current readings are as follows:</p>
<p>Temp 82, pH: 7.2, Ammonia: 8.0 odd color, nitrite: 5ppm, nitrate 5ppm</p>
<p></p>
<p>Thanks again to everyone its great to have support starting a new venture. <img src="http://www.bkserv.net/images/Grin.gif"/></p> I did the same thing with wit…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-27:4778851:Comment:5324142013-11-27T22:37:27.111ZJeff Shttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JeffSullivan
<p>I did the same thing with with the ammonia in my system. It's was amazing to me how little ammonia spiked so much water. I'm no expert but as far as I could tell your best option is to dilute with more water or just wait til it comes down. If I had it to do over again I would have just added the fish in the beginning and let them produce the ammonia.</p>
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<p>I did the same thing with with the ammonia in my system. It's was amazing to me how little ammonia spiked so much water. I'm no expert but as far as I could tell your best option is to dilute with more water or just wait til it comes down. If I had it to do over again I would have just added the fish in the beginning and let them produce the ammonia.</p>
<p></p> Here's a paper (attached to t…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-27:4778851:Comment:5321972013-11-27T19:18:09.280ZFriendlyAquaponicshttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/FriendlyAquaponics
<p>Here's a paper (attached to this reply) we wrote on clean water to fill your aquaponics system with. It covers how to easily get rid of chlorine AND chloramines with safe, easily available chemicals that are organically approved and inexpensive; also how to use well water and "ag water" for your system safely. We've tested it all thoroughly to make certain it works. Aloha, Tim....... "The Friendlies" in Hawaii</p>
<p>Here's a paper (attached to this reply) we wrote on clean water to fill your aquaponics system with. It covers how to easily get rid of chlorine AND chloramines with safe, easily available chemicals that are organically approved and inexpensive; also how to use well water and "ag water" for your system safely. We've tested it all thoroughly to make certain it works. Aloha, Tim....... "The Friendlies" in Hawaii</p> Hi George,
Great suggestions…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-27:4778851:Comment:5323232013-11-27T17:37:34.982ZHarold Sukhbirhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/HaroldSukhbir
<p>Hi George,</p>
<p>Great suggestions from Tim!. Just to remind you that the water exchange has to be chlorine/chloramine free. I've cycled a system with an 8ppm ammonia at high temps like yours but it did take a longer time than the average, So no worries If you can't get source water free of these.<a style="cursor: pointer;"><img src="http://www.bkserv.net/images/Smile.gif"/></a></p>
<p>Hi George,</p>
<p>Great suggestions from Tim!. Just to remind you that the water exchange has to be chlorine/chloramine free. I've cycled a system with an 8ppm ammonia at high temps like yours but it did take a longer time than the average, So no worries If you can't get source water free of these.<a style="cursor: pointer;"><img src="http://www.bkserv.net/images/Smile.gif"/></a></p> Aloha George
We never use any…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-11-27:4778851:Comment:5322052013-11-27T06:56:27.557ZFriendlyAquaponicshttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/FriendlyAquaponics
<p>Aloha George</p>
<p>We never use any pH up; we have no idea what effect it has on fish. We've always used calcium carbonate for pH adjustment; in our location, that's a handful of coral beach sand. Most places on the mainland, you can get crushed oyster shells at ranch and feed stores; they're a common chicken feed supplement. Crush them down as small as you can with a hammer and put a handful or so in; their main virtue (besides being totally non-toxic) is that you cannot overload your…</p>
<p>Aloha George</p>
<p>We never use any pH up; we have no idea what effect it has on fish. We've always used calcium carbonate for pH adjustment; in our location, that's a handful of coral beach sand. Most places on the mainland, you can get crushed oyster shells at ranch and feed stores; they're a common chicken feed supplement. Crush them down as small as you can with a hammer and put a handful or so in; their main virtue (besides being totally non-toxic) is that you cannot overload your system with them as you can with pH UP (which is simply phosphoric acid, the same stuff they put in Coca Cola), and a system adjusted with calcium carbonate often stays stable for months at a time, sometimes even up to a year and a half.</p>
<p>Don't worry about nitrite, it's supposed to go down (between 0.25 to 1 ppm) after you're through your startup. We've also had periods of zero measurable nitrates for months at a time, with the plants still growing like gangbusters. So don't worry if your numbers are "low", concentrate on how your plants look. Do you have any airstones in your troughs? They will help the nitrifying bacteria get established, because the nitrifiers love oxygen. Aloha, Tim............</p>