Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Comming along nicely

Ph 7.95
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 2.0
Nitrate 20.0
Temp 20.9ºC

Just about to add another growbed, full size IBC FT and another sump, photos to follow later on
should bring me up to about 2200ltrs

Todays water tests

Ph 8.1
Ammonia 0.0ppm
Nitite 5.0ppm
Nitrate 40ppm
Temp 20.9ºC

Ammonia down to 0, nitrite high, how long will it take to drop so i can feed and get some more ammonia?
Nitrate is going up steady so the nitrite is being converted

Todays tests a bit later than usual

Ph 8.4?
Ammonia 0.0-0.25 ppm( i gave a light feed this morning)
Nitrite 1.0 ppm
Nitrate 20-40 ppm
Temp 20.4ºC

Ph seems to rise later in the day, could it be the Algae?

I'm having something strange going on with the Ph, in the morning its low(ish) 7.5 and rises during the day to about 8.4 then down again overnight, i'm puting it down to algae as i don't have the GB's & ST's properly blacked out, thats todays job.

I had some sylage polythene sheet lying arround, its UV protected and cuts out 100% light, they use it in the sylage rolls to keep light out and heat in, i used it in reverse. The black is usually the outside that helps absorb the heat and the white side inside to reflect whats in and stop it escaping, helps activate the sylage process.

I want it to reflect the heat and also keep things dark so i used it in reverse. I'm amazed at its 100% effective at keeping out the light, i checked it with a 400w halogen lamp and you can't see nothing inside. Hopefully in a couple of days the algae bloom will go away

Water this morning

Ph 7.56
Ammonia 0.0-0.25ppm
Nitrite 1.0ppm
Nitrate 20-40ppm
temp 20.1ºC

dinner time ph 7.98

My DW lettuce experiment are just about ready to pluck
Not AP but slightly related. I planted these 27 days ago in a small tank with hydroponic nutrients in to a level the lettuce roots in netpots just touch the surface and nothing else. No air circulation nothing.

The way its supposed to work is as the lettuce grow they absorb the water and as the water level goes down the roots grow to keep pace while the air roots stay short, seems to work

Today i also added a spraybar to the sump, its the spare overflow that will eventually go to the 3rd GB when i get round to getting it online, i'm running CHIFT PIST with 2 sumps(soon to be 3 maybee) joined with a 90mm pipe. The 90mm pipe is always full and syphons in both directions depending on which sump is the fullest, its a pain to get it filled and must be 100% leakproof or it will fail, I found out the hard way as the pipe drained in about an hour due to a pinhole in the joint.

The reason for the multiple sumps is i intend to eventually keep trout in the FT as main nutrient sourse and some crayfish in one of the sumps and something else in the other sump, sumps being shallower they will be easier to catch hopefully. They also make use of the spare bits of cage after cutting the GB's from IBC's and keep them at a nice hight for working on.

Sup Derek!

Having my own little AP test system in Barcelona, indoor, not nearly as fancy as the one you got, tho =)

Expended clay is supposed to be inert, funny about the pH.

I am currently having some issues with Fungus Gnats, do you or anyone here know where to find Mosquito Dunks/briquetas ?

This is the type I am looking for:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Summit-BTI-Mosquito-Control-Briquettes-Dunks-20-/130288362506?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item1e55caa40a#shId

It has to be the bacillus thuringiensis israelensis version.

I recon you will have your system up and running in no time!

As far as I know, algae do not disturb the pH that much.
What kind of gravel do you use ?

In my system the pH have not stabilized yet, and it is pushing 3 months now.

Are you just looking for someone closer to you that sells them? The link you posted says he ships worldwide so I guess this would work as a last resort. If Amazon ships to Spain then that would be another option (I'm not sure where they will ship). There is another product called Gnatrol that you might look for as well.

Arbico-organics sells not only the mosquito bits but also has the predatory mites. Not sure if they ship across the pond though.
http://www.arbico-organics.com/product/quick-kill-mosquito-bits/1211108

As long as it comes from the States it will be very expensive. The shipping alone is around 20-30$.
I read a article that a university in Barcelona tested the bacteria that is in the mosquito dunks, on Tiger Mosquito and it was very effective, but I haven't been able to locate it for purchase.


Thanks Lynx! Will take a look!



Anybody from Spain here that knows what kind of stores sell Mosquito control ?
Will search high and wide on Monday, growshops, petshops, pharmacies, hiking stores etc.

Odd, mosquito dunks are sold in just about every hardware store, garden supply, nursery, and grocery store around here, then again this is FL where mosquito can be a problem year round.

Never heard of those before as yet i've had no problems with mosquitos in the tanks here so i haven't had call to look for them, any lavae would be eaten by the fish i suppose.

Also the ingredients may not be permited here, i would check before you order and have them confiscated on entry.

Add to the postage the IVA at another 21%, and then customs, works out expensive getting anything from outside Europe.

Ammonia forms an alkaline solution in water, which I suspect is why new systems become quite alkaline early on, when Ammonia is being produced but there are insufficient bacteria to convert it to Nitrite quickly. Perhaps your pH rise is due to an increase in NH3 after feeding? ... when are you feeding them, and have you tested for Ammonia throughout the day as pH rises and falls?

If pH is low in the early morning but high in the late afternoon, it could very well be due to algae. Overnight algae will use up dissolved oxygen and give off carbon dioxide which will act as an acid when dissolved in water and will lower the pH, during the day the algae will be giving off dissolved oxygen but using up dissolved carbon dioxide thus allowing the pH to be elevated.

Thanks TCLynx, i suspected something like that as it happens the same even without feeding, also since i am slowly eliminating algae cutting out the light the change has lessened somewhat.

Could also have been what Gunagulla mentioned had it been happening only when feeding but without feed for a few days it was changing also.