#nitrifying bacteria

Nitrogen Fixation

The Scientific Research Notes Of S. Sunkavally (years: 2002-2011).

Spring is here!

I have been very busy since my last post! I will first summarize my progress and then publish more detailed posts about each specific topic. In the future, I will get in the habit of publishing posts more regularly to keep the information flowing!

1. Cycling issues

First, and this is the most important topic, my initial cycling process did not go as I expected. The ammonia I added was transformed into nitrites and then nitrates by the nitrifying bacteria in the grow beds. That part went great! There were plenty of nitrates in the system. The seedlings even started to grow. The problem was that I only planted seeds in the grow beds. After several weeks, the water became cloudy and a biofilm covered all surfaces in the fish tank: water pumps, tubing, and heaters. I believe this biofilm was the result of too many nitrates becoming available in the systems without enough plants that could use them. Then the nitrates were available for the growth of algae or whatever constituted the biofilm. The seedlings actually didn't even continue to grow. Only two or so seedlings remained after several weeks. In my pilot, a lot more lettuce sprouted and flourished.

2. Change of gravel in grow beds

This leads me to my second topic, the gravel in the grow beds. In my pilot last summer, I used lava rock and cycled just as I did this January. I added a source of ammonia and planted lettuce seeds. In the pilot, this worked nicely and I had plenty of lettuce growing (before the raccoons trampled it). This time, when I planted seedlings, I saw many grow initially, but only a few were left after several weeks. This made me think that the pea gravel was not as effective a substrate as the lava rock for growing the seeds. So, I changed out the gravel in all the grow beds, which was no small task.

3. Raising seedlings for the aquaponic systems

I am also raising seedlings to plant in the aquaponic systems. This way, the plants will be larger and will take up more nitrates when they are added to the systems. I will also add plant starts that I purchased at a local nursery, for the same reason.

4. Finished the chicken wire enclosure

As I mentioned, raccoons destroyed my pilot project. This led to my resolve to create a raccoon-proof greenhouse. The plastic would not be enough to keep raccoons out, so I constructed a chicken-wire cage on the interior of the greenhouse.

5. Started cycling again!