Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I am becoming increasingly frustrated with my first attempt at a successful aquaponics system. Google is failing me and I am out of ideas so I thought I'd try a forum. As this appears to be the most active forum I can find, here I am! If there is a prev thread or somewhere else I should direct this inquiry, please let me know. I imagine this isn't the simplest of inquiries.

I may be missing some things as this is my introduction to what I hope will be a lifetime hobby, but all I've been attempting to do so far is start a 10 gallon tank with a ph level of 7.0. After doing some research, this is what I found to be optimal for the fish and plants. I plan on using goldfish and growing a few herbs and possibly a leafy green.

I got an old 10 gal. tank from a friend, gravel and some fake plants, an air pump with air stone, and the API dropper ph test kit with a range of 6.0 to 7.6. I washed the tank, rinsed everything thoroughly before adding, filled it with tap water, and let the air pump go for a couple weeks before testing the ph. It has only ever shown blue which tells me it could be 7.6 or greater. I got a ph reducer from a pet store and have treated the water several times over the past week, using probably more ph reducer than recommended and I still get 7.6<. I've seen good reviews of the API test kit so I don't think it's defective or anything, so I am wondering if I need to go about reducing the ph another way. Also I know I bought it from a pet store but I just don't feel good about pouring things in my tank that I don't know what they really are. Do I have to pay attention to ammonia and nitrite/nitrate levels at this point? Do those affect ph at all? I figured ph was the first thing to dial in but maybe I'm wrong.

So at this point I haven't added any fish and my tank has been cycling with the air pump for about a month. It is on a window sill with a shade, so I can control the sunlight. I usually have the shade down, but picked this spot so there will be light for the plants when I am able to add them.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why I haven't been able to reach a neutral ph level? What is my best option to try and reach and maintain a 7.0 ph level?

I've tried to add as many pertinent details as I can think of, but please let me know if you need more info! Thanks in advance anyone who may be able to help!

First of all, welcome to the forum :-)

I presume MN is one of the United States? Wont hold that against you!

First thing I'd be doing is grabbing a handful of that gravel, putting it in a glass and pouring some vineager on it. If it fizzes up then it's not an inert gravel and it's affecting your pH

Wouldn't hurt to ask your pet store what their pH normally is as well. Could be that the water in your area has a naturally high pH

Luckily for you goldfish are tough little bastards and probably wont give a damn

Have fun on your AP journey

yeah, test your source ph. Do you have a rain barrel of sort. I noticed my rain water was lower than 7 and you may can water change it in.

Al of the above and
Once you put the fish in, it will naturally acidify in time and pH will drop

> I got a ph reducer from a pet store and have treated the water several times over the past week, using probably more ph reducer than recommended and I still get 7.6<. I've seen good reviews of the API test kit so I don't think it's defective or anything, so I am wondering if I need to go about reducing the ph another way.

should not really use pH reducer or similar aquarium products in food based systems (check the label for the active ingredients as brands vary). It may be that your domestic water system has/uses chloramines, your local aquarium shop will probably know (if case search here for various options - lots of threads on the topic). You don't need to buy anything from them to treat it.

The food safe way to reduce pH is to bring it down with hydrochloric acid (muriatic acid).
The residual products are safe (basically chloride product and hydrogen).
Any pure hydrochloric acid is fine (many hardware stores carry it) - just be careful when handling, wear gloves etc and perhaps best to use eye protection, wear long sleeves etc.

Add some acid, leave and test - you need to work out how much acid is ideal.
Never add the acid direct to the tank. Always treat your top up water away from the fish.

It is not dangerous - just requires a bit of care when pouring the acid.