Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

welcome to the forum and best of luck...start small and posts pics of your system....

My Bok Choi and Arugula wilt during the day when in direct sunlight and some of my baby choi have bolted. I have since then put up some shade cloth and they seem to do a lot better. Leaves are fuller and have more rigor. My shade cloth has since fallen down because of bad weather. Something more solid is in the works.

We had a really heavy rain storm the other night and my pak choi got shredded by the rain. Worst yet was that the rain caused my pH to drop from 6.6 to 6.0 or below (API test kit minimum). Since then I'm adding Calcium Hydroxide (CaOH) to my system slowly until it raises up to pH 6.6. (Adding 1/4 tsp every 6-8 hours and haven't seen change yet) Wanted to use a combination of Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) and CaOH, but have to wait until KOH gets here by mail.

Zeknix, let me know how that all works out for you. I am having major pH problems right now. I have had to drain the system pretty much and replace the water. Unfortunately I was told to de-chlorinate my water with vitamin C. The ascorbic acid is an inhibitor and/or damaging to bacteria and its growth. So now I may have just nuked my system and I have to start from 0 again... pH was 8.2 when I added it to the system, it has already dropped to 7.4. I think there is a pH lowering monster living in my GB's! I have been using gardener's lime, but I think it's the wrong lime... Go figure. Everything has been off so far with this system!

It took several months for my system to start to lower from around pH 8.0 to 7.2. You might have low levels of carbonates in your system. I was finally able to get my system to pH 6.4 today from pH 6.0 or below with only 1/2 tsp of hydrated lime (CaOH source). Granted my FT is 55 gal, 30 gal sump, and 43 gal of GB but it didn't take much to lower it. (5lbs will last me forever) I added 1/4 tsp earlier today and after 6 hours or so, my pH was 6.0, so I added another 1/4 tsp of hydrated lime. Now after about 4 hours its now at pH 6.4. I would think that means my pH was very low this morning. I have noticed that I have an ammonia spike at the moment, which I assume its because my nitrifying bacteria started to crash.

Hopefully now that the pH is now above 6.0 the system will start to recover. Then again it could be because that I had to go out of town this past weekend and the day before I came home, a ton of dead leaves was able to get into my FT and a lot of fish started to get ick. Some of them were dead and probably spiked the ammonia levels. Anywho, I've salted my system for the ick and possible nitrite spike. I'm trying not to freak out and start making a whole bunch of changes because usually it just takes time for a system to level out. Tomorrow I'm going to try to do some more cleaning of my FT just to get the crap off the bottom. Wish me luck.

Just to fill you in on my system Zeknix, you were right on the low carbonates. My water from the tap ranges from 170-300ppm, really freaking high! Somehow it dropped all the way down to 50 ppm in just 3 days... Not sure how in the hell this happened, but it did. I purchased some Potassium Bicarbonate today and will be adding some to the system to try and re-harden the water. After that I will try to bring it up with the Calcium Carbonate for the time being until my Calcium Hydroxide and kH test kit come in the mail. I am hoping these additions will get my system balanced and working good. Now just have to pray the every day rainstorms soon approaching won't throw me whole system out of whack with the lower pH and less alkaline water!

How is your system doing now?

My system finally settled at pH 6.6 after several days. I'm now understanding people who keep talking about how difficult it is to keep their system pH up. Some KOH should be arriving by mail soon, but I hope I won't need to use it soon. I'm going to stay away from carbonates for now. Maybe I'll use them if I have to go away for awhile.

Nice. Mine is at 8.0-8.2, kind of on the high side, but I hope I can keep it around that or drop down a little. The fish still seem to be doing ok though. I hope this rain we are expected to get this weekend will kinda lower it back down a little too.

"Maybe I'll use them if I have to go away for awhile." - That's the next hurdle I'll have to face. I leave for the Keys for a week in June and the Bahamas for two weeks in July. Not sure how my system will maintain then.

Let it drop to pH 7.0 max IMHO. I keep mine around 6.4-6.8 personally. When it comes to trying to prep your system for your time away, find a friend that will come feed your fish and is willing to learn enough about your system to know what to do when things go wrong. I left for three days and while I had a friend that was willing to feed the fish, he did not know what to do when all of a sudden my fish started to die. He removed the dead fish, but didn't know what to do. I had some leaves fall into my system and cause some ick to start spreading. (Also didn't help that my system was a little over stocked, figured my big warmouth would eat some of the smaller fish) If he would have known to take measurements and know to clean the system of all the fallen leaves, then the fish might not have died. (Might have been something that was entirely my fault, but I lost fish that were basically free so its not that big of a deal)

Anywho, if you were close to me I would volunteer to help, but I am not. My opinion is to find someone that you trust and try to teach him/her as much as you can. Maybe try to get someone that is interested in AP and ask them to help with your system when you're around and they should be able to take care of it for a week. Good friends seems to be the best solution in this case.

Hi! I'm new to aquaponics. I've lurked the forums for a while trying to find everything I needed to figure out my own system. I have a 4x4, 12 inch (suppose to be really, its only a little over half filled so far) deep grow bed. The tank holds up to 50 gallons but I think we have about 45 in it so that fish don't just jump out and die. Its been cycling for 3 weeks no problem. I started the cycle with fish food, swishing my neon tetra's filter in the tank for a good 5 minutes, fish emulsion and chelated iron for the plants. Waited three days and added goldfish. Ph was sitting in the 6.5 range. My big issue now is it has been raining for three days straight. The rain water goes in both the bed AND tank and its been overflowing for all three days (I keep taking a bit of water out but it just fills up and starts over flowing all over again. And today I lost two goldfish. Am I supposed to block rain from my grow bed? Did it mess up my cycle/do I need to cycle from scratch (there's two fish still alive). And once I was positive my tanks established, the biggest question which is my real and main reason for seeking advice- I want edible fish once my tank is ready. I'm in northern central fl. Apparently the ONLY place tilapia requires a permit in fl... what fish will work best while still being good to eat? I was thinking bluegill but I read a bit ago somewhere that some people go through issues trying to get bluegill to eat pellets?

Oh also I flood and drain my system. On for 10, takes 15 to flood, and then on again an hour later. I thiiiiink I covered everything! Thanks for reading my novel!

When it comes to rain, I would just watch for a change in pH. The rain we get here in east Orlando seems to have a pH around 6.0 (basically acid rain, but I wouldn't worry about it too much). I just add hydrated lime to help bring up the pH some. Going to get Potassium Hydroxide soon so I won't have too worry about my potassium precipitating out of my water. (Too much calcium causes potassium to precipitate out of solution and vise versa) Anyways, just make sure your system pH doesn't drop too much. You should be able to get hydrated lime at Ace Hardware. For Potassium Hydroxide, you have to buy online. You can also get shell grit and add it to your sump. That'll act as a buffer. Just do a search on buffering/raising pH in the forum and you should get plenty of information.

As for fish, bluegill will eat pellets. Might take them sometime to figure out that its food, but once they figure out that its food, they'll destroy it. Nice thing about bluegill is that you can just catch them out of a local lake. Granted that they'll probably be some sort of hybrid but they're basically free. Use a cast net like me or go fishing. I've found that if they are about 3-4 inches long, they tend to adjust better to the tank at first. If all you catch is larger ones, don't worry too much, just spend some extra time letting them adjust to the tank water. When it gets cold again (which should be October time frame, but with the weather we're having now, hell if I know anymore), just get an appropriate sized water heater and they'll be happier. Down side is they take about 2 years to grow to plate size.

As for your system cycling, let it be. Your system will cycle on just fine. With a low pH, your system might take a little longer to cycle, but just give it time. If you decide to go with bluegill, go get a couple and let them help you cycle. They can handle high ammonia and nitrites. Just add some salt for the nitrites (salt to 1ppt, using plain salt) and they'll be fine.

How's everyone's gardens holding up in the Florida heat? I feel like my plants are starting ot get scorched on these sunny afternoons. Looking to put up a inexpensive, yet sturdy shade structure. Anyone have any pictures of their's to share?

Wanted to check back to see how everyones gardening is going. Here are some pictures of the shade structure I built.

I have been researching my options for buying fish. I am apparently unable to own any type of tilapia in North Central FL(Nassau County) Any suggestions? I don't particularly enjoy eating catfish, so I'd rather not grow them;)

Check this site. m.myfwc.com/license/aquaculture-certificate/aquaponics/. Blue tilapia are permitted in most areas of the state including NE Fla. I don't know about Nassau county in particular. If tilapia are out of the question try bluegills. They are a native species and very tasty.

Anyone in the Cape Coral area that i can get a couple Blue tilapia from? My system is very small, and i am not finding anyone that can get me just a few, i cannot handle 100 fingerlings right now.