Aquaponic Gardening

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Got my system/greenhouse up and running.  I want to add fish, everything I (my wife) reads says we need to wait make sure pH is correct, the alge is growing etc.  I want to move plants from my garden to my grow beds, I actually need to thin them out. 

 

Question:  Can I plant my plants, circulate the water while it is getting ready?  If so what do I do to supply nutrients to the plants?   I had heard something about kelp extract. 

 

I appreciate all your advice.

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Search this site for "fishless cycling". You can grow plants while you're cycling.

Thanks

Bio security is an important thing to maintain in Aquaponics. I do not recommend moving your plants from your garden to your grow bed. Your system is like a new born baby and has no immune system. All the bad bacteria and bugs that are kept in check by other organisms in your soil will be able to run wild in your system. A good rule of thumb is to grow from seed by directly propagating in your grow bed or starting seedling in a medium like rockwool.

I just started for the first time, and I cycled with fish and dropped a few plants in as soon as the roots were long enough. Just know that if you're going to do it this way don't be too attached to your plants or fish as you may suffer losses.

I've had several tanks in my house(s) and knew what to expect ... I was familiar with cycling and knew I was going to have a lot of water changes ahead of me during the nitrite spike. (Still, I was nervous for a couple of days.) I didn't add NH4 .. instead just fed the fish a bit less than I would have usually and brought it all along slowly.

As long as you haven't added anything which would harm fish, and as long as you take everything slow (including your expectations) I don't see the harm in getting a bit ambitious coming out of the gate. I'm 4 weeks in and pretty happy with what I've got so far.

Thanks
 
Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair said:

Bio security is an important thing to maintain in Aquaponics. I do not recommend moving your plants from your garden to your grow bed. Your system is like a new born baby and has no immune system. All the bad bacteria and bugs that are kept in check by other organisms in your soil will be able to run wild in your system. A good rule of thumb is to grow from seed by directly propagating in your grow bed or starting seedling in a medium like rockwool.

I read the article on cycling.  I am going to follow it step by step.  Getting ready to add ammonia.



Hank Paloci said:

I just started for the first time, and I cycled with fish and dropped a few plants in as soon as the roots were long enough. Just know that if you're going to do it this way don't be too attached to your plants or fish as you may suffer losses.

I've had several tanks in my house(s) and knew what to expect ... I was familiar with cycling and knew I was going to have a lot of water changes ahead of me during the nitrite spike. (Still, I was nervous for a couple of days.) I didn't add NH4 .. instead just fed the fish a bit less than I would have usually and brought it all along slowly.

As long as you haven't added anything which would harm fish, and as long as you take everything slow (including your expectations) I don't see the harm in getting a bit ambitious coming out of the gate. I'm 4 weeks in and pretty happy with what I've got so far.

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