Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

heya

my names samantha i started to try ponics a few months now and can having some problems id love some help if anybody has time,i made a little video to show the setup and current situation,

so basically i have tried to grow many things salads and herbs and such everything starts great and then somehow stops growing,

my window sadly doesnt get full light and where i live it rains more than it suns,

have a small tank with 3 gold fish(currently not in situation to have a tank big enough for some lovely tilapia)
i feed them twice a day sometimes less s they dont seem to care.

the fish are fine no probs except the tank has to be changed once a week as it becomes full of poo or something because they sometimes start to go to the top of water,to breath even tho i have air entering the tank via the weight of water falling from the large grow bed(see vid)

currently the plants grow and then dry up then change and are fine then look like they need calcium or something but eveything i check seems to be normall,

my ph is 6.9-7

this is my first time trying aquaponics out and id love some help,

i was thinking maybe the tank isnt getting enough air,

i am just amazed at how within one hour my tank is dirty yet i see others and somehow there grow beds catch everything,so i tired adding some foam after the last beds to catch excess but still doesnt seem like a working system and i cant understand what im missing..

please take a look https://vimeo.com/165778473

and if you can gimmie some feedback

thanks sam

Hi Samantha, welcome to the forum

Interesting setup and brownie points for re-purposing lab glassware .

I can think of a few things that might help.

1. First the algae in the fish tank is probably robbing some of the nutrients your plants would like so I'd shade the fish on the side toward the window. Doing this will also help the fish with the oxygen levels because algae takes in oxygen at night.

2. If you're using flake goldfish food it might not be able to provide the nutrients you plants need because most of these are for maintenance and not so much for growth like commercial fish chows. Having said this, 3 goldfish probably provide more waste than the filtration you have can handle. That window ledge looks ready for a planter

3. The light levels up high are probably not good enough to support much plant growth without adding some supplemental light. I'd either lower the setup and move it toward the window or setup some other lighting. You could also focus on plants that don't need as much light like lettuce but I think it's probably a stretch without some position adjustments.

Cheers

2nd what scotty said.

Too much light to the fish tank (I'd at least shade the half facing the window).

Not enough light for plants. I have a small indoor setup that didn't grow any plants, even invasive ground cover that can't be killed outside in the permanent shadow of the house. I bought a small LED grow light and plants took off. I'm using flake food but the plant I'm growing (mint) doesn't seem to care.

Not enough filtration. It's not clear how you're pumping the water. If it's just dripping via air lift, it may not good enough flow to bring the solids to the filter.

.
And given your location, and the poor insolation, I wonder.if you should consider LED supplementation ..
..

There are some pretty decent cheap LED options on EBAY. I personally use a LED setup i bought off of there during the winter months.

I bought 4 of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/18W-Full-Spectr ... hash=item0

I bought 1 of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/3-4-in-1-E27-Ba ... hash=item0

I had one of these laying around and i put them all in there:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Designers-Ed ... lsrc=aw.ds

My plants grow like crazy indoors. Cheap and easy.

Here is a pic or two of mine.