Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looking good brother :up:

I need to figure out that youtube thing

If you have gmail with your phone you are already linked up. Just set up your account and the drop down menu allows to share with photobucket, youtube or whatever.

We have head....finally!

I rescued a poppy that was dying and half price.


Just a shot of the cone and gerbers....keeps the lady happy and involved in my obsession.

well im definately going to need to space out my broccoli ALOT more, thanks for the pics and video, nicely setup system.

Yes they can grow to over a meter in diameter. I put way too many in the GB's and they took over. It was a learning experience with the right temps for sure.

You might want to pull the head in the last pic and eat it soon, it looks bolty.

That's what I was thinking. I was waiting to see it the color would change from bright green to more blueish and less compact but they started opening up. It was Emerald Giant Hyb and indeed got big. I chose it because it was quickest (52 days) to maturity in order to beat the heat. We just don't have a long enough spring here to grow broccoli. They are definitely a light/nutrient thieves. Once they started heading my tomatoes showed signs of K deficiency.

This was after trimming 25% of the big leaves.

I effed up! I skipped a couple HCL top up treatments for a couple weeks and made a batch yesterday. I put it in the the GB via the GG's today. 30 min later I go to check and there is foam on top of FT and 22 bluegill floating. A few were still kicking. I guess the ph finally dropped out on me after a year running the system(except for 2.5 months of winter). I have treated top up water just to get it down to 8 or high 7's. Maybe I should measure the HCL even though I haven't for months.


Guess were having blackened BG burritos and salad for diner.

Glad you got to them quick enough you could still fillet them. Whatever was buffering your water probably got used up. Pretty steep pH drop after that usually. It's either that or the HCl batch was to concentrated. Any fish left Rairdog?

No fish left. I found a lot of limestone mixed in with the shale when I re-worked the beds and have been pulling them out. My tap water is over 8.4 and the system transpires sometimes 10% a day when it's hot out so it's a constant battle. I probably just screwed up and made it to concentrated like you say. I did a 30% WC, checked ph and it was 6.6. Think I'll have a beer with dinner and let it balance out. Ph should balance out tomorrow and give an idea which way to go. I'm hoping it did drop out and my well water will keep it in check with top ups until cool weather.

why o why!!!
Thats a real shame. I hope you can get some more fish soon.

Would it have been the sudden change that killed them? I had an experience going to other way in PH

More than likely it was the sudden pH change. Rupe posted a while back that the pH change shouldn't be more than 0.4 points when you do a pH adjustment. Different fish will respond differently and I don't remember which ones he was talking about at the time or whether it was a general comment.

Ya, ph swing and warm water. PH is back up to 8 already. Fish are just a few minutes down the road and an hour of fishing! Look at the bright side!


AP lettuce and chard. AP bluegill sauted in butter with lemon pepper and season salt. AP green peppers and onion. Chile tomatoes from a can , cheese and a beer.

My toms arteries are clogged and the the water is sent to the tips of the leaves instead of normal transpiration. They are the only plants in the system that do this. It's raining and the humidity won't allow evaporation. The toms are in the GH perfectly dry but that is the best answer I can come up with.

Now that I'm bouncing the ph and all the fish are dead it is a good time to pour HCL into the GG as and experiment. Do not try this at home lol. If you look back to my videos and picks of leafy greens you will see the plants are healthy, shiny and green. I quit the HCL regiment and fruiting plants went downhill. Leafy greens have been pulled due to bolting and it's time for the summer crops to kick. No one knows my ph or your ph and whether it has been tampered with by the water company or you well water is just plain high in carbonates. Next is how big your plants/system is and how much of that mystery water are you putting back in. Every system is different as are the inputs.