Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Bunnings and IGA both sell "Sunray Pool Salt" Mal... pure sea salt... $7-9 / 25kg bag...

Thanks Rupert

but i havent added any salt to my system since i first did and then had problems with my strawberries and i wanted to add them back after winter again

and since my fish are healthy then i shouldnt need to add any salt unless i change something or manage to get the ammonia or nitrite levels that register again
but that would then mean i should have a nitrate spike too and my spinich and lettuce is starting to come out a little bitter so i dont think i would even see that if it did happen

Bitterness... suggests a lack of nutrients for stage of growth...

Hi

i added 2 tsp of urea to my system on friday and today when checked the is no ammonia or nitrite
and only a nitrate reading of 5 ... so added 1 tsp more to the system again to boost the plant growth

will post pictures tomorrow

come home to a hsm today

the pump stopped and have had to steal the pond pump again

so now im not arating the tank as much as i would like
will have to see if i can take it back again

glad i changed to chift pist style of arrangement a couple of weeks ago as this enables me to use the smaller pump with less hassles

the ft became the sump and i have a 20 ltr bucket for a fish tank i know pictures
the water gravity drains to the growbeds and then to the fish tank via loop auto siphons

hope everyone is having a good day

i have just had a pump blow up again
and im waiting for the new one to come in should be around thursday that it will be here

glad i have a pond with a small pump in it as a backup

should be interesting when i get the new pump

happy easter to everyone

the new pump still isnt here
starting to think that they wont ring me when they have it

the plants are still growing ok
ammonia is starting to climb as im only cycling the water by hand and other pump ( 1000ltr ) is on the way out too so i might be in trouble very shortly without a working pump at all

What capacity do you need Mal?

about 3000 lthr is about right to over flow some back to the tank .. new pump is 3800 lthr but still waiting for it to arrive from wollongong .. suppose to be here 2 weeks ago

my ammonia levels are between 1 and 2 so im cycling water by hand when i can so that it doesnt get any worse

slave to the cause i guess you could say

New pump finally turned up yesterday ( aqua one stingray 4000 ltr )
and guess what .. the outlet and reducer fittings dont fit together so i couldnt put the pump in anyway

got a fitting this afternoon and it is now running ( we shall see how long this one lasts .. longer than the last ones i hope )

been very busy in the last few weeks and the lower capacity pump hasnt done the system any favours ( i was pouring tank water into the growbeds and making them cycle twice a day and adding more water to the raised distribution tank.. running chift pist but fish tank as the sump )

the water is brown and looked really bad when i put the new pump in .. added about 40 more ltrs of water when i added the new pump so that should help the water parameters a bit

if the water isnt clean by tomorrow then i will be doing a water change i will also be testing the water to see how bad it really is ( dont really want to know at the moment )

i had a fish death too it had jumped up on the floating plants and was out of the water and dead when i found it tonight

most of the plants survived a few seedlings didnt but i have a lot more on the way so it should be interesting in the next couple of weeks as i am going to be moving the system a few feet and adding more nft pipes which should increase my planting area for greens and for smaller root system plants

more on friday

water clour is starting to clear up and i expect it will be nearly clear by morning

it is amazing what an increased flow can do in a couple of hours

i will have to move the pump from where i put it cause when i throw in the food it falls into the pump .. i should have thought of that

and the fish are hungry and havent been for a few days

more tomorrow

moved the pump this morning and the fish were very hungry and the new pump works a treat

havent managed to test the water but the water is very clear

will test tomorrow
and i should learn how to spell colour ( from the last post )

hope everyone is happy and well

Mal, what were the pumps that failed? Would be good to add them to the good / bad pumps thread.

hi obo.... i have been meaning to find that thread again

they were pond one /aqua one piranha and i broke 2 of them ( the impellors failed and they said they had fixed it the second time round just not good enough )

system seems to have settled a bit after the new pump went in

ph 7.0 which is down 0.5
ammonia nitrite and nitrate all 0

fed the fish and added some urea to kick the nitrates along and give the plants a boost too ( about 1 table spoon )

have a upgrade coming along too .. will post pictures as soon as i have some