Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Yeah true

Rather than do a sudden 50% change in water, do a trickle change over the course of the day, while the pump is running. Minimizes system shock.

the move is only a few kilometers in a couple of weeks
and i away tomorrow working so cannot feed or do a water change
so guess they will have to survive for 1 day without me

i used the freezer awhile ago for growing out bristlenoses' and it didnt rust at all but i will watch out for it
and im not planning on using it for too long anyway maybe 12 moths and looking at changing to IBC anyway

i will see how the wate tests on sunday and probably do a water change again then
i will also be cleaning out the aquaium filters in it on sunday after the water change to get the bacteria going too

i will post again sunday thanks for the advice

Mal

I have a question as my levels have changed a lot since friday

how high is the nitrate levels allowed to get before it is considered bad for the fish ?

and i really should check my spelling before i submit a post ( just reread my last post )

if you have any other ideas or thing i should probably be doing then post it and i will see if i can include them when i move in 2 weeks

the pipe you see sitting on the top of the grow beds at the back, is going to be continous flow for strawberries and lettuce ( also considering hanging it on the fence at the new place ) im after the best way to support it without using a peice of angle iron under it thinking about 5 wood supports ... is this going to be enough? it is 2.7m long

I like to keep ammonia and nitrite each below 1 ppm in any system cycling with fish. You can help mitigate the toxic effects of nitrite a little bit by adding plain salt 1ppt of salt is all that is needed to help against nitrite I think.

Yep 1ppt of salt will mitigate nitrite... and shouldn't harm plants, even seedlings...

Looking at the sudden drop in ammonia, rise in nitrates, and the fact that the systems about three weeks old...

I'd be tempted to think your nitrites will drop off within the next few days anyway...

About cycled .... whack the plants in to gobble up the nitrates....

Thanks guys
i will have to do a trip to the "big green" store for some salt

Rupert thanks heaps for talking to me on the phone ( settled the nerves about the nitrate going up all of a sudden and having the nitrite still high )

i am adding some more plants today will post more photos later since you love them so much ( and it lets me compare the size of plants in the photos too ( a bit like a webblog i guess

putting silverbeet, lettuce and beetroot and maybe a few more strawberries too

so i should have a slightly lower nitrate reading by the end of the week maybe
and terriffic plant growth to go with it

Thanks again
Mal

Make sure you dont plant a whole heap of one species in one spot - try to get other varieties in between - reduces bugs.

come on OBO campanion planting has been used in my system so far
i thought you might have seen that from the photos
and i went to the effort of reading AquaMad's second system pages ( all 68 or 69 pages of it )
and it is mentions that it works well and that you cannot use many sprays or pesticides on the plants as it will kill your fish ( unlike the soil organic garden you cannot "use in emergency only"....the fish will tell on you )

so yes i have been looking at where im planting what .... i just need a couple of mairgolds for it and i should be right with the bugs

today i learn a few things about my system
1. it isnt big enough for what i want it to do .... i just dont the growbed space for all the different veggies i want to grow ... there is barely enough space for just the tomatoes i want to grow....and the system expands in my mind

2. the rose cuttings i put in the other day are starting to shoot already ? thought it would take a little longer for them to start

3. i hope i can have everything closer than in a soil garden ... cause i have put it that way to remove the excess nitrates in my system and some of which could go back into the ground after i have moved if they really have too

4. i need to buffer my system to stop the pH swinging downwards... so far the pH has dropped from tap water 8+ to 7.4 in the test today .... will test again tomorrow and see if it is still moving

oh and i have found the seeds in my system are germinating in about 1 to 2 days ... is that normal ? or does that happen a little slower in everyone elses systems ?

i ended up adding ( in addtion to my list above ) onions and have also put rosemary and lemon rosemary into the system as cuttings ... hoping i wont have to buy those again

i have all 4 grow beds full finally ( it was only 2 before )

talk to everyone soon

I have found seeds germinating in about 5 days, 1-2 days is amazing! No doubt about this aquaponic gardenning is there?

I'd never get through all the posts if I went back two pages in every thread and looked at the photos again

I just try to guess/remember what has happened previously - and yes you do need more room

Hi everyone

here is tonights test results looks ok all about the same

Thanks OBO

im looking at a quick fix of adding another freezer to the mix and then at least doubling my grow bed space and will add some more serious fish to the second freezer

this will have to happen when i move into the new place as it is too close to do any more building now as i have to pack the house up and the shed ( it is a very busy shed )

i want to add things like corn and other bigger plants ( citrus and fruit trees ) so i guess bigger grow beds will be in order too and maybe some barrels for the trees and then i guess i will be looking at a green house for winter maybe
talk soon

Mal

Ya got it bad Mal,
Looking forward to your future systems! No cure, just keep building and enjoying the fish/veggies.

Good luck on the move too, lots of work there, I always hate moving.

Yeah TCLynx your right

will see how far i get at the next house

i did another water test and the nitrite is still the same so i have added salt to 1 ppm for the tank to be on the safe side for the fish
and the plants are growing so i sohouldnt have to worry to much about them and i have added more tomatos and a couple of capcum and chillies to help with removing the nitrate which is climbing higher

i was thinking that the nitrite would be dropping off by now at least a little

anyway i guess that is life and if the nitrite hasnt dropped off by the end of the week i will be doing a water change soil plants love the fishy water

Mal

Hi everyone just quick update

the nitrate levels are starting to fall ( from 80 to 60 ) but the nitrite level is still 1
is this a bit of a problem ?? or is it because of the warm and cold days we are still having
ater temp 22 to 24 in the afternoon

and the ph has dropped to 7.4 and ammonia is 0 so have to be happy with that

comets seem happy and are swimming around and dont seem scared when i stick my head in the top of the tank

and the tomato in the last photo has grown will post a picture tomorrow of how much it has grown in just a few days

Mal