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After 3 days of getting readings of zero for Ammonia and Nitrites. I decided to add fish. I added 20 Goldfish and ammonia spiked to 2ppm and Nitrites to 5ppm. I checked today and Ammonia is back to .25 ppm and nitrites are at .5ppm. When would be a good time to start to feed the fish?

Thanks for all the help,

Rob

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Permalink Reply by Fred on August 26, 2012 at 12:02pm

I also added fish to my system and got a nitrite spike to 5ppm (my test kit only goes to 5ppm for nitrite but hopefully it's correct). I added water (Topped off) my system and added sea salt but lost a fish last night. I believed my system was cycled (about 6 weeks) but I think I may have fed too early. I have hydroton grow beds and no additional filter. I would start feeding slowly and keep an eye on test results. I think what's been stated here before is true - small systems are easy to push into danger zones quickly. I was anxious to feed my fish and I may have has caused a spike.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

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Permalink Reply by Fred on August 28, 2012 at 5:50pm

I had to add an air pump to my system. I had been relying only on a fairly rapid flood and drain cycle to keep my fish tank oxygenated. I also made the mistake of not fully understanding how to use my digital Dissolved Oxygen (DO) meter. After some trial and error, I realized I wasn't waiting long enough for the oxygen in the meter to be consumed which generated higher readings. My DO was dropping to 5 or less between drain cycles.

Adding an air pump seems to have really helped the overall system. It also helps break up solids in the water and help clarify a little (atleast when the air is turned off to feed).

My ammonia and nitrite are barely detectable (.25) and I've been feeding very slowly (1g of food per feeding) 19 Tilapia fingerlings. I plan to continue to increase their food each day and adjust as I test the water. I'm also going to try a fish feeding ring to keep the food in place and prevent it from being sucked into the system. It's high protein (50%) and really smells up the system when any excess gets into the grow beds.