Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Depends on nitrites. If nitrites and ammonia are at 0 I would be feeding. In my case, ammonia was at 0 but nitrites were off the chart because the bacteria wasn't present yet to process to nitrates. Now that they are I can feed more and the system can process. I'm not looking for huge nitrate numbers. I want to make sure I have enough for the plants.

These two articles may be of some interest to you regarding system cycling and the water chemistry of your systems:

http://greenmountainaquaponics.wordpres ... m-cycling/

http://greenmountainaquaponics.wordpres ... s-crucial/

Thanks 1Eyed - links helpful!

Is this true>??


My goodness I never knew

Thanks Blue - the rest of article 2 was a real eye opener for a newbie like me

Yes, very good explanatory articles, thanks 1ET.

Glad I could help. Just one note on the pH. Most fish can really be acclimated to most pH levels, so don't let those numbers scare you... your primary concern at dialing in your pH closer to 7 is to help ensure optimal nutrient uptake by your plants. However, even with the plant side of things I have been very successful at getting decent growth rates out of some vegetables at a pH of 8.

Aquaponics can pretty much be as complicated or as basic as you want it to be...

Great info

Remember pH is logarithmic. Example is a change from 6.1 -> 7.1 is a factor of 100%, and change from 5.6 -> 7.1 is a factor of over 150%.

Correct me if I am wrong.

pH from 6 to 7 would be 10X (1000%) stronger, not just 1X (100%) stronger.

I know now... I'm totally freaked out.

No wonder there's all this talk about eating more alkaline foods.

Cup of orange juice and a coffee and I'm 100% more acidic - explains the mood swings

Don't go to far back the other way or you'll turn into a sourpuss

6 - 7 would be 100 times stronger. The link is incorrect.

Just don't try to eat a couple of handfuls of lime to sort out your mood swings Jay, just a tablespoon at a time...