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Treating & Preparing my water for fish & plants
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Author:  MortsySM [ Apr 29th, '15, 18:52 ]
Post subject:  Treating & Preparing my water for fish & plants
Morning all,

My aquaponics system is located on my allotment (a patch of land in the UK which is rented for the sole purpose of growing & raising food) and in February I filled my IBC tank with 900 litres of water (using watering cans!).

My system will be powered and oxygenated using solar powered pumps and lots of edible oxygenating plants (and as such it will not contain that many fish).

The water I used to fill the IBC tanks came from one of the water supply troffs and has now started to turn quite green. It sits under a tree so I presume any bird poo will be feeding it undesirable nutrients (I will erect a proper cover to prevent this now).

My question is this: how can I treat it & prepare it?

Would it be best to start putting in aquatic oxygenating plants?

Thank you for your replies,

Samuel
Author:  Shelly S [ Apr 29th, '15, 23:15 ]
Post subject:  Re: Treating & Preparing my water for fish & plants
MortsySM

I started with a huge green algae filled pool and had read to just throw some goldfish in there. So I did --- they are amazing little housekeepers. They will eat the green away (and while they are eating it--you do not have to feed them).
Author:  Max47 [ Apr 29th, '15, 23:20 ]
Post subject:  Re: Treating & Preparing my water for fish & plants
I would suggest starting with a fishless cycle. Add your plants and use some seaweed extract to give the water nutrients. Every couple days add small amounts of pure ammonia until you see nitrates in your system then add your fish.
Author:  Curious [ Apr 30th, '15, 14:52 ]
Post subject:  Re: Treating & Preparing my water for fish & plants
@MortsySM - Hi and welcome, for algae, by erecting a cover and shading the tank from any direct sunlight will help.

Sorry, i wont be able to advice you on how to treat the water if there is already poo in the water. Usually you would want to prevent any poo of warm blooded animals from going into the water. Try using the search function on duckponics (systems that uses ducks instead of fishes), you might be able to find some interesting information.

You can read up on the IBCofAquaponics and the Often repeated rules of thumb linked below for basic aquaponics informations.

http://ibcofaquaponics.com/
viewtopic.php?f=12&t=6646

Regards
PS (Please post some pictures of your system when it is ready, we love pictures :D :D )
Author:  Titus [ May 2nd, '15, 00:01 ]
Post subject:  Re: Treating & Preparing my water for fish & plants
Hi
I have had great success with watercress and spinach in an outdoor system here in the UK.
I bet your allotment neighbours will love swapping their produce for fresh watercress!
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