Barts New Larger 5 Tank System

[bart]

Hi All I Have Just Started My New Five Tank System Located Inside A Green House To Keep The Possums And Rabbits At Bay. The System Consists Of 4 Gbs 900 Ltrs Each And A Ft Of 3000 Ltrs All Are 1800 Mm Dia Tanks The Gbs 400 High And The Ft 1200 High For Media I Have Used A Base Layer Of 20/80 Mm River Rock For A Coarse Bottom Layer Then 20 Mm Gravel Topped Off With Hydroton .i Have Just Started Cyclying This System With 250mm Sesol And 150mm Power Feed .i Have Read That A Bag Of Fresh Prawns In The Water Will Start Things Off Any Ideas I Will Post Photos When I Work Out How.

[bart]

yesterday i added 400G fresh dead prawns in a bag to help things along will leave the system to cycle and concentrate on getting my holding tank/ garden pond planted out i plan to plant lotus and water Lilly plants in this 400000 ltr ex swimming pool and use it to stock fish and pond weed /duck weed to sup the feeding off my fish in the ap system. at the same time this large pool can be used to keep my ft fish if readings go bad the pool is never used so i have conned my better half that it could make a great pond and can always be converted back for swimming. note you can see the green house in the back paddock where the ap system is housed this new system is getting big and expensive !!

[fishfood]

Hi All I Have Just Started My New Five Tank System Located Inside A Green House To Keep The Possums And Rabbits At Bay. The System Consists Of 4 Gbs 900 Ltrs Each And A Ft Of 3000 Ltrs All Are 1800 Mm Dia Tanks The Gbs 400 High And The Ft 1200 High For Media I Have Used A Base Layer Of 20/80 Mm River Rock For A Coarse Bottom Layer Then 20 Mm Gravel Topped Off With Hydroton .i Have Just Started Cyclying This System With 250mm Sesol And 150mm Power Feed .i Have Read That A Bag Of Fresh Prawns In The Water Will Start Things Off Any Ideas I Will Post Photos When I Work Out How.
Hi looking good just a quick one i am interested in [i have read that a bag of prawns will start off the system ] could you please list that publication
Also seasol and power feed wont help cycling if you have plants in the system it may keep them alive

[bart]

yep just read another member has tried the prawn thing i have no plants in the system waiting on the hydroton to top up the beds and then i might throw in some might just use the pool water to get things going as it has not seen any chlorine for about 2 weeks and has life in it ie water boatmen and mossie lava

[fishfood]

For all the good prawns will do you may as well pee in the fish tank:D

[bart]

just thought i would post some progress shots after 25 days we have some good growth with lettuce cucumber beans tomatoes and zucchini all starting to come on currently ph 7.5 ammonia 1 ppm nitrite 1 ppm nitrate 15 ppm water temp 20 c nitrates have come up in the last week and in the first 3 weeks i had no nitrite readings at all i am still adding 2 caps off seasol per day but it looks like the system is starting to cycle so hopfully i can add some fish soon carnt wait !!!

[GaryD]

Hi,



For all the good prawns will do you may as well pee in the fish tank

These days, I'd probably steer clear of both. You can use other more sanitary products.

I've be inclined to use something with a bit more nitrogen than Seasol.....perhaps PowerFeed. It's still a Seasol product but it's got more nitrogen in it. Since you're coming into summer things will begin to happen pretty quickly now.

You've got a nice looking system there. Are the tanks and grow beds Aquaplate?

Gary

[bart]

yes Gary the tanks are aquaplate i might have to wait a bit longer before the fish can be introduced i checked readings today and nitrite readings have jumped up to 2 ppm so maybe system is just starting to cycle mind you i have nitrate readings off 10 ppm and ammonia of .25 ppm ph is still at 7.8 is this too high for fish [silvers] what would you recommend to bring it down i know people use lemons but my ft is 3000 ltrs that could be s--- load of lemons :)

[GaryD]

Hi Bart,



..........i checked readings today and nitrite readings have jumped up to 2 ppm so maybe system is just starting to cycle mind you i have nitrate readings off 10 ppm and ammonia of .25 ppm ph is still at 7.8 is this too high for fish [silvers] what would you recommend to bring it down i know people use lemons but my ft is 3000 ltrs that could be s--- load of lemons


I'd lower your pH regardless of the species. I'd prefer something in the range of 6.2 - 6.8. For your quantity of water, I'd suggest that you use hydrochloric or nitric (or even sulphuric) acid.

Caution: Always add acid to water and never the other way around and ensure that you add small quantities of the diluted mixture to your tank measuring your pH as you go. Only make very small changes or you risk exposing your fish to pH shock.

I expect that you should take at least 24 hours to make a shift in pH of that order.

Gary

[bart]

thanks Garry i knew Ph was too high i have plenty hydrochloric from the pool so will use that as I'm taking the set it up slow approach there are no fish in system so i dont need to be as carefully with adjustments Ph could be high due to 20 mm screenings will keep you posted on progress :)

[Dufflight]

As a system cycles the ph will go down by itself. Mine was close to 8 and ended up around the 7 and has stayed there.

[GaryD]

Hi Bart,

I'd say that your high pH is probably due to the dust on the 20mm gravel that you used.

As Dufflight has indicated, the pH will drop of its own accord over time (after you've added the fish), so you may only have to do the downward adjustment using the acid once.

Gary

[bart]

just some update pics of the big pond pic 1 and 2 , 3 is the outdoor veg patch doing well the onions just about ready also the hot weather has hit Melbourne last 3 days in the30 S the ft is sitting at 23 to 24 deg when green house temp is at 39 and 34 just as well i burried the tank in the ground to try to stabilize the temp. ? is this temp to hot for trout I'm sure barra or perch would love it anyway wll keep you all posted bart

[bart]

just some update pics off the 25000 lter pond i now have yearling rainbow trout in the pond water temp has got to 22 but they seem OK they still feed in the evening trust Melbourne to turn on the heat early i should have put in perch but the trout were just too tempting right time right price just hope they will survive the summer i have 15 in the ap setup and they seem to be going well with temp at 20 on the really hot days

[GaryD]

Hi Bart,

Love the swimming pool conversion. Did you consider using the pool as a fish tank rather than as a decorative pond? You may have been able to achieve both outcomes. In any case, it's not too late (but a bit of work) if you were to change your mind.

Gary

[bart]

hi gary the pool is a fish pond currently stocked with 20 rainbow trout around a year old they keep the mozzies and frogs away and dont damage the water lillies

[bart]

just some pics of my weekend project the wine barrel wicking bed

[GaryD]

Hi Bart,

I spent several hours over the past two days attaching lattice work to two sections of our new pergola. Given that it was a scorcher and nothing was square, I much prefer your weekend project.

I reckon wicking beds show real promise as somewhere to put some nutrient-rich water from the fish tank. I'm keen to convert a couple of my square foot beds to the wicking water arrangement.

Gary

[bart]

just some pics of my gbs we are getting plenty zucchini and cucumbers also lettuce and the beans and tomatoes are growing well my nitrate have dropped off i only have 14 trout in the system about 1 year old and the plants might need more could i keep perch with the trout i tried goldfish but they lasted about 60 seconds and there were happy trout and no goldfish could i supplement the gbs with something

[GaryD]

Hi Bart,


.....my nitrate have dropped off i only have 14 trout in the system about 1 year old and the plants might need more could i keep perch with the trout i tried goldfish but they lasted about 60 seconds and there were happy trout and no goldfish could i supplement the gbs with something
Are you sure that you need anything? Elevated nitrate levels will inhibit the performance of fruiting plants.
Many mature AP systems operate with no discernible ammonia, nitrite or nitrate readings. At around pH 6.0 - 6.5, such systems become very efficient at making nutrients available to the plants.

If you're getting good plant growth from your 14 trout, I wouldn't add anything.

Gary

[bart]

i have left the system to provide its own nutreients for a while I'm getting yellowing around the leaves of my zucchini most other veggies seem OK and the zucchini plants are still producing well .i have discovered that the zucchini are rotting at the flower end as the veg gets bigger the culprit is a Grey mold i have sprayed with ecorose and have removed the offending fruit i am also dosing the GB with a teaspoon of iron once a week to SE if it helps with the yellowing any ideas as to what veggies would work well in a Polly dome in Melbourne over winter ?

[bart]

here are some photos showing yellowing of the cucumbers I'm still getting some nice green ones but some are showing signs of neut def i have been adding 4 teaspoons of iron every 2nd week and 3 teaspoons of potash every 3rd as you can see the tomatoes are doing well with only a few burnt leaves due to the extreme temps also the herbs but i think they grow anywhere also threw in a pic of the tuberous begonia it likes the conditions in the polydome

[GaryD]

Hi Bart,

The tomatoes and the Begonia should make up for the failed cucumber. Those herbs are doing OK too.....all things considered.

I know what you mean about the weather.......this is the worst time of the year for growing anything up here in Queensland.

I think you could cut back on the iron a bit.

Gary

[bart]

i havet posted for a while but thought i would post some photos of the big trout kill we ended up with about 20 around 2.5 kg gutted to make way for a summer batch of silvers looks like trout is on the menu currently the gbs are running b sprouts herbs Kial and lots of Chinese cab and bok choy

[bart]

just thought if i dont get a new batch of fish in soon ill need to suplement the existing gb with some food i have been told to dose with seasol ?what numbers shuold i be running in regard to nitrate amo ext to keap vege growth