Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Date-----------pH----------Amm----Nitrate---Nitrite---Temp (C)
16/05----------7.0----------0.25------0----------0----------12.5
23/05----------7.6----------1----------0----------0----------12.5
01/06----------7.6----------3----------0----------0----------15.0
06/06----------7.6----------2----------0.5--------5----------12.0
13/06----------7.5----------1----------5----------20---------11.0
20/06----------7.6----------1----------2----------40---------11.0

Guess I'll use a table next time

thats heaps better

Bugger about my dislexia
I see nitrite is come up, ammo is going down.
nitrate is going down...
There is activity in the test results.
I think you are in the process of 'cycling'.
Nitrate going down could suggest you have missed an earlier nitrate spike
and now going thru nitrite spike another time.
A week between tests is no real score test

Does that mean I could salt the system (say 2ppt???) and not have to dump much water? I don't mind dumping the water, but haven't yet as haven't been able to contact the fish minder(*) to ask him to do it.

(* aka father-in-law - over the years my in-laws have ended up looking after a lot of pets. Never 100 at a time though. 100 and counting (down))

damn,

think i'm the one who needs to worry about dyslexia. Switch "Nitrite" and "Nitrate". So nitrite is 2 and nitrate 40

Your dislexia and my bad recall..
Duh I didn't even notice the scores were way out
Well still nitrate high should be stripped by the GB's pretty quick if there is good growth...
and it sounds like there is.
See if you can do a few tests over the weekend.
Be as accurate as possible.

thanks C1. Yeah, I don't know why I switched the "i" and "a", but I did at least have the columns in the logical order.

So, do i need to (have the fish minder) do anything other than monitor closely for the moment? There are plenty of small plants growing well. After replacing much more of the dark roofing 2 weeks ago, a lot of the seedlings grew new, darker leaves and seemed to drop a few older paler ones from the lower-light regime.

Monitor levels, and check in here if anything radical happens...
There is a new moon on the 23rd ( afew days) shortest day 22nd june
I expect a bit of gowth in the frame of plants coming in to longer daylight.
But it is too cold to expect things to grow much in the next 4 weeks.

Another 3 have died today. Didn't see them for myself (working), but one death was witnessed - swam on its side for a bit seeming to gasp, then croaked. After yesterday's readings - with a drop in nitrite and increase nitrate, decided just to wait and see. Now definitely going to replace some water and salt a little.

Could oxygen be an issue - given that trout need a lot? There are two aerators and hourly cycling. Is there anyhting else to do to increase O2?

Oxygen depravation could be the problem due to the high levels of Nitrite. Sounds like you have enough air happening. I recon if you get some salt in there it should fix the problem.

and no need to change water? Actually the water is probably being drained as I type this. Any thoughts on how O2 rich the RW tank water would be? most of it has pretty much been sitting in the tanks for years accumulating flavour from the leaf litter on the roof. The occasional home brew that gets made tastes pretty good.

To answer Faye's earlier question - there has been no sign of damage to the dead fish.

Add some salt, and your problems will magically go away. You can actually see the fish stop struggling as the salt dissolves.

Date-----------pH----------Amm----Nitrite---Nitrate---Temp (C)
16/05----------7.0----------0.25------0----------0----------12.5
23/05----------7.6----------1----------0----------0----------12.5
01/06----------7.6----------3----------0----------0----------15.0
06/06----------7.6----------2----------0.5--------5----------12.0
13/06----------7.5----------1----------5----------20---------11.0
20/06----------7.6----------1----------2----------40---------11.0
21/06----------7.5---------0.25--------3--------100---------???

in this weather need some grow lights out there to get the plants going on that nitrate

recent figures

Date-----------pH----------Amm----------Nitrite---Nitrate---Temp (C)
*****---------7.5----------0.0-------------0.0----------40-------?? ***Pretty much all of Jul until around 15 Aug

15ish/08: Feed stepped up to 12 tbsp / day for around 80 surviving fish

19/08----------7.5------0.125ish-0.25----0.25--------40------?? - around 12

Except for 3 slow coaches in the sump tank, the fish are all vigorous and growing. No deaths for ages. Seem very hungry. The longest are around 20cm (guess). I would like to increase feed more, but am wary of the slight increase in levels. Plants have been growing okay, though not as vigorously as I'd have liked (except for the peas). I have put this down to temperature until now. There is a fair bit of dark algae/scum on the sides and base of the fish tank. Fish look healthy except that dorsal fins appear milky on most of them (have done for a long time, actually).

Although the pH colour reading does appear to be short of 7.6, I will do a high range test soon. What is the best product to use to lower ph a little?

Should I wait for ammonia and nitrite readings to return to 0 before increasing feed? I wonder how big these trout are going to get before its time for the barra...