Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

OK i am new to AQUAPONICS !!! I have a 30 gal tank ! I have two 16 in wide x 23 in long and 8 in deep grow bed's !! It is 1.5 months old ! I had 30 1.5 in long goldfish in it !! The fish have been doing well in it,till the last week !! I have been losing 1 to 2 gold fish a day !!!

My levles are

PH is 7.6

hi PH 7.4 (looks lighter then the 7.4 on the chart in my API F/W kit!)

Ammonia 0.25

NO3 5.0

NO2 2.0

I know the NO2 is high! How do i bring it down or should i let it keep as is ????? One bed is empty (no plant's, does have media in it ) the other has around 10 lettuce sprouts an 5 spinach sprouts in it. ALL less then 2 weeks old !! Hope i gave you enough info !!!!!
THIS IS AN IN SIDE GROW !!!!

For starters, I believe you have too many fishes for your system. High pH and high temperature relationship will render the ammonia more toxic to the fishes. Do nothing for ammonia now, but post your water temperature. To mitigate against nitrite poisoning, add salt (natural or seasalt; not cooking salt) up to 1ppt (1kg to 1000 litres). Sorry you got to do some conversion. And stop feeding. Typically for every 500L of growbed, you can have 20-25 fishes regardless of the sizes they are now unless you want to lose fishes as the fish grows.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

MY temp is between 65 to 70 !!! (witch is room temp i don't use a heater)

Ok i did a lot reading around here yesterday lot's of good info !!
I did a water tap PH check its high (7.6 ) and hi PH in tap water is (7.4)
DID not lose a fish last night !!!!
Today's reading's

PH 7.6

hi ph 7.4

ammonia 0.25 (or less kinda hard to tell )

No3 5.0 (was a little lighter then the 5.0 color)

N02 2.0

I READ some where that you should use 1 pound of fish for every 1.5 gal's of water !!(THat's why i only put 30 small goldfish in it . I did kinda of guess the weight ! But i think there is not more then 2 pound's of fish in the water !!! That my be wrong, that's why i am here to learn !!!

WOW was just looking at my fish i have one the is blotted his tummy is hard as a rock ??????

yeah, way high on your stocking, if you haven't added salt, do so, to 1ppt (one part per thousand) to mitigate brown blood disease... try to find a home for half the remaining goldfish
base the number of fish on the amount of filtration (surface area) not the amount of water - a good starting point is to grow out 20-25lbs of fish for every one hundred gallons of filtration - not start with 20-25lbs, that's the final or harvest size..

So for 4 sq feet of grow bed ! I only need 15 fish ??

not even that many.. i have 5 tilapia in my single ibc system (half the ibc is growbed, half is fishtank) and growth is fine - the fish food you use will make a difference as well, get a good quality fish food (aquaculture fish food) - low protein for goldfish - around 33%

i am using Tetra fin fish food goldfish pond food ??!!

42% protein

Just don't stock so many fish in the one tank. Problem should be resolved with that if adequate filtration is being provided... And don't overfeed your fish. I am not sure how much you feed but that could of done it as well. Your ammonia and nitrite readings should be at or near zero once fully cycled.

OK thanks i will take a bunch out and see how it goes !!!!

OK thanks i will take a bunch out and see how it goes !!!!

An thank you all for your input please keep it coming !!!

ok Took all but 5 of my fish out !!!
PH is 7.2
HI PH is 7.4
Ammonia is o.oo
N03 is o.oo
N02 is o.oo
so better !!! but tap water is still got my PH high !!!
fish look happer !!!!

Your pH is not bad. Just let it be,you will be fine.

I would also be careful of how much you feed them as they are greedy and will eat more than is good for them and get constipation (can be fatal). I feed mine occasionally with frozen baby peas (pop them in the microwave for a few seconds to thaw then squeeze them to separate the shells which I don't give them). Currently I have duckweed in the pond so they are getting a bit of greens.