Can human urine be used in a AP system?

[poohbear]

Yes I said human urine. I was wondering if I peed on the perlite (I only have this right now but may get gravel/pea gravel later) and had the pee go back into the water will that kick start the bacteria the plants need? Also err.. is that ok for the fish?

I was wondering what the fastest way to get the water in an AP working. I forgot where I read this but someone said to get 2 gallons of water and two gallons of gravel out of an existing system at a pet/fish store. I'm not sure I can get 2gal of water fromt he store and I think the answer would be NO on the gravel as well unless I fronted some serious cash.

[GaryD]

Yes.....urine can be used in an AP system. In fact, it became quite fashionable on another forum. Personally, if I wanted to tap into the food chain at that level, I'd have been born a dung beetle. There are other more reliable (and healthy) nitrogen sources.

Gary

[Dufflight]

Like Urea with all its mercury for healthy bones.

There are a few safe ones out there. But urine is a good way to sidestep any nasties. Once you have fish they will provide most of what you need.

[GaryD]

When did mercury become an automatic inclusion in Urea? Urine, from a healthy person, is said to be sterile......but who knows who's healthy.....and who wants to eat fish that someone has piddled over.

[Dufflight]

When did mercury become an automatic inclusion in Urea?

When it is listed on the breakup list for farm grade urea by the largest manufacturer. We covered this in another thread. You participated in it, remember.

[GaryD]

I use Yates urea and the MSDS makes no mention of mercury. Perhaps you need to find another supplier.

On the issue of urea, my views have changed somewhat.

The experiences of some members of the forum make it clear that it is not for novices. If you don't feel sufficiently competent to use it....and you can't find a suitable alternative.....keep piddling in your fish tank.

Gary

[Dufflight]

Yates, bi-lo, corner store. All come from the same place. Only the farm grade has to list all the trace. Domestic does not. Same as in the last thread about Urea.

[Dufflight]

Wouldn't using sterile urine to cycle... be better than using a dead rotting prawn

[GaryD]

Wouldn't using sterile urine to cycle... be better than using a dead rotting prawn

Without a medical certificate to confirm that the donor was healthy, I'd much prefer the dead rotting prawn. The use of prawns or fish meat as an ammonia source for cycling has been suggested by a number of eminent experts including prominent veterinary surgeon Dr Harry Cooper.

In an ideal world, I'd use pure ammonia.....but even that is not without its issues. It's hard to get and being heavy-handed in its use will create the same problem as urea or any other ammonia source. It all comes down to knowing what you're doing.

Feel free to ask about anything else that you don't understand.

Gary

[Murray]

I think someone else referred to the use of urine as peeponics.

To each his own - as the saying goes. It is one way to get your own back.

I would not use urine in my aquaponics system. It is just not necessary, and just a tad uncooth.
There are plenty of ways to get a system going without resorting to such dubious practices.

UREA is one way, but not all that skillfully practiced by a lot of folk, with disasterous results.

Just letting things take their natural course is another - bit slow but it works.

Using Seasol is possibly the easiest and safest, but Seasol does not have much in the way of nitrates, so it is a little slow...but very safe.

My latest Floating Raft system has been kick started using CANNA Bio Vega at 1/4 strength. I filled the system with rain water, so little or no natural bacteria in there to start with. Ammonia read 1 instantly due to the dosing with Bio Vega.
This morning after two weeks I saw the first firm reading of Nitrite. So things are happening in a nice controled way.

There are plenty of ways to initiate a system without resorting to the very low class method of pissing in the fish tank. Why would anyone want to do that ?