Comment

Comment by Jeff S on March 28, 2014 at 6:38am

I added 2 mini GB to my system to grow seedlings. In your opinion will it cycle quickly as well? How can you tell when a bed has cycled?

Comment by Jim Troyer on March 28, 2014 at 4:21am

@ Bob: 

I have successfully cycled systems in a few days by adding about a 100 gallons of water from my mature system.  I know you have mature AP system too.  Just swap the water between the two systems and dose it with ammonia and you'll be surprised how well it reacts. 

All the best,

Jim

Comment by Randy Mann on March 26, 2014 at 1:59pm

I got my fish and some bacteria from Sheri and I do the same.  You do have some good bacteria and fish Sheri! 

Comment by Sheri Schmeckpeper on March 26, 2014 at 1:54pm

Kim, we run the pump 24x7 except in the winter when we're conserving heat. Also, when we've had ammonia or nitrite spikes we've done water changes.The soil garden loves when that happens. :) 

John, I agree with you about using tap water. Like you, we used to be very careful about dechlorinating the water before adding it to the system. I still would be cautious with a new system. But we have ample bacteria and the fish are strong and healthy, so we simply top off from the tap anymore. 

Comment by Randy Mann on March 26, 2014 at 12:06pm

Agree.  I have four systems going right now and they all act a little differently. So trying to apply one tried and true method to cycle is not going to happen I do not believe.

Comment by John Malone on March 26, 2014 at 11:48am

As long as there's some source of ammonia in the system for the bacteria to feed on, you'll be just fine.   Ammonia can come from a wide range of sources.

Comment by Randy Mann on March 26, 2014 at 11:37am

I used Maxicrop...turns the water brown for a while but it worked for the cycling.  I used it with fish in the tank as well. Might speed up the process a bit....it is like watching grass grow at this point.

Comment by Bob Wohl on March 26, 2014 at 10:37am

@Randy currently using some fish food. I've also been rinsing my hands in the tank when digging and planting the rest of my garden.

@John I'm pretty sure I was taking your queue on using the lava rocks over the river rocks. :D I have an inline filter set up for watering my dirt beds and branch off of that to fill my tanks. So I worry less about chlorine all together now. ;)

I have been lazy with checking the levels as I don't want to watch the water boil. I'll probably check the levels some time over the next few days. I may do the liquid ammonia thing though. 

Thanks for the info!

 

Comment by John Malone on March 26, 2014 at 10:12am

@Bob Wohl 

My lava rock system took 25 days to cycle.  I obsessively tested and watched it because I wanted to get going with AP.  It felt like forever.  Times vary due to a host of parameters, but 30 days +/- seems to be about right.

I took my lead from the Fishless Cycle info documented here, using liquid ammonia.

I'm not as concerned now about chlorine as a lot of people, particularly for top-up water.   My reasoning is that a < 10% addition of water to the system isn't going to dramatically impact the huge mass of biological material that it comes up against.   I do have a 50 gallon barrel that I let my top-up water sit in to de-gas, but if that's empty I don't have any problems dropping the hose directly in to the fish tank for a top up.  This may be different for a new, immature system though.  Others will probably disagree.

I love my red cinders.   I use a hand trowel to plant seedlings, and seeds get scattered across the rocks and watered in with the hose.

Comment by Randy Mann on March 26, 2014 at 9:49am

3-4 weeks sounds right.  I put some of the lava material from my other system into the new grow beds as well to transfer more beneficial bacteria.  Just a question...what are you feeding the bacteria?

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