The water level dropped 15cm over the past month. I tested our tap water and it's about pH=8.5 - so if I add 500L of it to the ~1600L I have left (pH=6,5) it should bring up the pH a bit.. Doing that now.


At last, the pictures!

7 September, the cats posing. The GB lining still had to be done.


15 September, cat inspecting the GB liner before glueing.


16 September, GB lined and glued to the wood.


29 September, hydroton washing (didn't have enough time, so did that in batches). Water's bloody cold!


29 September, overview (GB half full).


Today, overview (GB full).


And a picture of the aluminium siphon guard (which we don't use because dad made a stainless steel one). You can also see some of the dead onions that I hope will miraculously revive.


And after uploading those pictures, the water level went up by 16cm and the pH is now 7.3. Yay!

Looks great. I'm glad to see that you have the same level of supervision there than I have here. (2 feline foremen)

Xzorby, the system is looking great!! its all comeing to geather. its going to be a great system.

very tidy system. A+

Thanks!

Janet, I couldn't have done it without feline supervision.. They insist on inspecting everything before it goes into the system. Besides, it's their main source of drinking water..

pH: 7,4 (slightly down)
NH3: 0,7 (roughly the same; diluted)
NO2: 0,4 (slightly up)
NO3: 0,8 (slightly up)

I do all my tests on water that is siphoned out of the GB, by the way. It's easier to see changes there than in the large pond.

pH: 6,6
NH3: 1
NO2: 3 (no fish until this goes down)
NO3: 3

The pH still buffers to about 6,5. I don't mind the fact that it takes ages to grow the bacteria at this pH, but the pond is still a bit leaky and I have to add a bit of tap water every once a month, bringing the pH up to about 7,5. Is it bad for the plants or fish (when I get them) if the pH goes from slightly acidic to slightly alkaline and back, once a month?

Added some NH3 yesterday. I do that once every couple of days, to keep it around 1.

pH: 6,6
NH3: 1
NO2: 6
NO3: 3

Nitrosomonos seems to be growing much more quickly than nitrobacter, which is strange, because they're the ones that are supposed to like a much higher pH. Apparantly they're less affected by the low temperatures (this week night temperatures are only 4 degrees Celsius, day temps no more than 15). In any case, I'm glad that I still haven't got any fish in there, with this amount of nitrites..

Some of the seeds have already germinated; I think they're mostly radishes (though the other seeds show signs of life as well). The dead spring onions I threw in have miraculously revived, much to the surprise of my dad.

One of the cats was sleeping against the warm wooden structure, when all of a sudden..

.. the siphon kicked in. It's been doing that twice an hour for over a month now and the cat's still not used to it. A couple of days ago the neighbour's cat was drinking right next to the siphon pipe when it kicked in, should've made a video of that..

hehehe

pH: 6,5
NH3: 1
NO2: 6
NO3: 8
Watertemperature must be about 5-10 degrees Celsius.

Both nitrites and nitrates are nearly off the scale!


We decided that we want a couple of Koi, goldfish and some ide (all fingerlings). Especially the Koi eat anything green, so we're not going to put in any underwater plants. No fish until nitrites go down, though!

nitrates are fine, nitrites are high bc you are half way thru cycling. Now that you are coming into the northern winter it may still take a while. Don't let this bother you, time is your friend. Put an aquarium heater in there and it will speed things up. Won't cost too much and the higher water temps will give you a head start on the growing season after winter. You will need screen to keep the cats out, once they know there is live stuff in that water the game will be afoot, Watson. Perhaps source some potassium bicarb to balance your pH and help plant nutrient uptake.

Really delighted with your input Xzorby, you are part of the fam and keep the pics coming.

Hey nice system... My dads been talking about using pond liner for making a fish tank... How do you find using a pond liner? Im too worried about leaks. Its not exactly cheap either is it?

TT, it's already too late to put in winter crops and such. I sowed as many different things as I could, hoping that at least something would come up, but I don't think I'll get anything edible out of it any time soon. If it's going to take ages anyway, I think adding a heater is a waste of energy and money.
I already tried bringing the pH up, but even though it was way up at 9,5 at one point it just buffered back to 6,5. I add tap water (which happens to be pH=8,5) once a month (because the pond's still a bit leaky), bringing the pH back up to about 7,5 - but after two weeks it's back at 6,5. The bacteria seem to be doing fine, so there's no need to do something about the pH.


MCPHRO, we made the mistake of cutting the fish pond liner and making seams, we had quite some leaks (and we still have a small leak somewhere). If you don't cut it and just fold the edges, like we did with the growbed after we'd learnt our lesson, there's no chance that it'll leak.

We got our 1mm EPDM cheaper than we would any preformed tank; 60 euros for 12 square meters. Not sure what you'd pay for it in AU though, but I've read that anything that can hold water is very expensive so it might be the least expensive option there as well.

Hey Thomas - it is amazing how quickly the pH dives when dosing the tank. As well as the nitrification - I wonder if urine is quite acidic. I've never checked.

depends if you get a burning sensation or not

I thought you had to have the infection and then it was the acidity of the urine that contributed to the burning sensation - hence drinks to reduce the acidity while the infection was around :-/. No I don't have a burning sensation - except of course when I am partaking of the hot knitting needle