A Community and Forum For Aquaponic Gardeners

Is my system cycled?

I am trying to figure out if my system is cycled and what else I need to do if anything. I live in Florida. I have had my indoor 30 gallon system with 6 goldfish for about 5 months with pretty much only an aloe plant growing in it. The fish have been in there the entire time. Below are the most recent readings.

I am confused as to why my nitrate levels don't stay up. If it's cycled okay, i can't imagine that the single aloe plant has been using up all of the nitrates. On the other hand, if it isn't cycled, I don't know why the ammonia levels haven't really increased. Thoughts?

Date pH Nitrate Nitrite Ammonia

Jan 10th* 8.0 0 0 .25

Jan 14th** 6.4 0 0 .25

Jan 21st 6.4 160 5 4

Jan 23rd 6.4 160 5 1

Jan 28th 6.4 0 0 .25

* After reading, added 1.5 cups of aquadown. Needless to say, it ended up being too much

**After reading, added soluble fertilizer. A tablespoon daily. I'm not entirely sure what it is. A fellow aquaponics user gave me a small bag of blue and white powder to mix with water. Added a tablespoon in a 1.5 liters daily until the 21st when I took the next reading.

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Alex Veidel on January 30, 2014 at 8:47am

It's possible you overwhelmed your nitrate test....maybe try a 1/3 water change and test your water again? Just be careful not to swing your pH.