Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,

I have a new system in Berkeley. I've got a single flood drain bed on a cut and flip IBC. I struggled a bit getting the water temp up and cycling in January/Feb, but things have warmed up a bit. I've got a pallet wood frame around GB and FT. I painted the south side of the system with a dark color to help warm it up a bit. The location is bit bad to get full sun. The system is in the shade after about 3pm.

I started with 5 feeder goldfish, now I have 4 small koi (same size as Goldfish), 5 minnows, and recently added couple of Singapore shrimp to help filter feed on solid fish waste and uneaten fish food.

So far, I've not lost any fish. I've inoculated the system with a sponge filter from a local reputable fish shop and one bottle of stinky bacteria lift added a cap a day...

I have about 120 gallons in the system. Flood is ~4.5 mins and drain is about 1.5 mins.

Plants seem happy so far... kale, strawberries, went in first. Now I've added shelling peas, lettuce, a couple of radishes. Growing lettuce from seed and will also start lemon cucumbers in rock wool to add as the lettuce and kale will hopefully be ready in a month or so...

I keep bees and they seem to appreciate the Hydroton near the fill nozzle in the grow bed as a water source. I've been pretty lax about water testing. Things were moving very slowly due to cool temps. I put in a tank heater a couple of weeks ago and it's also warmed up lately. The fish are more active and are eating well... water temp currently 62 to 66 degrees F.

A little update: Tested water yesterday and I've got no ammonia, no detectable nitrates/nitrites. Basically nothing much going on to indicate the bacteria are getting established. Plants are growing, but a couple are showing yellowing leaves that look like magnesium deficiency. I dosed with 400mg of magnesium oxide from nutritional supplement tablets. Was that a mistake? It's what I had... I got some epsom salts last night and added one tablespoon today.

I've been reading Mr Damage's mineral/nutrient practices. I was considering adding one capful of fish emulsion as a supplement for the plants and possibly to add some ammonia. I searched and found caution should be taken... but would a small amount be safe/ beneficial? Like a tablespoon?

Also, I've been trying not to fiddle with pH as I read it will stabilize eventually, but when I last tested it was on the high side. I considered getting some pH down, or using a little lemon juice since my lemon tree is going nuts. I know that is hard on the fish.

Measured pH and it's up around 8. Going out for pH down. Ordered Maxicrop plus Iron. This feels a little like talking to myself.

Go easy with the pH down, you'll find in no time that you'll be battling to keep the pH up a bit.

Next question: I was wondering about reducing the electricity usage. I have a wifi programable time that allows comlex programs. My fill/drain cylce is about 6 mins total I have a solar powered (with battery) aerator in the FT. Was thinking 20 mins on/20 off?

Hiya OnGlide, no, you're not talking to yourself, thing is you're doing so well! You've not lost a fish!
As EB says, go easy with the chemicals. Here in Oz we have a seaweed product called seasol which we add to the system which adds trace elements, I can't recall what your equivalent is perhaps someone can help me out?
Most of the nutrients in the system come from the fish food and some feed is made to keep the nitrates down.
As for lowering electricity usage it's a catch 22 situation, rule of thumb is to turn the ft water over every hour so whether you do it in an hour or 20 mins it'll probably use the same power.
Oh by the way, we like photos.

Hi... I know everyone likes pictures. Haven't had time to lookup how to post them here yet. I finally got some Maxicrop which seems similar to Seasol. My Strawberr plants are pretty hello but lettuces, watercress, peppers, peas and a master tomato plant all seem pretty happy. At this point I have to clean the filter on the pump at least once a week or the flow drops to where it won't siphon out the grow bed. Way before I got the setup running I bought a Tetra Pond Submersible filter. Does anyone use these in their system to manage fish solids? My thought was that it would hold the solids, keeping nutrients in the system and require less frequent cleaning. I've read about swirl filters but I'm trying to keep the system as simple as I can for the first year.

Here's a link to the filter
https://www.amazon.com/TetraPond-Submer ... B0024EFYU6

if it's one of those sponge filters inside the plastic cage of the pump you can remove the sponge, the soft bits of algae getting through the cage will not upset the pump.

Couple of posts about posting pics up near the top of the page here.. viewforum.php?f=4

I'm a fish killer...

At this point I've added a few more fish since my water tests weren't showing any nitrite/nitrate/ammonia. Have about 10 goldfish, 5 minnows, 4 koi (largest are 6-7 inches), 1 small plecostumus, 1 channel cat fingerling, 2 singapore shrimp. I also started feeding 3X a day. Not overfeeding, but more frequent. Everything seemed to be going fine, the fish were getting bigger. As far as nutrient supplements for the plants I'd added a 2 tablespoons of epsom salt every couple of weeks. I bought the wrong kind of chelated iron and turned my water the color of bad merlot. I used almost 2 ounces, probably way too much. The fish seemed to still be ok for maybe 3 weeks. I did a 50% water swap about a week ago to try and improve the water clarity. It didn't work... still pretty opaque. Yesterday I found two medium goldfish floating yesterday and since the water clarity was so bad I did a major water swap and found a 3rd dead goldfish that was half eaten. I ended up swapping out 80% yesterday. I treated a 5 gallon bucket with an aquarium product called Prime to neutralize chlorine and used tap water. Today I found another dead goldfish. They've all been about the same size and didn't have obvious signs of disease like ulcers or fin rot. I tested the water just now... no ammonia, no nitrite, pH is 6.4. My plants seem pretty happy. Letttuce, tomatoes, lemon cucumbers, 2 little pepper plants, and my strawberries are looking better after some yellowing and being cut back.

My leading suspicion is that the chelated iron might have killed them, but it didn't for quite a while. The water is still red, a few shades lighter though.

Anyone have any ideas?

Howdy OnGlide, sorry about the fish losses. This is one of the hardest situations fish-keepers find our selves in and not made any easier because we're indeed responsible for our livestock. I wouldn't put chelated iron on top of the list as a fish killer though. The proper chelated iron (EDDHA) turns the water red for a few weeks. Mine was so dark after adding Fe I couldn't see a single one of our 100 Brook trout in our 2600 gallon fish tank for maybe a month.

Adding new fish to an established system without quarantining them for four to five weeks first is the most common cause of disease and fish deaths. Adding sick fish may not have been the culprit, but it creates a gray area making it difficult to troubleshoot the deaths.
Do you know which species died first, goldfish or Koi or minnows? Goldfish are pretty resilient to poor water conditions.
Do you have an air bubbler in the FT? What was the temperature on the FT water?
Brian

Hi,
Sorry for the slow response, was traveling for work. The dead fish are goldfish and koi. The Iron I use us labelled FeDDHA. For O2, I have a split on the pump, so there is constant bubbling from that, the drain from the flood/drain (which intersects the previous flow) and a small solar powered pump that runs to a sponge filter. Your comment has me headed to the fish shop to pick up a second pump. I would hate to think that's it, but it could be. All the dead fish appear healthy, but your point about quarantine is well taken. I haven't been doing that but will start.