Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I've used it (diff brand) in between fish but now use seasol and iron chelate. Its fine and great for growth if the vegies are slowing down.

Sorry ! A bit sleep deprived!!!
Meant to say Seasol not Charlie carp.

Very sorry!

Thanks guys
I understand it takes time (patients not my strongest suit), & am adding iron chelates monthly. I was more concerned about the constant ammonia reading for the past couple of weeks, previously it was always 0.

As long as it doesn't go above .25 you will be OK. My system has always had a small trace of ammonia. As the fish grow the ammonia load will increase and it will take time or the bacteria to catch-up.

Your doing the right thing by monitoring and adjusting the food to allow the bacteria to catch-up.

Just keep doing what you are doing.

Thanks Decal
Nice to get some reassurance that i'm on the right track.
Don't worry the sleep deprivation only lasts for the first few YEARS.

Todd

Thanks Todd for the reassurance nice to know we are on the right track!

Hi toddscat, how is your system going?

Hi Jorgy

The SP system is ticking away nicely. Fish seem ok, they're not growing much at he moment with the dropping temps (not something you have to deal with). The fish are probably about 100mm now. Vege growth hasn't been all that flash but probably has more to do with what was planted & location of the grow bed, PH is still around the 8 mark which could also be the problem. Tomatos went in late but i have managed to harvest some. Have recently planted beetroot, pakchoy, some iceberg. cos & rocket which all seem to be going ok.
I have got the trout system up & running with the blue rectangular tank & grow bed. I used gravel for the media in this system & the PH is around the 7 mark. It has 30 rainbow trout in it between 150 & 200mm long. they are a lot more fun to feed than the silvers ( kids love feeding them). The growth in the grow bed is coming along well too. At the moment the trout system is CHIFT PIST with an ibc sump in ground & the grow bed sitting on the ground & FT in the shed. I am in the process of building a support & will be raising the grow bed & having it drain directly back to the FT. Having the grow bed at a more manageable height will be much easier.

Todd

Thanks for the update Todd, there's something nice about having the fish tank in the shed, although i couldn't bring myself to cutting a hole in the wall like you did.

Cheers JORGY

pics please

Pics Red beard

just did a water test on the trout system.

Ammonia 0.5 (is nearly always 0.25)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 80 ppm
pH 6.4 (pH has usually been steady at 7.2)

Should i try to bring the pH up a little with some shell grit or just leave it alone.
Would Ammonia levels be up due to feeding earlier this morning.

6.4 in ok

Hiya..

on both of your system are you running Constant flow or timed Flow..?


Juergen

The SP system (byap) is timed flood & drain 15min on 30 off & the trout system is constant flood at the moment only because i have a low flow pump. Have just bought a laguna 7500 pump (OBO's recommendation) & will be converting to timed flood & drain when it arrives (apparently today).

Have also put 2 gold fish in the sump to control mosquito's