Green Cow's system

[GreenCow]

Aloha all! Newbies from Hawaii. Our system is 1 month old and its been challenging to say the least. We have an Ebb & Flow system using a 3000 gallon tank and 4 4x8 growbeds. About 10 days ago we got our tilapias -- about 15 pearl white tilapias breeding size (5-6 inches), 75 grey & white juveniles, 30 pink juveniles. We're still trying to stabilize the system and hopefully get the bacteria going soon. How long does it normally take to get the bacteria going?

Thanks for having this forum. I will be reading thru a lot of threads and learning a lot.

~j

[Murray]

Hi Green cow and welcome.

It can take up to 6 weeks to fully cycle your system, but it can be shorter.
Make sure you test the water every day during this period and you may have to do some 1/3 water changes to make sure the ammonia does not get out of control.
We are not allowed to have Tilapia here in Queensland.....very heavy fines. Evidently they are an excellent fish for Aquaponics.

[Hamish]

I would guess your climate would be warm? What are your highs and lows of your water temp on average at this time of the year? Warmer water (27 degrees C) will speed up cycling.

[GreenCow]

Todays #

• Water temp range 24 to 28
• Amonia is 1.5
• NO2 <.3
• NO3 12.5
• PH 7.8

I would love to raise some jade perch if only I can find a source for it here in the US. I did some searches earlier, I could have some perch fingerlings flown in from Australia for a minimum order of $3600 plus S&H -- Ouch!
Looks like we're going with tilapia since its readily available here.

[Hamish]

Tilapia are suppose to be very good fish to raise in AP. Your water temps will make cycling quicker - my system cycled in a couple of weeks at 27oC.

[GreenCow]

Hi All,
Thought it might be good to post some photos of our project. Here is a url to some pictures....http://www.flickr.com/photos/speedbu...261517/detail/

Comments welcome....

[Murray]

Excellent photos......You have a very good layout. Love the greenhouse.

I have moved your thread down from Intros to New systems...

Regards Murray

[Hamish]

Thats is one very impressive setup you have there!

[inzane]

Nice setup...

[Outbackozzie]

Wow, good looking system - have you considered putting the shade on the outside of the greenhouse to keep the air temps lower?