Comment

Comment by Vlad Jovanovic on February 1, 2013 at 7:29am

Yup, smooth sailin' Matt. You're just going through the nitrite spike phase, it's perfectly normal. Nitrites will start to come down eventually, and you'll be able to dose ammonia and have both nitrites and ammonia down to zero within 24 hours. I've noticed in some of these smaller systems, that that phase seems to last shorter if I 'starve' the 'nitrites' a bit, by dosing ammonia say every few days instead of everyday and/or dose less...but either way it'll pass soon and you'll be ready for fish in no time

Comment by TCLynx on February 1, 2013 at 6:14am

Yep John is right, it is ammonia and nitrite you want to get to 0 and the nitrates can be just about anywhere.  (I personally like them to be in the orange somewhere so I can read them but they are likely to be high through and after fishless cycling, it's ok, just plant more plants if you have space but don't worry too much about it, when you finally get fish you might not be feeding so much with new small fish and the plants will catch up.)

He said cap fulls not cup fulls.

Comment by John E Windsor on February 1, 2013 at 5:56am

Matt, in short, you are doing just fine. As long as your ammonia drops back to 0 ppm w/in 24 hours, that is good. Two cups sounds like a lot, but I don't know what you are using. Nitrate at 80 ppm is good. The nitrites is what you want to see down to 0 ppm. You have plants there and they need the nitrates. Two weeks is still a little early to be finished cycling, so just keep doing what you are doing. Good job.

Comment by Matt Miskinnis on January 31, 2013 at 10:40pm

Hey all, I have been cycling my new system now for about 2 weeks.  I had to do a complete water change before as I added way to much ammonia in at the beginning. My system is a 170 gal FT with a 100 gal sump on a CHIFT  PIST system.  I am checking my ammonia, nitrite, nitrate leves every day. I'll add two cap fulls of ammonia each day and when I check it the next day it is almost gone.  I see the nitrites and nitrates are a still a little high. From what I read I am supposed to get my nitrates to zero and my ammonia to zero but dont see that happening the nitrates seem to be stuck at 80ppm.  I have plants in the system (18 or so romaine lettuce 8 broccoli and 2 cilantro)  I haven't seen much change in the nitrates as it seems stuck at the 80ppm the Ammonia seems to get eaten away by the next day and is basically zero when I check it the next day.  I guess my question is, do I need to add more plants to get the nitrates down?  from what I read the nitrates and ammonia are supposed to go to zero the next day after adding ammonia.  Thanks for any advice just a newbie trying to figure this stuff out.

Moderator Comment by Bob Terrell on January 31, 2013 at 9:46pm

Wow don't know what happe4ned to the comment so here goes again,

TCLyns, you are correct.  I should have been more specific.  I use the orange oil ay the base of my grow beds and fish tanks.  The ants must crawl up to get to the beds, I stop them at the base.  Since I have been using the orange oil at the base of my system, I have had ZERO ant problem.

Moderator Comment by Bob Terrell on January 31, 2013 at 9:42pm

Comment by TCLynx on January 31, 2013 at 9:32pm

Don't use the orange oil or any oil or soaps in/on the aquaponics.  Oils and soaps are dangerous to fish.  Use them where they won't get into the aquaponics system.

Against aphids almost anything works short term or if you keep repeating it.  Even just spraying water to knock them off the plants.  A good brewed aerated worm casting tea can work against pests like aphids as well.  Botaniguard may also work against aphids but it is a bit costly.

Comment by Linda Logan on January 31, 2013 at 9:27pm

thanks for the information.  my nitrate is about 80 ppm and I've started cycling the other two beds.  I have some seeds getting started but I think I'll get a few six packs of something to plant.  I'll try the orange oil as I have some.  Right now I just see a few and I have eliminated the aphids.  What are others using for aphids?

Moderator Comment by Bob Terrell on January 31, 2013 at 6:54pm

Ants do not like orange oil.  I was over run with fire ants in the green house.  I mixed up some orange oil and water and sprayed.  Next day ants were gone,  I spray around everynow and then just to keep them out.

Comment by John E Windsor on January 31, 2013 at 6:38pm

Ammonia and nitrite should be at, or near, 0 ppm. High nitrate is not necessarily bad, depending how high you are talking about. My system is mature and the nitrates are normally btw 60-80 ppm. When the nitrates do get high (around 100) it means I need to plant more stuff, but it doesn't seem to effect the fish.

Sounds like you also need to run the water through all 3 of your beds. If the other 2 have not been cycled, they will catch up fast. Go ahead and plant your other beds now. Use up some of that nitrate.

Ants themselves are not as harmful as what they may be tending. Look for aphids. We had problems last summer with the ants and tried the old RV trick of using Borax around the base. Didn't work for us. But when we were able to eliminate the aphids they were tending, the ants went away. This year when the ants appear I plan on using worm tea to deter their pleasure.

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