How do you cycle? - Aquaponic Gardening2024-03-29T06:07:09Zhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/forum/topics/how-do-you-cycle?commentId=4778851%3AComment%3A34101&feed=yes&xn_auth=noThe overall growth of creatur…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2018-07-20:4778851:Comment:6534322018-07-20T05:04:03.488ZDale Parkerhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/DaleParker
<p>The overall growth of creatures depends on the availability of nutrients in the environment because Nitrogen is an vital component of proteins and other cellular constituents. Nitrogen is plentiful in the earth's atmosphere in the form of N2 gas.<br></br> <a href="https://www.howtoaquaponic.com/" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Aquaponics</a> is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. The key component of aquaponics is nitrifying bacteria These little organisms are essential to…</p>
<p>The overall growth of creatures depends on the availability of nutrients in the environment because Nitrogen is an vital component of proteins and other cellular constituents. Nitrogen is plentiful in the earth's atmosphere in the form of N2 gas.<br/> <a href="https://www.howtoaquaponic.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Aquaponics</a> is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponics. The key component of aquaponics is nitrifying bacteria These little organisms are essential to successful aquaponic gardening because they create the nitrogen cycle that turns fish waste into plant food.</p> For the initial start up, You…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-04-10:4778851:Comment:4609612013-04-10T19:11:13.243ZTCLynxhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/TCLynx
<p>For the initial start up, You are probably fine with that. However, I would not continue using that much since it would probably elevate the salinity of your system.</p>
<p>When the bottle says use an ounce or two per gallon, that is like if you are going to spray a gallon over water over 100 square feet of your garden. So in the future extrapolate that to using an ounce or two per 100 square feet of planting space in your system.</p>
<p>For the initial start up, You are probably fine with that. However, I would not continue using that much since it would probably elevate the salinity of your system.</p>
<p>When the bottle says use an ounce or two per gallon, that is like if you are going to spray a gallon over water over 100 square feet of your garden. So in the future extrapolate that to using an ounce or two per 100 square feet of planting space in your system.</p> Ok, I used 2 quarts based on…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-04-10:4778851:Comment:4611062013-04-10T17:40:40.659ZDan Liederhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/DanLieder
<p>Ok, I used 2 quarts based on a recommendation of 1 quart per 300 gallons of water. I hope I didn't overwhelm my system. <img src="http://www.bkserv.net/images/Frown.gif"></img> <br></br> <br></br> <cite>TCLynx said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/how-do-you-cycle?id=4778851%3ATopic%3A9182&page=8#4778851Comment460888"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Sounds fairly typical.</p>
<p>You may start seeing some nitrates even while the nitrites are going to be high here shortly. Still to get…</p>
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<p>Ok, I used 2 quarts based on a recommendation of 1 quart per 300 gallons of water. I hope I didn't overwhelm my system. <img src="http://www.bkserv.net/images/Frown.gif"/><br/> <br/> <cite>TCLynx said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/how-do-you-cycle?id=4778851%3ATopic%3A9182&page=8#4778851Comment460888"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Sounds fairly typical.</p>
<p>You may start seeing some nitrates even while the nitrites are going to be high here shortly. Still to get to the point of completely cycled up (where you can add between 1-2 ppm of ammonia and have both ammonia and nitrite be back down to 0 ppm within 24 hours) can still take between 4-8 weeks, average of 6 weeks.</p>
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<p>How much maxicrop to use....... Perhaps a cap full or an ounce per grow bed every 1-3 weeks. I tend to use more during initial cycle up and while the system is still really new and then I might reduce down to just a splash per grow bed every few weeks and then eventually I might not use it much at all once the system is mature.</p>
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</blockquote> Sounds fairly typical.
You ma…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-04-10:4778851:Comment:4608882013-04-10T17:23:54.975ZTCLynxhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/TCLynx
<p>Sounds fairly typical.</p>
<p>You may start seeing some nitrates even while the nitrites are going to be high here shortly. Still to get to the point of completely cycled up (where you can add between 1-2 ppm of ammonia and have both ammonia and nitrite be back down to 0 ppm within 24 hours) can still take between 4-8 weeks, average of 6 weeks.</p>
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<p>How much maxicrop to use....... Perhaps a cap full or an ounce per grow bed every 1-3 weeks. I tend to use more during initial…</p>
<p>Sounds fairly typical.</p>
<p>You may start seeing some nitrates even while the nitrites are going to be high here shortly. Still to get to the point of completely cycled up (where you can add between 1-2 ppm of ammonia and have both ammonia and nitrite be back down to 0 ppm within 24 hours) can still take between 4-8 weeks, average of 6 weeks.</p>
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<p>How much maxicrop to use....... Perhaps a cap full or an ounce per grow bed every 1-3 weeks. I tend to use more during initial cycle up and while the system is still really new and then I might reduce down to just a splash per grow bed every few weeks and then eventually I might not use it much at all once the system is mature.</p> Hi Sylvia,
This process is de…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-04-10:4778851:Comment:4608692013-04-10T16:21:47.730ZDan Liederhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/DanLieder
<p>Hi Sylvia,</p>
<p>This process is definitely mystifying. I'm cycling a 600 gallon system. I purchased your large cycling system. It's been eight days of fish-less cycling now. This has been my process. I allowed my system to run for 7 days prior to doing anything to off gas chlorine. </p>
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<li>Day 1 - PH 8.3 - added bottle of PH Down a little at a time over an 8 hour period - did nothing to change the PH - Added 2 tsp of powdered ammonia - resulted in 3 ppm for that day. Added 1 cup Nite…</li>
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<p>Hi Sylvia,</p>
<p>This process is definitely mystifying. I'm cycling a 600 gallon system. I purchased your large cycling system. It's been eight days of fish-less cycling now. This has been my process. I allowed my system to run for 7 days prior to doing anything to off gas chlorine. </p>
<ol>
<li>Day 1 - PH 8.3 - added bottle of PH Down a little at a time over an 8 hour period - did nothing to change the PH - Added 2 tsp of powdered ammonia - resulted in 3 ppm for that day. Added 1 cup Nite Out II later that day. </li>
<li>Day 2 - PH 8.3 - Ammonia test was 2 ppm - Added 2 tsp of powdered ammonia - added another 1/2 cup microbe - 0 nitrites - 0 nitrates</li>
<li>Day 3 - PH 8.3 - Ammonia 2 ppm - Did not add any ammonia this day - Added bag of powdered Maxicrop - Added 1/2 cup microbe - Planted beds with about 70 different plants. </li>
<li>Day 4 PH 8.3 - Ammonia 1 ppm - Added 2 tsp ammonia - Added 1 quart of liquid seaweed - Added 1 cup microbe - 0 nitrites - 0 nitrates</li>
<li>Day 5 PH 8.3 - Ammonia 2 ppm - No ammonia added - NItrites 0 - NItrates - 0 - added 1 cup microbe</li>
<li>Day 6 PH 8.3 - Ammonia 2 ppm - No ammonia added - NItrites 0 - NItrates - 0 - Stopped adding microbe because I figured 4 cups would be enough and I ran out. </li>
<li>Day 7 PH 8.3 - Ammonia 2 ppm - No ammonia added - NItrites 0 - NItrates - 0 - Had to add 100 gallons of water because when I got up in the morning the sump was empty. I'm assuming a result of water uptake by the plants and evaporation because I don't have any leaks. </li>
<li>Today - Day 8 - Ammonia still at 1 ppm - added 2 tsp ammonia - Nitrites - .25 ppm Yay!! - Nitrates - 0</li>
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<p>Is this typical progress for a system of this size? Does it take this long for Nitrites to appear and how long before Nitrates start appearing? Oh and one more question, How often do I add the Maxicrop? </p>
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<p><a href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656380721?profile=original" target="_self"><img width="721" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656380721?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" width="721" class="align-full"/></a></p> Johann said:
Correct me if…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-04-08:4778851:Comment:4595862013-04-08T02:17:19.524Zmariehttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/marie
<p><br></br> <br></br> <cite>Johann said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/how-do-you-cycle?id=4778851%3ATopic%3A9182&page=7#4778851Comment96313"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>I have been reading through this thread and links. It is very interesting and educational.</p>
<p>If I go to the nearest river, lake or creek and I get lets say 3 hand size slimy rocks I could head start a system in no time, if I wash…</p>
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<p><br/> <br/> <cite>Johann said:</cite></p>
<blockquote cite="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/forum/topics/how-do-you-cycle?id=4778851%3ATopic%3A9182&page=7#4778851Comment96313"><div><div class="xg_user_generated"><p>Correct me if I am wrong.</p>
<p>I have been reading through this thread and links. It is very interesting and educational.</p>
<p>If I go to the nearest river, lake or creek and I get lets say 3 hand size slimy rocks I could head start a system in no time, if I wash the rocks into my system as long I keep the rocks wet or submerged in water while I transport them.</p>
<p>As i understand <strong>slimy</strong> rocks means bacteria grows, witch ....the slime, the bacteria is releasing to attach to a substance.</p>
<p>It has been years since I cycled a fish tank. I am cycling a 10 gallon tank at this time and I am almost 3 weeks into it with no sign of drop of the ammonia, even though I performed a total 80% water change through-out the cycle-up to prevent the ammonia level to spike out of reach. I started with 24 minnows and there is only one left.</p>
<p>I will go tomorrow and get me some slimy rocks and let you know how this works out. I should see a result within a few days. I did not think about it until I read through this thread. I do not know anyone that has a fish tank otherwise I would ask them for a bacteria donor bank from there filter media.</p>
<p>I got a tropical fish store in town that would be willing to give me some live bacteria from there filter material, but I know I will pick up diseases with it, since these fish are stressed between shipping when bought from there supplier and selling them.</p>
<p>At a later time, when I am done building my barrel system I will put the fish tank In line with all the works. This way I should have no problem with my expansion and water quality.<br/><br/></p>
<p>I'd be really careful what you get from rivers. We had goldfish and 8yr.old beautiful koi in our pond several years ago. We took some plants from the river and put them in our pond, lost most of our fish. The rest we gave to a geeky tennage kid who had a 'fish hospital' he healed what was left.</p>
<p>The parasite came from the river. It gave the fish some kind of worms and he did surgery on the large koi.Plus put in some kind of fish antibiotic. This kid had time ,we don't have knowledge or time for all that,haha.</p>
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</blockquote> I just checked out 'Maxicro…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-04-08:4778851:Comment:4598182013-04-08T01:46:43.743Zmariehttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/marie
<p></p>
<p> I just checked out 'Maxicrop and the product was about $9,but the S&H was $18. WOW ! And that was ground shipping. Guess I'll check for local distributors unless some of you wise people have a better idea.Thanks,Marie.</p>
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<p> I just checked out 'Maxicrop and the product was about $9,but the S&H was $18. WOW ! And that was ground shipping. Guess I'll check for local distributors unless some of you wise people have a better idea.Thanks,Marie.</p> Hello,
We tried cycling our…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2011-08-15:4778851:Comment:1831172011-08-15T20:36:36.644ZRobert C Beckhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/RobertCBeck
<p>Hello, </p>
<p>We tried cycling our system by adding Aquascapes' "Beneficial Bacteria", then added the fingerlings and seedlings a few weeks later (actually a month later). It seems to be working but I think the cement fish tank is throwing the pH to 7.5-8 or so. That's giving us a slow start.</p>
<p>I have tried adding Maxicrop w/ iron and doing fresh water changes of 100 gallons about twice a week. The pH has dropped a little bit but we are still slightly basic... My hope is that the pH…</p>
<p>Hello, </p>
<p>We tried cycling our system by adding Aquascapes' "Beneficial Bacteria", then added the fingerlings and seedlings a few weeks later (actually a month later). It seems to be working but I think the cement fish tank is throwing the pH to 7.5-8 or so. That's giving us a slow start.</p>
<p>I have tried adding Maxicrop w/ iron and doing fresh water changes of 100 gallons about twice a week. The pH has dropped a little bit but we are still slightly basic... My hope is that the pH will soon be buffered by the biological cycle. Maybe I have high hopes. Maybe not.</p>
<p>The total system combined is 2000 gallons so that's not too much screwing around. Patience is so hard. </p>
<p>Any thoughts on that? </p> Haha...I know I'm a bit long…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2011-07-12:4778851:Comment:1512172011-07-12T02:34:56.445ZCarey Mahttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/CareyMa
<p>Haha...I know I'm a bit long winded but this is no report. Just a bit about what I'm doing. I believe there are a few companies and Uni's that have done research in this area but I'm not sure where I originally found these ratios. I think I got these from a class in soil science back in Washington State U and are typical examples of content found in the soil of healthy, mature forest.</p>
<p>I began using this guideline for my soil-based organics, then I experimented with using it in my…</p>
<p>Haha...I know I'm a bit long winded but this is no report. Just a bit about what I'm doing. I believe there are a few companies and Uni's that have done research in this area but I'm not sure where I originally found these ratios. I think I got these from a class in soil science back in Washington State U and are typical examples of content found in the soil of healthy, mature forest.</p>
<p>I began using this guideline for my soil-based organics, then I experimented with using it in my hydroponics system, both with fantastic results. So I tried adding it to my AP system with no apparent negative impact on the fish. Today I run it through my wicking beds (half hydroponics, half soil, raised bed system attached to AP) to bring it closer to being truly organic.</p>
<p> </p>
I am truly sold on this method! I believe EVERYTHING is better. Everything tastes better, more/ faster production and much longer shelf life. Hi Carey,
Thanks for the deta…tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2011-07-11:4778851:Comment:1507272011-07-11T16:09:58.476ZHarold Sukhbirhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/HaroldSukhbir
<p>Hi Carey,</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed information although it goes way beyond the topic of cycling. I am particularly interested in the system biology ratios you've compiled in your report. I am always looking to gather information on these ratios for Aquaponics and realize that there is a lot of varied information available on the subject. Can you tell how you've arrived at these ratios? Are these ratios the standard for optimal AP beyond cycling?</p>
<p>Hi Carey,</p>
<p>Thanks for the detailed information although it goes way beyond the topic of cycling. I am particularly interested in the system biology ratios you've compiled in your report. I am always looking to gather information on these ratios for Aquaponics and realize that there is a lot of varied information available on the subject. Can you tell how you've arrived at these ratios? Are these ratios the standard for optimal AP beyond cycling?</p>