Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Looks like your flooding too high

what makes you think im flooding too high OBO ? how high are you suppose to flood too ?? with everything i have read so far nobody has been able to give me a definate figures of how high or low
compared with the depth of the bed and how much gravel is in it etc
the top of the gravel doesnt even get wet at full flood and most of my stuff are still seedlings too with short root structures
yes there a couple of tomatoes in there that are a bit more advanced and im pretty sure that is what is starting to pull out the nitrates

Generally rule of thumb Mal.... flood to about 25mm from the surface of the media...

Some people adjust their flow or siphon heights to flood higher... say to witihin 10mm of the surface.... when they have sown seed or new seedlings...

But most can't be bothered fiddling... and just hand water until the seed germinates or the seedlings setlle in....

So ... flood to within 20-25mm of the surface of the media...

Your hydroton looked very wet on the surface

Ok thanks OBO and Rupert

i have set the flood level to about 15mm from the surface so it could be a little lower
the picture was taken at night too i find the hydroton looks wetter at night too
and i also just pour the water in without using a flood hose or anything so it splashes everywhere too

ok so i will drop the flood height a little and see how we go with that

and im setting my spihons in concrete when i'm happy that they are correct and not playing with them just because i ave added seeds to the bed i guess some people have the time to do these things

anyway more photos this afternoon

Tested the water tonight 0 - 0 - 0 and pH is 7.6 and the plants are growing too

so i have added a capful of maxicrop at the advice of RupertofOz so the plants keep growing

the colour from the maxicrop disappeared within an hour .. is this good or bad or normal ??

and im still moving at the end of this week too

im have had lots of fun packing the house up this weekend and will still be all week

Mal

It's normal Mal....

Don't feed your fish the day before you move... or the day after....

And give the system time to settle once your put it back together... you might see it spike for a day or two...

You've only just cycled, and will stir things up when you move it all....

The plants will do just fine with some maxicrop... and the fish will be OK without any feed for a day or two... but might be a bit "spooked" and stressed.

Good luck with the move....

thanks Rupert i was hoping this was the case

the other question i have is how long can the plants survive with the water turned off ?
im guessing that i would need to have it back together in a few hours rather than a few days and keep them in the shade too for that time

hopefully it wont be a hot day on saturday when im moving house

Mal

How the plants fare depends on what you do with them... minimise disturbance to the roots (if possible)... and they'll be fine for a day or two... you can always hand water them....

If you have to remove them, and it's going to be a few days before you get things back together... then IMO... transplant them immediately into pots, let them settle in and regain strength for 3-4 days... then replant them...

Preferably all on nice cool days.... shade them no matter what...

Saturday looks likely to be cool... and rainy/showery.... about perfect moving weather....

The bacteria should be fine for at least a day or two.... just keep moist and shaded also...

ok cool that is a lot more time than i thought i was going to have i should have it all setup again either saturday arvo or sunday morning

so i am hoping that it will only be no more than 24 hrs at the outside before the system is up and running again

i will let you know how i fair on saturday and will see if your weather prediction is correct rupert im hoping it is
Mal

an update for everyone

the system now seems to run at ph of 7.6 ,0,0,0

so even the day after i added 1 cap of maxicrop to feed the plants a bit the ammonia is only at 0.25
and then the next day(today) it is 0 again

i have a question ( again the edges of a few of my plants are starting to go crispy and dry out
the only time that i have had this happen in the soil is when there is no water so are the dry edges from not enough nutrients in the water ?

i have added a couple of phots so you can see the plant growth love the tomato growth

Mal

Mal have you got any salt in your system? Whats the salt content of maxicrop?

Strawberries dont like any salt at all.

Maxicrop does not add ammonia either. Just nutrients.

ahhh man i should have remembered that, have read that on someone elses system thread

i added a little ( 1 part think ) at the end of the last part of the cycling as the nitrite levels were still very high and it did need the salt

ok so if the maxicrop doesnt add ammonis how come i get an ammonia spike when i put it in ?

is it from the bacteria being otherwise occupied from processing the nutrients in the maxicrop ?
or would you put it down to a couple of cold days in a row dropping the water temp as slowing it down
and today being a little warmer it has all started to kick back in again

i guess it doesnt really matter as the level is very low from it this time

i will keep an eye on it

and i am moving tomorrow so that will just upset everything too and i will have to change most of the water so the salt currently in there will be gone tomorrow or saturday anyway and then the strawberries should recover

Mal

hey been a while since you last posted, how's things... system going ok

Hey Jensiaedi and eveyone else too

I have moved ( and moved internet companies too ) and moved the system water was off for about 12 hrs and the changed all the water except for a very little bit and i had the fish in an aquaium for about 4 days too

the system has been almost fine since i put it back together ran with maxicrop for 3 days then added the fish back again( minor spihon problems but nearly fixed them )
then yesterday i lost 2 fish and today another ( only goldfish )

the fish look fine except for a slightly green belly from eating the green algae from the side of the tank i think......sorry no photos ( can not find the camera after the move yet )

water tests fine ph has dropped from around 7.8 to 6.8 overnight so that could explain the deaths
and nitrate is 5 nitrite is 0 and ammonia is 0 too

anyway have to dash lots of unpacking to do even after a week of unpacking and organising there is more to do yet

Mal