Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

You could use a "little" urea... to generate some ammonia>nitrates

thanks rupert good idea thanks

A "little" ... is a "little" Mal.... add a bit... wait a half a day, or day.... and test......

If ammonia elevated.... wait for the spike to pass before adding any more...

oh come on rupert i have had a couple of HSM since i set up this system
including pumping the system nearly dry because i pipe came loose

yeah i figured that a teaspoon to a tablespoon would have been a good place to start
thanks rupert

i forgot to mention that i tested the water yesterday and i got
ph 6.6
ammonia 0 to 0.25
nitrite and nitrate 0
water temp 18 degrees c

and the tank needs topping up so the ph will be higher again next time i test it ( tap water 8.5 or higher )

and on monday and tuesday i was empting the tank of 20ltrs or more because it has been raining and the water level has been rising because the grow beds are not covered and the tank only partly covered

just 1 more think to keep an eye on

Hi Everyone

i have added a small change to my nft stormwater pipe to help a little with adding O2 to the water as i dont have any airstones in my system and i would like to keep it that way

the extra pipe now runs straight down and the water now creates bubbles as it enters the the tube ..
hopefully this raises the DO levels in the tank a little

ok removed the tomatoes from my system about a week ago and i added 20 more goldfish ( cheaper than before ) on saturday

and the resulting water test 2 nights later is in the photo

not sure how to take it .... i read it as
ammonia 0.125
nitrite 0
nitrate 5
ph 6.0 ( i will add some more shell grit into the system as this is lower than i would like it )

but does this mean that because i was pushingthe system when i had hot weather that i now dont need to worry to much about the last 20 goldfish i added and i havent lowered the feed either was thinking that i was in for a hsm when i did the water test tonight

i guess i will just do the test tomorrow and see what i get

You probably cycled through the hot weather as you suggest Mal...

So even with the addition of extra fish/load... any spike should be short lived, and the bacteria should expand rapidly to cope...

P.S... where did you get your "goldies" and how much... with the lose of some of my yabbies I need to boost the small AP system

Hi Rupe
i got uncoloured goldies from south nowra at the pet wherehouse for 1.95 each was better than the 3.50 i paid for the others i have ( makes it sound expensive comepared with some of the fingerlings you get ) but then they are about 5 or 6cm in length
good luck with finding some more fish for your system

Just a quick update

the ph has bounced back to 7.6
and the plants are growing much better with a nitrate level of 5 to 10

new fish are hard to see and they seem to be doing fine

should have the celery ready soon and some more chillies too

Just a quick update

system test on sunday was 000 and ph 7.6 and plant growth is starting to slow down a bit
might be from the cooling of the weather a bit today and the tank still is 18 to 21 degrees
but im thinking that is because of the low nitrate levels too

fish are growing well .. i have lost a couple of the newer ones from what i thinking is bullying from the bigger ones

i will have to add some urea and some more maxicrop too to kick the plants along

I'd just go the Maxicrop first Mal....

If you really think you need the urea... add it seperately... and go lightly....

Hey Rupert
yeah i will add alittle at a time with the urea

just a wee bit....a lil goes a long way

ok i will make the trip to bunnings probably on friday for some supplies if i can find it in there
rural store might have it at a better price too ( will ring them in the mornig to find out )

i have been removing 15 lts a day for 2 days from the rain we have been having i just need a tank to store it in

thanks for the tips