Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

not sure if this will work...

help on uploading pics greatly appreciated..

cheers

oops, thats huge... give me a spanner and something i can fix by seeing how it works... all this computer whizz-bangery is beyond me

Its all good a Mod will fix it!
and you will get the gist one day LOL

slight tinge of ammonia but definite nitrites.

add some salt to the system, 1ppt is way more than needed but is asy to calculate and the fish will appreciate it and it will mitigate the effects of elevated nitrite.

a 25% water change wouldn't go astray and definitely cut down on the feeding till the nitrite drops to zero

killer, so about 1kg of salt (pool salt) will this effect the plants? the only reason i put the post up is because i have just had a 2nd casualty, clear eyes, looked a little sluggish, then game over. The fish have been thrashing around the tank a bit (not sure if i have some females) bumping into each other flat out...

pulled out about 100L of water and put fresh rainwater in... but will change more tomorrow ... another 150L should see me right then. ALSO, just how much feed should the fish be getting... its all fine and well to feed until they slow feeding, but 12 fish around 250gm roughly 3kg of fish... what weight of food should they be getting... JEEZ i ask alot.

1ppt no probs for plants. 5ppm NO2 big probs for fish. the Cl part of the salt will outcompete the NO2 at the gills. the first ed. of the mag has an article

No feeding until you get that nitrite down, 1kg of salt per 1000 liters, feed the fish 1% of body weight to start with, then ramp up, so 30 grams.

No feeding for a while - they will be fine.

RIGHTO... drained off some water, added some shiny new water, worked out that my pond is not at 1000L (spoke to the manufacturer) i am about 800L so i put in 800g of salt... 2.5kg of salt... $1 bargain!! The fish i took out and quarantined... has gone to the big pond in the sky (more like the hole next to the rose plant) and the water in the pond now is cycling until i see fit that it should settle. The water is clearer, fish seem happier and i will take another test tomorrow night. OBO i still have not fed them... if they play their cards right they will get a feed tomorrow night as well... unless the test results indicate otherwise. Cheers Peeps

Heh, similar to my test results

Salt fixes everything

On the topic of water, I see a number of people have used rain water. My wife says that rain water off a "tin" roof, actually Zincalume, will peal the skin off the fish. She has proven this in an aquarium.

What are your comments on this, or would this only be the case off a new Zincalume roof?

Just a new one.

Thats why all galvanised fish tanks / growbeds have to be lined.

Well we have zincalume roof - 20+ years old though...
I have to wait til the trout are smoked before the skin comes of easily
the size of small aquaria means a concentrated poisoning or toxic level
out break is possible as water evap, and top ups from the same source
may lead to a build up of heavy metals or other irritant.
I think this is why ppl do water changes and not just 'top up'.

This is just my interpretation, not knowlege based...

except for the smoked trout bit

It looks like I will have to to a small trial on a fish or two when I get them.
Our roofs here are now 11 years old, so may not be a problem.