Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi all, new to the Forum so don't mind me jumping in with beginner questions.

So I'm not new to ponds, just aquaponics. I've been raising koi for 12 years now and do many repairs and changes myself. I have a 50k gallon koi pond with 40 koi, my oldest is a 19 year old fish. I also do all my own landscaping and have a greenish thumb. I have always loved home grown veggies and figured I'd try my hand at aquaponics.
So, I build a pvc system that has 4, 4 inch pvc pipes, each 12 foot long. Water will be pumped from the pond into the pipes and back into the pond. Now I have an immense filtration system for the koi and are not worried about this being the sole filtration for the pond. I do realize it will be an added benefit. My question is, I've always kept my ph at 8.3, using sodium bicarbonate to keep a good buffer system. Lately our area has been getting tons of rain and I do this to prevent a pond crash. My fish are fine, and have been healthy with a constant ph that high. Now, all my pond plants grow like great, I even get algae bloom if a uv filter goes down. How will the high ph levels affect vegetable plants? I've read about how the plant will not be able to absorb certain minerals. Why does that not affect pond plants the bloom like crazy?

TY guys for the time!!!

Nutrient uptake is effected by the ph

Your pond plants are probably suited / adapted to the higher ph

As the chart indicates Iron is the big one at higher ph if you search iron deficiency in vegetables there is plenty of info.

Foliar spray veg with iron is a easy fix

There may not be enough nutrients in solution to grow veg from your big pond due to dilution

Test for Nitrates to find out what you have

so what fish safe fertilizers do you use? last thing I want to do is mess with the health of my fish

Hiya Craigger7, generally the fish poop is enough as a fertiliser provided the fish feed is adequate however if the fish load is low or the feed is poor supplementary feeding may be required.
Personally I use fish emulsion, seaweed emulsion, or blood and bone. I always start with small doses and check the nitrite and ammonia levels to make sure the system is coping with the extra load.
Then there's mineral supplementation but that's another story.
Hope this helps.