Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Les,
Hmmmm....things that go into the tank: tap water (7.4 pH), fish food, chelated iron, de-chlorinator and another micronutrient supplement. I guess there's a chance that the other micronutrient supplement is pulling the pH down. I haven't used much, and I would have expected that to have close to a neutral pH. Regardless, I will cease putting micronutrients into the system until I have the pH back up. I think my lack of micronutrients is really low pH. I know that various nutrients get locked up if the pH gets too low.

btw, I changed out about 40 liters of water last night, and the pH came up to 6.4. It was still 6.4 this morning. So I take that to mean that I wasn't seriously below 6.0, since 40 liters is only about a 7% change in the water volume.

Interesting that the coral couldn't keep the pH up...

Janet,
System doing any better? I don't have any sage advice, just curious.
Kevin

Hi Kevin, Thanks for asking.
I received the Calcium Hydroxide (aka Pickling Lime, it turns out) a few days ago. As used in marine aquariums, you mix a teaspoon of the stuff into a gallon of water, and then drip it into your aquarium. At this point, I have added about 1.5 gallons (or 1.5 teaspoons, depending on what you measure here), and the pH is steady at 6.4. That's actually good news; it didn't drop back down to 6.0 as it would have a few days after the water change. I have been adding a cup or two of the "kalkwasser" several times a day. I just pour it into the stand pipes of the grow beds, and let it dilute there before it goes into the fish tank when the bed dumps. The stuff is akin to lye, so you have to be really careful.

...And I decided to make pickles with the Calcium Hydroxide, too. It adds a nice crunch and some calcium to the pickles. Again, you have to be really careful to rinse the lime-soaked cukes really well before pickling, or the lime neutralizes the vinegar, and you end up with non-acidic pickles. Not so good on the botulism front. Fortunately, I have my nifty aquarium pH test kits, and can see when I've worked all the lime out. I'm processing diced tomatoes right now while the cukes finish soaking. Busy busy with summer's harvest!!

I have been real busy with tomatoes also Janet. Made 10 quarts of salsa so far. Still have lots of sauces to make. Have not had enough small cukes on the vine to do up some pickles however. But the cukes I have picked are averaging around a pound and taste delicious in vinegar and onions.

I have had the pH at 7.0 and steady for the last couple days. I kept adding the calcium hydroxide a tiny bit at a time, and the pH wasn't moving. I finally got annoyed and added a double-handful of sodium bicarbonate (I'm trusting ya, Steve) along with it, and ta da, the pH went up to 7.0 overnight. I didn't mean to move it that fast, but well, here we are. The tilapia weren't phased in the least, so now I just have to monitor it and hold it steady. (#$%@ lazy crushed coral--not doing its job!) I've also been watching the ammonia levels, and they are now down at 0, as is nitrite. My theory is that if I hold the pH steady, I should be able to attain my previous feeding level of 12 tablespoons (60g) of feed per day instead of the 6-8 tablespoons (30-40g) that I am feeding now. That will mean bigger fishies faster, and my hungry 7-year-old will get fresh tilapia sooner. ("Mommy, can we eat more of your fishies yet? Pleeeease???")

Plants are also doing well. I have some pea shoots ready to use. Maybe dinner tonight. It's time to pull out my tired basil and re-plant. I ordered some more basil, bok choi, dill, wild tomato and goodness-knows what other seeds. The place I order from supplies greenhouses and farmers as well as home gardeners. I can get semi-bulk orders quite cheaply. For example, I got 5000 basil seeds (I'm sure they hand-count them) for a little over the price of 2 packets of 100 seeds each. (Think I have enough basil seeds?)

that's so great your kids have develop a taste for fresh fish, i new it would not take long tho.

that place where you get seed from, is it a web site? would they ship to California? thank you so much for the up date.

-mikey

Janet,
If the product is basically pickling lime, pick up a sack of it when your at the grocery store. (They ought to have it back with the canning and preserving supplies. It ought to be a lot cheaper, especially if the formulation is the same. If it has something a bit suspicious to you, or it isn't as high a formulation as what you have been buying either pass on it, or just use it for making pickles.)
I was going to get me a tank this week, but due to finances I might have to wait a bit longer. (I had a tire on the car lose part of the tread. I put about 120 miles on it every day, 6-7 days a week. Even though the manufacturer charges about $150 per tire, they only put a 35K mile warranty on it. This is the second set I've had to buy and they always fail around 40K.) I hope the farm store keeps the sale on for awhile. Sometimes thier sales last a month, and other times it is only for one week. Have to look at the ad again.
Kevin

DF, The place I get a lot of my seeds is Johnny's. I'm sure they would ship most of their stuff to CA. http://www.johnnyseeds.com/home.aspx?ct=HG

Kevin, It's most definitely pickling lime. I just didn't realize that until after I had bought it as "kalkwasser". It wasn't that expensive anyway. The small amount I got should last me for years at the rate I use it.

Man, you gotta do some math and find the lowest "cost per mile" for all that driving. My husband is in charge of tire selection, and I think he goes for good ones, but honestly, as far as I know, tires are round and black. Don't you just hate it when life throws those curveballs?

janet, have you measured your KH GH lately? Did we ever come toa conclusion as to wether the CaCO3 stopped working well at very high Hardness?

Hi Steve,
The only way I had to measure hardness was to use the strip tests. When I ran out of strips, I switched over to drop tests, but the Master Kit doesn't have a hardness test. Last I tested the water, it was very hard, but had very little buffering.

So I went to feed the fish this morning, and the water was cloudy and the usual enthusiasm for breakfast didn't manifest. Uh oh. Long story short, I had put a bowl of coral in the fish tank to try to raise pH, and the fish scattered it. A few small pieces got into the pump and jammed it. Over night, ammonia went to 1.0. Ick! I got the pump unjammed this morning, and am hopeful that ammonia will drop quickly. When the water clears enough for me to see to the bottom, I will have to gather up any remaining pieces of coral. Fun fun.

Good ye caught it, I have found that when I change something thats the time to keep my eyes open for Murphy to hit.
Are you adding or planning to add any thing to get your Tom production up?

Hi GotFish,
Right now I am going to work on keeping the pH steady. With the pH at 7.0 instead of under 6.0, the nutrients I have should be more available.

murphy strikes again. How ironic! A ammonia spike would have been more welcome at PH6, but no, it happens just after you raise the PH LOL

That occured to me, too, Steve. It figures. I'm re-tuning the fill rates again this morning to make sure I get the best flow through them. Ammonia is still at 1.0, but the clarity is improving.