Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Temp 4pm: 33
Temp 8pm:32

Amo:0
Nitrite:0
nitrate:5 all same

I added 1kg of salt to 1100L ish (rupe gave me the tip)

what kind of things does everyone use to insulate their tanks? anyone use compost? (maybe not in summer aye)

How come you had such a cool day out your way John... we hit 38.5 at 15:00 this arvo...

Southerly came through about 16:30... now a pleasant 26.2 at 21:30....

NoNo John thats tank temp after I left them for half a day... we got 41 air temp here!... I was in HSM cause the first fingerlings were not eating (never before)
But realised it was barometric pressure falling that had put them off the food...lol right? (I have no idea, info from a past post)
Tank temp has dropped to 28 and rapidly falling, how long will this affect the fish?

I have been looking... how much would 1ppm salt affect DO levels? and what about other salt levels...

Hey Siphonphobia
I really like your system.
Anyway i was wondering how did you end up solving the Siphon problem or is the pump on a timer?
anyway and beers for Australia day.

Insulating tanks theres a lot more to it than you think i have about 7 thermometers in my system i have found unless you add heating or cooling in some form or another just insulating makes little difference i have 3 ibc/s in the ground 2 covered with cool room cladding
[example at the start of the day all tanks 18 deg one just sits there with an air stone one pumps to grow beds also with air stone the third air pumping to grow beds no insolation
35 deg day after 8 hrs the one with air 20.5 the other 2 21 deg

SL8R: Thanks for the support, The siphon problem is still on the todo list. I'll make sure I post updates.
Cheers!

F&F: Bugger
looks like I'll put myself on the list for rupes solar heater when It becomes available.

Test results to come later today (every two days seems the norm)

Makes more sense John... yeah my main tank topped just over 30 before the front came through...

And yes, you're absolutely right... a sudden fall in barometric pressure will put them off their feed... and susually send them down to the bottom of the tank...

No data that I know of to suggest salt has any affect on DO.... but water temp definitely does... and atmospheric pressure to some extent, particularly in relation to altitude.....

Warmer water will be lower in DO than cooler water...

PH has gone to 8.2 8.4??? solid purple when pressed to the white background and matches perfectly to 8.2 8.4 when 1cm away
Water temp 2.30pm: 25

Amo: 0
Rite: 0
Didn't test for Rate

I can't see the bottom of my FT's from the pea soup(algae) Yesterday however I noticed a SP rubbing on the air tube (I thought it was neat at the time) today 5 or 6 are also going in for a feel.
I have 1ppt salt ATM halfway into adding another 2ppt, will 3 ppt salt be enough? I can rip the strawberry out if need be (Fish come first)
also will salt help with my soup?

3ppt should be sufficient ... and your strawberries should (?) survive...

Some rubbing and flashing, especially at feed time, is "normal"... and Ive certainly seen Silvers "smear" themselves against the biofilm on occasions...

Check your nitrite values... in fact do a complete range of tests... you're still cycling at least one of those tanks/growbeds

Woot! I have readings!

Amo: .25 most likely (could be .5 who can really tell the diff?)
Nitrite: .25
Nitrate: 7.5 (not 5 and not 10 somewhere in between )

I only have one 300L (semi cycled) GB running ATM for my 1000L FT. More coming soon.

I think I read somewhere that algae affects the PH at diff times of the day... so I've stop trying to work out why I'm having rapid swings.

first pic is the fingerlings I got from Neil (I'll show scale next time )


Next is the best shot I can get of Rupes larger Silverperch due to the green abyss they live in.

Yep, algae can affect your pH and DO levels. Overnight the algae will work at using up the O2 in your water while loading it with more CO2 which will have an acidifying effect so at dawn your pH will likely be at it's lowest. Through the day the algae uses CO2 and gives off O2 thereby raising the pH of the water through the day and your pH is likely to be at it's highest just before dusk.

To solve a couple of your problems you are having lately (heat and algae) you might want some shade. Some shade cloth can help keep the media in the grow beds a bit cooler and covering up your fish tanks a bit to keep light from feeding your algae can help you with the pea soup problem. You probably also want to protect your IBC plastic from sun so it won't degrade as fast.

As far as insulation to keep things warm during winter, the issue is the water flooding and draining from the grow beds is where most of the chilling happens. I have some benefit from an in ground tank since my ground temps are pretty good for fish year round but after several days of freeze warning nights, my water is still getting too cold for almost tropical fish and my system is in sort of a green house.

As you system gets close to being "cycled" you will likely see an overall drop in system pH so be prepared with something for buffering if you see the pH get down to 7.

Yeah I agree with TC...

Whack some shade cloth around the FT to exclude some light. I had a similar problem using a glass fish tank and the algae cleared up in a day or so once I put the shade cloth around it.

Added a little bit of shade cloth at the front, plan to cover the tank with more once I get a chance to.


Ammonia Hit 1ppt today
I drained out 50% of the water then notice the replacement water still had chlorine. I added some sodium thiosulphate ( I hate being reliant on town water)

Shade cloth will help Siphon... the ammonia reading (with your tank temp above 25), wouldn't be a problem if your pH was more like 7.0-7.5...

pH 8.0+ doesn't give you a lot of leeway though, so water changes may be necessary... until you've fully cycled... hopefully, with current weather and seeding from the other tank this wont take long...

Don't go using any more urea, humonia though... and be prepared to drop the feed off a bit if need be...

Test your nitrites....