Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi from south east Melbourne I have been doing aquaponics for a while (or a leased trying to)
Been reading post on here for a while so thought it’s about time I say hi and maybe get some advice
On plant problems I’ve had for a while here is a description of my system I will try to upload photos
If I can (not the smartest on a computer but I can lift heavy things)
Back yard system
4 grow beds
3 x ibc 330lt wet media
1 x 350lt wet media
2 1/2 clay pebbles 1 1/2 scoria
1 sump max 700lt
1 fish tank (old spa) 2100lt
10,000 lph pump
48 lpm air pump
Solids filter 60lt
3 golden perch at about 500+ grams they taste good their mate did anyway
About 50+ gold fish ranging from 25mm to 300 mm they won’t sit still to count
1 catfish about 300 long
Cheers Rob

more pics

and more

nice setup Rob. Spa setup looks good.

where is the fourth grow bed ?

thanks the 4th grow bed

the 4th grow bed was built some time later

first part of this system was built 2016 4th bed 2017
and last weekend i built not nft

more pics with plant problems

Great looking system

On the plant problems, it's probably either a potassium deficiency or an iron deficiency. It's not clear whether this is on the new growth or the older growth so it's tough to be certain. Have you been treating for either of these?

scotty the things i add to system

seasol 1 cup once a month (or when i remember )

iron chelate EDTA (bunnings) 20g once a month

eco-fungicide when ph gets to low

eco-seaweed 10g once a month 16% potassium

epson salts about 20 to 30 g a month when tomato are in

and 1kg pool salt 3 weeks ago

cheers Rob

Hmm, seems like a lot of additions to me. The eco-fungicide is probably potassium bicarbonate so another source of potassium perhaps? If you're adding all of these to the system water keep in mind that many of the ions compete for uptake by the plant roots so if you get something out of whack it can cause a deficiency or a toxicity reaction. One other thing, tomatoes will often suck up most of the nutrients if they get the chance. Having the nutrients in the water doesn't guaranty that plants downstream of tomatoes will get what they need.

1. See what's in your eco-fungicide just so you know.

2. Iron-EDTA may not be available if added to the system water because of pH issues. You haven't mentioned your pH but I'm going to suggest spray applying the iron chelate which should work and avoid pH lockout issues (hopefully the bottle has instructions for "foliar application"). This will also bypass the tomatoes if they are taking most of the iron.