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

[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