I'm glad to report the fishies are doing good. I'm starting to think I don't have enough fish, or too much water. The ammonia level isn't moving up very fast, and neither are the nitrites. I've decided to add more fish to the water to move the cycling process along. I'm trying to decide between tilapia, which are a favorite in the aquaponics circles, or catfish. I know catfish get pretty big, but that takes quite a while and I do have 65 gallons to work with.
I also have decided to build a homemade water filter. After doing some research I realize it shouldn't be too hard. My whole goal is to remove the chloramines from the water for the fish. I've realized that those chloramines could also be harmful to the compost tea I plan to make during the spring. If I can build a big enough filter, that should solve both my problems.
I need to come up with something quick, though. It seems I add more water to the system daily than I originally thought I would have to. I'd say every morning I have to add about 3/4 of a gallon of water. I'll try to build the filter this weekend so I don't use up all my rainwater.
I'm also planning my next fish tank. It'll be in the ground. I have a backhoe on the land and it'll be easy to dig. I'll just have to get some pond plastic and shape the thing correctly. I'll dig a hole on one end that I can install a sump pump in. I'm pretty excited about this idea. I have a plan on how to pump water out of the new fish tank without dropping the water level as I do it. We'll see how it works out.
Ok, I finished this post just in time to go watch the second game of the World Series. Go Rangers!!
Hi! I'm glad your fish are doing so well.
ReplyDeleteI'd be really careful about adding more fish. The cycle can take a while to start, but once it does, it'll cause some serious swings in your nitrites and your pH until things get established. It's really best to stay patient and give everything a month or so to establish. I also tried to rush things, and it was a disaster.
As far as your water loss, that's an awful lot of evaporation. Are you exposing too much water at the top of your growbed, either because it's not covered by rafts or it's too high into your gravel?
I think the water loss is some hidden leak in my system. I need a good amount of time during the day to track it down. It doesn't take long for a little leak to add up. As for more fish, I've decided to wait a while longer. Thanks for the advice.
ReplyDelete