Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hiya Nac, neat system well done.
Have you added seasol to your system for nutrients?
What fish food are you using?
You might want to try the low range pH test also.

Hey Skeggley,

Appreciate the cudos,

I added a dash of seasol a few weeks back but haven't since. I was just going to monitor plants and add it if they start suffering. Do you have other idea's on this?

Currently using fish flakes, there are some images earlier in this thread. It contains 32% crude protein.

Low pH is now registering at 7.2. I've been adding hydrochloric acid to the top up water plus a bit of rain water has helped.

I had a quick look at your thread mate and I recognize that dirt. You can't be too far away from me

On another note the brown biofilm that I nuked from the FT's a while back has been replaced with green biofilm. See pic attached.



I have also caught an intruder near the grow beds. I thought I was a leech due to its colour then remembered I'm about as close to the tropics as Perth is to solving its traffic problems. Turns out its a slug. Anyone seen one this colour before?

Occasionally see something like these in my locale. Also get ones that are mostly black with racing stripes and banana slugs which are the worst.

I only like the flat slugs...
A capful of seasol weekly has often been recommended for plant health on this forum. Are you only planning to grow goldies in the ft? If so more couldn't hurt. I have read that gf flakes are developed to minimise ammonia output for aquariums, please correct me if I'm wrong anyone.

you might not need that much seasol,, i'f only used maxicrop when the plants were showing a deficiency.. i probably used a cap ful every 3 to 4 weeks in the beginning of my first system
but switching to a more complete feed would be the most helpful..

Goldies are the go until the system is settled and they are free from a mates pond

Interesting fact about the flakes, do you know of a good alternative? The Flakes tin mentions that goldies can't handle high protein. I don't know if that's true or not



Hi Keith, thanks for the tip, I think the food is the first alteration I'll try, and I'll save the seasol for a back up.

Cold this morning.

Overnight min was 2°C, water temp down to 7.5°C. Hand went numb doing the water tests

Water tests show no sign of movement. pH at 7.2. Gunna have to get off my bum and source different food.



Fish are noticeably less hungry and sluggish this week, possibly due to water temp

Plants are still going well though not much size gain. Limited hours in direct sunlight won't be helping.

Well I have the new food now. The fish took a few days to get used to it but all is go now.



They are not eating as much as previous weeks because they have developed a great liking for the biofilm on the walls of the FT.

The tests are still reading 0 and pH is 7.2.



I did add a capful of seasol to the system last Sunday contrary to my previous statements. Curiosity got me. The plants didn't rocket away like I imagined but with limited sunlight only so much can happen I guess.

I have also modified one of my drains to collect water from the bottom of the tank as the fill is from the top. This was a tip from my mate in the aquaculture game. It's meant to create better cycling of the water and reduce stratification. It looks cool too . . apparently .



The order is placed for more fish too so watch this space.

GB pics on next post.

The plants are still going OK.

Hiya mate, you've added a SLO to the tank. It'll take a while for the minerals to build in the system so don't expect a growth explosion for a while, I'm still waiting myself... Adding seasol doesn't add ammonia so is safe to use frequently if desired it does tint the water. You could add more plants to the gb's too as I've found some of the original plants were stunted and didn't perform, you can plant densely and thin later. Plus while you are waiting for the plants to grow you can be planning your expansion.

Hey Skeg,

Mate, I love a good acronym. A SLO has been added eh... ( what could that mean? )

- Silly Looking Object
- Super Low Outlet
- Space-age Liquid Obtaining something something dark-side.

OK I cheated and looked up the definitions page. Solids Lifting Overflow

Yep that's what I added if that's what you call it. I did notice some crud travelling up it when I stirred up the water whilst moving the fish hide.

I appreciate the tip on the seasol mate although I'm tyring really hard to resist the urge to tinker, as was advised by others thread contributors much more knowledgeable than I.

Tinker with a green thumb - grow a green thumb form experience - gain experience from research and trial and error - eliminate mistakes by asking forum members

Nicely said Jay. I might get that as a tattoo one day .

Water quality is looking great, Al. Yea, it will be slow going through winter, especially if you dont have a good amount of sunlight and warmth during the day. Go mad with the seasol if you like, its harmless, my son tipped a whole litre in my FT once, took a couple of weeks to clear the brown colour but didnt seem to hurt anything, smelt like the beach in our backyard for a while though lol. Good find with the fish food too.

Ha ha wow. Did any seagulls show up?

Thanks for the clarification.