Did you start with pond water or another source. I ask because if you can do water changes with the pond water when ammonia and nitrites get high you can do that every few days while cycling.
Its hard to give cycling advice without the test kit readings. But some general things that people forget.
1) do not water change with water that is extremely different from the tank water weather that be temperature, PH or have chlorine in it.
2) you can destroy chlorine/chloramines with vitamin c (aesorbic acid) I use 500mg per 50 gallons
3) ammonia is less toxic the lower your PH is. high 6's to 7 is as low as i would go unless your water is already low ph
4) the toxicity of nitrite revolves around the compound inhibits the fish's ability to take up oxygen from the water. It's also called brown bloods disease because the gills may be brown ( not red) for lack of oxygen. In addition to good aeration to help with oxygen availability , salting the water up to 3ppt can help. Roughly speaking (for easy math) a 300 gallon fish tank would be about 1000 liters. 3kg of salt into (about 6 pounds) 1000 liters would be 3ppt. I wouldnt add it all at once. And in aquaponics some plants dont like high salinity so you want to avoid adding salt or dilute it after the cycle is complete.
5) nirtifying bacteria seem to do best in the mid to high 7's ph (but its commonly considered that other types of bacteria will fulfill the nitrating role at lower PH, it will just be different sets of bacteria. but unless you find a supporting research paper, just treat that as something you "heard on the internet." )
I am not saying to do these things. some of these points even contradict others. I am just giving some general information to consider and each situation is different.
I wanted to work with green sunfish to attempt to reproduce hybrids with BG and RES but i was not able to find a source. Pond stocking people and hatcheries seem to consider them undesirable.
Gainesville (pond king) maybe is closer to you than overton's. You can source bluegill, res, hyrbid crappie, channel cats, blue cats, HSB and LMB there. (they rarely seem to have black crappie!, i wish they would) And while they dont advertise individual fish prices on their web site if you send a contact form/e-mail, someone will get back to you with what they have in stock and the prices. Its a closer option to people in the north side of the metroplex.... I tried the fish truck once, and never again.... a waste of 250$
Also, i would avoid moving, buying, transporting or handling fish right before or during a significant weather change like the cold snap we just had. The transport is a lot of stress you compound it with temp change stress.
Sorry if i rambled about things you already know but i didnt see any specific sentences ending in a question mark.
brian
Last edited by bcotton; 01/04/16 02:02 PM.
