Ravnis 1st indoor system

[Ravnis]

this is my first system made from an aquarium and 35 quart sterlite tote. I am using a auto (bell) siphon made from 1.5 inch pvc with an inner stand pipe of 1/2". I used a coupler as my anchoring device for the stand pipe and no leaks so far even without a sealant. A pump pumps water into a tee on one end and the stand pipe drain is on the other end. I have one air stone with an air pump attached and a filter that came with the aquarium kit from walmart. just recently added a heater more for speeding up the cycling as the house stays fairly constant around 74-76F. Have some lettuce,spinach, basil, arugula planted in the seed starters and arugula and ivy in the water.

[Ravnis]

some pics the siphon is not pretty i did a lot of experimenting with it to really see what was key. the holes determin the water depth that it drains to.


bell siphon
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=3qmtmnswmzv&thumb=5

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=yn114iadley&thumb=5

system
http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=dlestjrwa0f&thumb=5

http://www.mediafire.com/imageview.php?quickkey=3dyystlwfh1&thumb=5

I could not figure out how to get my pic low enough res for posting here so the links should take you to the pic.

[GreenCow]

Hi Ravnis...Welcome!
Nice compact system. Look forward to hearing more about how well the system works. GC

[djs-sa]

thats a nice little system, what sort of light are you using?

[Ravnis]

the light is a basic hood light that came with the aquarium kit, i replaced the incandescents with flourescent tubes. Since the window has a lot of sunlight, I am using it as a supplement at this time.

[Jason Palenske]

Which store did you get your grow bed from? It really does sit on that shelf perfectly. Since we're doing the same thing almost to a T we might as well compare notes.

[Ravnis]

Got the tote from wal-mart , its a sterlite brand clear tote and it was 7 or eight dollars , really haven't been keeping that good a track on the costs as I view this as a learning experiment before I it on a larger scale next year. Other than the test kit, everything is from lowe's or wal-mart. I got the API master test kit from pet smart. Still waiting for tank to cycle will post my journal when it does. I used the cycle bacteria culture but from what I can tell it was a waste of 10 bucks and would have been better off just buying the aquarium plant for $5.

[Ravnis]

well the system finally seems to be cycled will be putting some fish in after making sure the ph is stable and no nitrite spikes.

Here is my journal , you can see several of my mistakes so don't use it as a how to guide, I figure several of my mistakes made cycling take a week longer than it should of.

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=f6a1fa85e7ff2cd5d2db6fb9a8902bda



I did discover a problem with a dead spot in my growbed making the nitrite part of the cycle take extra long, by raising the fill end of my growbed a few millimeters and drilling a drip hole in it , I then saw my nitrates climb. I also figure by using gravel I have something in there that is buffering the water to a ph of 7.4. Dropped it numerous times and it kept bouncing back up. Dropped it all the way to 6.0 and it still came up.

[Hamish]

Excellent! It is really good to use a journal to monitor the progress - it really makes it so much easier to look back and see clearly the cause and effect of different things. I have to admit I have not done a water test for ages - probably a coupl of months. Everything just seems so stable now. I am sure your system will be fine now you have gone through a good cycling process. You ave given the system the best start possible.

[Ravnis]

well added my first victims to my system. 16 fathead minnows I bought from a bait shop down the street. I was worried that they might die from temperature shock as when I got home I didnt have time to let them soak in the aquarium before I put them in before I had to get to work. It was either put them in then or let them sit in the bait bucket.

Well one was dead when I got home but the rest were still swimming. I crushed up gold flake food and they went to town on it.

I then tested the water that they came in, Ammonia levels were off the scale, went so far past 8 that it had that bluish green tint on an api liquid test. Nitrites were off the scale too. I think I made the right choice. In fact not sure how they survived as they did.

my water when I got home had ph 7.4, nitrite 0.25, ammonia 0.25, nitrate 40. May not be ideal conditions but I feel it's better than what they were in.