Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi everyone, I have had 105 trout since 1st of may no floaters all going well....until today test readings are temp 14 degrees ph 6 or less (6.4 last week) ammonia 2 (.25 last week) nitrite 0 (.25 last) nitrates10 (40 last) the only change in conditions wes the recent rain but not that much entered the fish tank do i panic or just relax and cut the feeding down...i'm using 50% protien sinking pellets fish have doubled in size and eating well.vegies are doing good although lots opf leaf but no heads on cauliflower broccoli or cabbage yes i'm impatient. Is the low ph going to cause problems do i have to get the 4th gb on line quickly. my system is from backyard aquaponics 3000 litre tank and 4 growbeds... i'm still waiting on council approval for a patio to cover my set up...any help will be appreciated...drew wa

Cut out feeding or MAJOR reduction with Ammonia level ....., give the bacteria a chance to catch up.
Cold water the Trout LOVE ,, bacteria not quite so happy.

It's fairly easy to buffer back from your pH Drew.... shell grit under the sump or tank return is a slow acting self regulating buffer...

If you want a faster buffer then either Calcium Carbonate or try "EcoRose"... Potassium BiCarbonate.. a fast acting, strong buffer with the added benefit of supply Potassium to your plants, especially flowering/fruiting plants...

But you need to stop feeding for a day or two to get your ammonia level down...

Hi Drew,
Good to see you found the forum and we would love to see your pictures.

This time last year we planted all those winter veges- cauliflower takes around 5 months, broccoli a little sooner.
You will just have to wait- plain and simple, you can't hurry nature. If you want to be harvesting sooner plant seedlings of lettuces, silverbeet, rainbow chard, beetroot and seeds of carrots, peas and beans.

Hi again Thanks for your prompt replies...I'm onto it...this forum is great for its wealth of information and reassurance...sharing other peoples knowledge certainly makes life easier...cheers drew.

Not a full expert on trout drew, but know all about over feeding and the effects of, I had this disaster with Marron, uneaten food in tank will cause ammonia to go up and also poison the fish eventually , check you have no uneaten food and suck out, but not feeding for a couple of days may make them eat it anyhow, I use 50% 5mm floating pellets as I think it is easier to see if they are not eating it, and have a couple of koonacs in with trout (maybe if trout haven't eaten them) to eat anything the trout miss

Some shell grit would be in order. Reduce the feed too.

Hi All. one week on and everything is back to normal...readings are great...amazing what no food for 4 days will do...the trout devoured their first feed..i should have had the camera set up....the 4th growbed is up and running and i.m happy again. Faye I'm working on the photos (promise)...cheers drew

Just got my first batch of Trout yesterday so I no doubt are in for some interesting times ahead, first fish, first attempt at AP

I think you will find that with your pH that low, you had a bacteria die off which caused the rise in ammonia. The system has been running for over 6 weeks, so I doubt its ammonia from cycling. There is nothing wrong with the temperature.

Yep, bacterias do best between 7 and 8. Plants do best between 6 and 7. Aquaponics is all a balancing act to find the happy medium for everything. Everything including the fish would like the pH to stay stable and not be bouncing up and down all the time.

Good to hear it is back to normal.

Good to hear Drew...