Pure ammonia

[Aussieponic]

Gary hi. In your book "Urban Aquaponics" You talk about cycling the system with pure ammonia. I can get hold of some of this as 25% in water solution. My question is how much do i need to cycle my system? I have 2500 lt in the fish tank, 4500 lt in the sump tank and 5000 lt of Growbed space.

Thanks
Aussieponic

[GaryD]

Hi Brian,

Good to hear from you.....and I'm pleased to hear that your system is almost ready to go. It will look a treat when it's in full flight.

While I understand that your total system volume is 12,000 litres, you don't say what quantities (and what cost) your ammonia is.

You have two options around the pure ammonia......you can attempt to cycle the entire system at once or you can just start up part of it. It depends on how much ammonia you can get and how much it will cost as to which option is preferable.

If you opt to just start up a part of your system......once you have the necessary bacteria proliferating, they will breed quickly and extend into the rest of the larger system.

Regardless of which way you decide to go, the goal is to get an ammonia reading of 5ppm and keep it there until nitrite production kicks in.

Once you have achieve a nitrite reading of 5ppm and then everything (ammonia and nitrite readings) returns to zero, your system has cycled.

I suggest that you add the pure ammonia solution in small amounts until it registers on your water tests and then continue to add small amounts until you reach the appropriate reading.

I'm happy to provide you with up to 100 litres of fish tank water (at no cost) which will also help to kickstart your system. Remember, the Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter bacteria inhabit the water as well as the grow bed media (and the air for that matter).

In the absence of pure ammonia, I recommend the use of fish meat for fishless cycling. While this is somewhat controversial in BYAP circles, it's a practice that's well know to aquarium operators and one which I'm happy to defend.

I'd prefer to use pure ammonia but it's not easy to find. Are you at liberty to disclose the source of the ammonia solution that you can access?

I hope this helps Brian.

Gary

[Aussieponic]

Hi Gary , thanks for your reply. I can get bottles of 500ml or 2.5 lt. I think the 500ml is about $12.00 not sure on the 2.5. I have not spoken to the company yet but The school where I work gets it through Bayside Chemicals. I will ring them next week and see if I can buy through them. The lab techs seem to think I can. Do you think if was to start putting in the amonia a little each day as you suggest, would i need the 2.5 lt bottle? The ammonia is 25% solution. It is dangerous stuff and not to be fooled with. I will need to wear eye, lung and skin protection.

Thanks again

AP

[GaryD]

Hi,

Maths is certainly not my forte.

You're looking to achieve a level of 5ppm. I suggest that you ask the maths head of department at your school to do the calculations for you.


Gary

[echidna]

I think that Urea would be the easiest and most readily available chemical to start the process. Any garden shop should have it and it readily dissolves in water. Any left over can go to the soil-based garden. Urea consists of a bonded ammonia and carbon dioxide molecule.

[GaryD]

Hi,

I hadn't thought about urea.

My only real concern would be that urea sourced from a garden store might have something else in it.

The whole issue of cycling is a once-off problem. Once you have one system operating, the easiest way to cycle another one is just to transfer water from the cycled system to the new one.

......which brings me back to the question I asked early AP.

Would you like a drum of water from my system to get you going?

With the volume of water that you have, you could stick a big bunch of fingerlings in there without any real issue. I would hav thought that the number of bugs in 100 litres of water would colonise your system fairly smartly.

Gary

[Aussieponic]

Gary thanks for the offer of the fish water I would love to get some. Also a small amount of duck weed to start me off would be good.

Thanks
AP

[GaryD]

No problem.

I've PM'd my phone numbers. Give me a call and we'll make the arrangements for a pick up.

You're welcome to come to my place......or I can take the water and duckweed to work at Tingalpa (just south of the Gateway Bridge).....or I can visit you and take a look at what you've achieved. Your call.

Gary

[Aussieponic]

Thanks Gary will be in about 2 weeks I will repy via PM

Thanks

AP

[echidna]

Hi,

I hadn't thought about urea.

My only real concern would be that urea sourced from a garden store might have something else in it.

Gary

http://www.incitecpivot.com.au/zone_..._Factsheet.pdf

The above gives a brief description of the manufacturing process and uses. I believe that due to the manufacturing process the resultant would be quite pure. The main reason I suggested it, is it is cheap and readily available (about $4 for a 500g packet) and can be used on the regular garden. In an AP situation it might prove helpful when you have a crop of heavy nitrogen feeders and limited fish density. Since it is very soluble it could be added after the fish tank to the growbeds, perhaps by hand watering between normal flood cycles.

On another ammonia note, I saw on Better Homes and Gardens last night the vet, Dr Harry, advocating the use of a cooked prawn to create the ammonia to set up a marine fish tank. I wonder what your detractors thought of that?