Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

sorry, ems, i thought you meant between two tube tests.

yeh, the nitrate test is VERY specific, part of the proceedure is shaing (bottle two i think) for about 1 minute before using, i think the solution is a suspended one.

DT, I was actually more worried about low nitrates. I think your fish will stop eating well before the plants complain about high nitrates.

Well my fish definitely have not stopped eating! I have the 5 in one test strips and I have to import them so I don't have the luxury of running to the store for another brand to compare. I don't test for ammonia since the system is an old one and like others I get a feeling for system status through smell. If the smell changes I do a test.

As of late, on a small growbed I have hooked up, I have filled it a couple of times during the day and then let it drain and turn it off. The plants seem to do better that way with less water.

Thanks for the input and keep it coming! We al benefit from good advice.

I have had the Big Tilapia with pop-eyes isolated for a while now in a tank with 15ppt salt.

Though the eyes have cleared up to where she can see to eat, the swelling has not receded. I feel confident the fish is feeling better or at least is much more active and there is lots of fish worms on the bottom of the tank.

Two more days and I have to be gone for a week so I think I will toss her in with the rest of the fish to see how she does.

The rest of the fish are doing fantastic, still mixed reviews on the plant life.

Well the pop eyed fish is ba ck in with the rest and she is doing fine. She swims and fights for the food and in general is doing well. The male her size seems to give her some grief but she seems to find her corner. I placed some cement blocks in the tank to provide shelter and she and others seem to be using them

I am still wanting to move all my grow beds into the sun..ALL my plants are getting to a certain height and then they just die. The only thing I can get to grow is philodendrons and some ferns and spider plants. All ornamentals that taste really bad.

Hopefully on the weekend I can make something happen. I am having a hard time justifying expenses if I can't get anything but fish to grow.

this is odd DT I don't know how to help

Is plant growth spindly and pale, then? Or are there other signs of problems?

You getting a lot of rain there DT right now. I know that is really effecting the growth in my sytem. As it is water changing all by its self.

DT:
If I were you I would put a sump on the roof, pump water up there a few times per day (more when it is sunny and hot), and have a smaller pump to circulate the water throughout the grow beds on the roof. Have the water in the roof sump overflow down to the fish when water is added from down below. Run the pump that goes to the roof on a timer a few times per day. Keep some kind of gravel bed down below to gather solids so they don't clog the pipe to the roof and to work as a biofilter to remove ammonia and nitrites more often than the nitrate removal on the roof. Maybe you could collect the solids and hand carry them to the roof beds once per week. This is a setup like what I would like to do; fish in the basement and greenhouse in the back yard.

Janet, my plants look spindly and pale after starting nice green and vigorous. They get to a certain point and then the leaves yellow then brown. When I pull them up, the roots are not mushy but they are brown like the quit developing....no new growth.

I am about to give up on the idea of pumping from the ground up to the roof because of the cost. Any pump that will pump that high(5 meters) consumes about 380 watts. If I figure right, that is 3700 Kwh per year @ $0.175 US per KWH. Comes out to nearly $53.00 US per month. No way I can produce that much vegetation or fish to offset the cost, even for a hobby.

I have to look for a better way, either put a tank on the roof, (weight is a concern) or find a place in the yard ( I have 64 sq meters that get 8hours sun a day) I can put my growbeds.

The other option is to quit. I haven't gotten there yet, but something has to get better.

Hey DT:
It doesn't have to be on but for a few minutes per day; it doesn't have to be on all the time. If your ammonia and nitrites are handled by a biofilter near the tank then the nitrate removal (water exchange between the roof and the tank) can be on a more leisurely schedule.

It would be like hiring a guy to carry say 50 gallons in buckets up to the roof, and carry 50 gallons back down from the roof to the fish tank every day to keep the nitrates down.

I like that Dave.....That is a real good option.

You need sunlight DT.... plain and simple. You said the shade plants grow there fine. What is the ambient temperature at the growbeds? It might be too cold also, but sunlight will fix all that. Maybe put the growbeds on the roof?