Nitrogen dosing, or fishless cycling. Did it work?

[daniel]

Hi,

Remember, fishless cycling only requires you to leave the nitrogen source in the water until it produces enough ammonia to create a reading of 5 on the water test card.......and then (subsequently) a nitrite reading of 5.

Once you get ammonia and nitrite readings of 5 and they they return to zero, your system has cycled.

Gary

This is a quote from the one of the New Aquaponics Systems Threads. Jonty's new system to be exact

In any case, I have just set up the first two grow beds of a new system and thought i would give this Fishless cycling technique a go. At the moment, I haven't added the main tank, I am cycling water from a 200L tub into two grow beds totalling approx .4meters cubed. two tubs at 1.3mx.5mx.3m.

What proceeded could probably be considered a comedy of errors by some.

I will start from the beginning.

I originally started by adding a small amount of dried fish to the system (this is all i had at the time) and a small amount of fish food. I left this for about a week before i decided (not based on anything) to try dosing the system with ammonia. I hadn't done any tests with a test kit at this point, so I have no idea of the readings.

I used Cloudy ammonia, as suggested in one of the posts. Thing is I didn't know how much to use. So in typical gung-ho fashion I poured in about a cups worth. When i tested for ammonia with my test kit it was off the scale. (I am glad i was never given fireworks as a kid because i wouldnt have any fingers right now if i had).

In any case. i figured i would leave it for a few days and see what happened. I tested for ammonia after about 3 days and it had reduced dramatically, probably to a reading of about 6. I didn't test for Nitrites at this point for some reason.

About 3 days after this I tested again. This time for both Nitrites and Ammonia. The ammonia reading was 0, which I assumed was good. But the Nitrites reading was also 0??? this confused me so i thought a few more days may do it.

well I tested again a few days later and both are still zero. I also tested for nitrates and that was zero as well.

This isn't exactly what i was expecting from my limited understanding of this technique, but then again i am sure a mega dose of ammonia was never intended either. Do i drain the system and start from scratch?

Thanks in advance?

[millie]

yes i was a bit kuffuffled wen i red thet.....toooo much bits seem to be mist for it ta werk proply

[GaryD]

Hi Daniel,



I used Cloudy ammonia, as suggested in one of the posts. Thing is I didn't know how much to use. So in typical gung-ho fashion I poured in about a cups worth. When i tested for ammonia with my test kit it was off the scale.

Mistake #1 - my understanding is that Cloudy Ammonia contains soap so i would not use it for cycling an Aquaponics system.


About 3 days after this I tested again. This time for both Nitrites and Ammonia. The ammonia reading was 0, which I assumed was good. But the Nitrites reading was also 0??? this confused me so i thought a few more days may do it.
My guess is that the soap in the Cloudy Ammonia probably killed off any chance that the Nitrosomonas bacteria had of becoming established.

I suggest that you flush the system thoroughly and start again.

Add your ammonia source and wait for the Ammonia figures to reach the desired 5 reading. Continue to test each day and you will see the nitrite levels start to rise. Once they reach 5, you can ease back on the ammonia source and they should return to zero......and your system will be cycling.

You will need to continue adding a bit of ammonia (or something that generates it) to maintain the rate of colonisation of Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria after cycling commences......until you're ready to put
your fish into the system.

Gary

[daniel]

ahh, I thought it may have been something like this. Another ingredient i hadnt counted on. The bottle doesn't indicate any ingredients other than ammonia so I figured I was good.

There is absolutely no frothing or bubbling in the system, but something defiantly isn't working..

[njh]

Yeah, that was my fault. Cloudy ammonia is tainted. You need clear ammonia, or urea.

A big advantage of urea is that a pure source of it is easily available.

[daniel]

Oh well, by garden will get a good water.

[Murray]

Everybody is different, but I would plant the grow beds and spray the plants with Seasol as per the instructions on the Seasol bottle. I would also add about 1/2 tspn of Seasol per 1000 ltrs to the water every third or fourth day.
It is up to you.

[daniel]

Murray,

Are you referring to setting up a new system, or specifically to my situation, where i have used cloudy amonia.

I have used seasol in the past in the initial stages of a new grow bed, untill it gets up to speed.

[Murray]

Setting up a new system. Seasol is the Aquaponic's friend.

[daniel]

I Just emptied the tank and found a heap of little red worms on the bottom. I think they are blood worms. Should i leave these in?

[GaryD]

Hi Daniel,

If they're alive they can't do the system any harm. If they end up dead, it will only add to the ammonia load in the short term.

Gary

[njh]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chironomidae

they are an important food source for fish. They are the little midges.

edit: You know, if you've got bloodworms in there, it can't be too bad. I suspect that the surfactant in the cloudy ammonia is probably not a big deal after a week.

[daniel]

Ahh, well, i have replaced the water from my rain water tank. I may just go out and get some feeder fish. Stick with what i know.