Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi Rons_Place,

the Goulburn is in pretty poor shape up my way. It's a good thing our native fish are tough.

Past Nagambie there is no chance of a trout in the river. There is not enough flow and the water warms up quickly. The water flow over the big drop at Goulburn Weir would prob kill any fish going that way anyhow. The channels where most of the river water is diverted to Waranga is still cool enough to house trout.

The channels are often loaded with small reddies. This year when I want to catch some they are nowhere to be seen.

May have to go further afield or wait for hotter summer temps to stir them up a bit.

God bless froggo.

Hi everyone,

got my test kit from Murray today[thanks]. Here are the first test results.

10/11/08
Ph 7.6
Am 0.0
Nitrite 1.0
Nitrate 40

The results indicate that with zero ammonia the system has cycled? The nitrite and nitrate levels are up should I change out some of the water to reduce this?

There is a bit of algae growing in the sump and fish tank as per the high nitrate. The shrimp and yabbies are working on this algae.

In my system I have about 100 shrimp, 10 yabbies, 5 redfin[english perch] and about 10 goldfish.

Plants are silverbeet, parsley, beans, cucumbers, lemongrass, springonions, tomatoes, lettuce and basil. More to be planted shortly.

Any thoughts on the water test results would be appreciated,

God bless froggo.

depends what the nitrite levels are froggo, give us your reading for nitrites.

Hi monya,

the nitrite level is 1.0

God bless froggo.

let it go froggo, I wouldn't be worried at 1, if they get too much higher, then change out a little water, but they should start to come down, esp if ammonia is zero, and there are nitrates in the system, this means the second team of bacteria are on the job and you should see your system cycled soon.

I'll say it here too, probably add 1ppt of salt - wont harm the plants, and will help the fish.

Hi everyone,

thanks monya and Outbackozzie for the help. I will follow your advice and keep testing the water every couple of days.

What is a rough ideal nitrate level for a aquaponics system once cycled?

God bless froggo.

Anything over zero froggo Most run between 0 and 100 - I have read of over 800 before

Hi everyone,

todays water test has changed slightly

12/11/08
Ph 7.8
Am 0.0
Nitrite .50
Nitrate 40

Nitrite has halved in two days from 1.0 to .50
Ph has increased from 7.6 to 7.8

English perch seem to be doing fine but I'm not sure if they are feeding yet.

The shrimp are very active eating the algae and you can see the green algae in their clear bodies.

The yabbies are still shy not moving in the daytime prefering to hide in their pipes.

I've ordered 100 silver perch from John at Glenwaters, they will be ready to go in the second week of december.

God bless froggo.

Hi everyone,

I've been away for a bit but back at it again now it's all quiet in the trenches.

Plants have grown heaps and have started to harvest beans, spring onions and cos lettuce.




I have not tested the systems water yet to see if it has finished cycling. The chift pist system has run unsupervised without problems.

The only area to show some change were the water taps that regulate some growbeds. The flow had been reduced by a build up of crud in the tap. These have now replaced with bigger bore units.

God bless froggo.

Another AP success story... good one Froggo....

HI Froggo, your marble chip growbed media will tend to keep your ph in the high 7's, make sure it doesn't go above 8 or you will struggle to match that excellent plant growth

cheerrs

MOnya

Great system Froggo.....

enjoyed reading your thread.

Not sure if I said it before in your threads, but, dont plant all your same species close together. Its a bit late now, but next planting, spread them out, with different species in between - minimises insect attack.

Makes a really big difference, especially in insect prone areas.

Thanks RupertofOZ, ruins.

Hi monya,
the quartz/river stones are in the center grow bed only because they are rounded and should not damage the liner. I added a couple of kg's of shell grit to the bottom of the bed.

Thanks for the info, I will keep my eye on the ph. If it becomes a problem adding more shell grit should help?

Hi Outbackozzie,
I did not think of that, thanks for the tip. The main insect probs that I have here are aphids green, brown and earwigs.

The lady bugs are keeping the aphids in check at the moment but there are a few earwigs chewing on the cos lettuce.

The chickens keep my fruit tree and veg garden area clear of most bugs and spiders. When the shade/hot house is finished the chooks will prob have access to it for bug control.

God bless froggo