Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

As far as I know, Dad's ordering off the Azomite website. He's emailed them and they have recommended a 0.32mm powder for his application, rather than granules. The fact that they have acknowledged what he's trying to do is encouraging.

Bananas were 86c/kg yesterday, so I bought some, ans struggled to find some really ripe ones to bury in my GB, just for good measure.

I was wondering if the 24ppm of arsenic and 11.25 ppm of zinc would be a problem? Also a trace of mercury lead and nickel. they are using this for fish food supplement? Those might be acceptable levels for the government here but...

It does have .2% K2O 1.8% Calcium .5% Magnesium .1% chlorine .1% sodium so would benefit the plant side of things.

Speaking of the bananas I buried...
Something found them, too neat and tidy for my dog.

Anybody know what kind of mongrel animal would do this?
I already checked, there are no monkeys in the area.

coon, possum or pole cat (skunk) do you all have those stinky critters? A rat or mouse would have just burrowed then eat leaving less of a hole I would guess. Set up a stealth camera and put some more nannas in and see what you discover to be the culprit.

here in Oz, we don't have any of those creatures.
By Possum, you mean oPossum, we have Possums, but they're different (still the likely culprit I think, but a hell of a lot cuter looking than those nasty things in the states that you call possums.
The hole was the absolute minimum it needed to be to not collapse. So I was thinking maybe a particularly large rat but probably a possum.

I'd guess it was a possum - they love sweet things. Of course our possums here are a bit different to those in the US (and we don't have racoons or skunks).

Re Azomite & arsenic, does anyone know what concentration arsenic would become dangerous (to fish, and more importantly, to people)?

Re Azomite - we've changed plans, after deciding against risking the few fish we have left in our system with a dose of arsenic!

Instead we picked up a natural/organic garden fertiliser containing Boron, Calcium, Phosphorus and Magnesium, as well as a packet of Yates Iron Chelate. Will add about a teaspoon at a time to the GB and wait several days to monitor effects before adding more. Given the poor performance of these plants, it looks like the system will probably absorb quite a lot of supplementary nutrient.

Sorry Dan (and NO offence intended to anyone) but we're not allowed to say the first one over here.

is the cheese still named that or has it succumbed to political correctness?

no the cheese is still called coon

To call it "cheese" is an insult in itself

this is quite true Rupe

I've noticed a bit of yellowing on my seedlings, assuming it's potassium deficiency! Did anyone come up with a magic fish safe bullet? I read this thread yesterday after noticing that the plants weren't as healthy looking as I expected.

Looked around at B yesterday for something, didn't get much 'expert advice' :p I found potash in coles for like $11 on the way home (think it was sulphate of potash), dunno if this is safe in the quantities needed to see a result?

The Earth Juice Bloom and Planters 2 sound very good, I think I'll grab some EJB tomorrow, hopefully the local hydro shop will have it. Don't know about Planters 2, it is available in Aus?

EDIT: Well maybe I wont!

Seasol contains potassium.