/facepalm
Dude on an aquaponics forum: “Hi all, I am new to aquaponics and this is my setup! I added ammonia to start it cycling and then I got fish and now they’re all dying! My water parameters are [lots of bad numbers]. Help?”
Post data: Read 25 times [by people who saw it and went “nope, I’m not telling him!]
Me: ...okay, time to find a polite way to tell this dude “you messed up”.
Seriously, he’s built a really pretty system, and he understands that testing your water is Something That You Do, and he knows that cycling is A Thing That Happens... so how did he get from there to testing his water, getting numbers that clearly show cycling has started but is nowhere near done (lotsa ammonia, nitrites showing up, no nitrates), and still go, “Yup! Time to buy fish!”?!
It’s so much better when the newbies ask questions before killing their first batch of fingerlings.
(Also, he’s bought about four times as many fish as his system would support, plus they’re the wrong fish for his climate, so in about 3-4 months any survivors are probably gonna kark it anyway... *siiiiiigh*)
