Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

In an aquaponics system pH will drop over time anyway... we don't really want rotting wood, or other vegetation creating anaerobic zones... and water changes (generally)... are both un-necessary and defeat the purpose of an aquaponics system

Aquaponic systems are more akin to RAS aquaculture ... than aquaria.... and aquaria are usually small volumes comparatively... where water quality, or other factors can vary rapidly without much time for recourse... many aquaria are completely artificial and unbalanced systems... that exist on a knife-edge of catastrophy... and are dosed/treated/manipulated accordingly...

Fair enough Rupert, just throwing out some ideas.

I ran across a source for Maxicrop Powder, for Americans that can't get Seasol. This seems like a good spot to post it.
$17.50 makes 250 gallons - not sure how much shipping is.
http://www.bountifulgardens.org/prodinf ... SMA%2D9360

Soluble seaweed powder. An excellent, well-balanced food for all plants. We have found that applications of Maxicrop to foliage help plants to resist disease and insect attacks. Watering with Maxicrop perks up plants that are ailing, and increases cold-hardiness. An all- around solution for only pennies a gallon!

10.7 oz (makes 250 gallons)

APPROX WEIGHT: .663 lbs.

ok that is what i was thinking to. one of my systems is a 30g fish tank, set up to look nice, and i have never had to do any water changes or pH adjustments. i dont even realy test(other then pH here and there) but i do have Cichlids in there and they like a higher pH anyways...i like to leave it and eat the mixed greens that it grows.

but not to hijack so;
tookairr any up dates?

Not a whole lot new... PH is staying High 8.2 and plant growth is still poor. I have been noticing this trend with both my plants started from seed and the spinach that I put into the GB that they grow to a certain size, stall out and then begin to shrink again. I have literally had an arugula come up look healthy and then sink back into the growing medium. Anyone else ever seen this.

My plants continue to get the "Gray leaf" which is now making all of my not so tall cilantro look like hell.

I think that my high PH must be locking up nutrients and thus starving my plants. I am going to do a test when I get home on Thursday to see if it my gravel keeping my PH high. If it is I may make the switch to clay, though I am worried as what to do with my fish as my new GB is cycling.

I updated some hardware in my system replacing all of the metal fitting I had with plastic. I also "T"ed my tubing from my pump so now I have water running back into the GB via another hose, stirring up solids off of the bottom. This has made a noticeable difference in the cleanliness of the FT.

That's about all... Hope all is well out in the world of AP!

I have to change my earlier thoughts as I just went back and saw your growbed. I think at least one issue may be that the growbed is so shallow that it does not drain well. My very first one was the same and every plant (even mint) died of root rot. Wheat (normally infinitely easy) would grow to 10cm, then slow, wilt, and die. Roots were brown. Pull some of your plants and I'll bet on the same.

If you are adding clay, you might simply add it on top of or mixed with the existing gravel. This way your system will remain mostly cycled, with a few days of uncertainty from the disturbance.

The root rot bacteria will remain in your system unless you sterilize everything, but (I hope) with good drainage the new plants will be fine.

My greenhouse system sat at around PH of 8 for a year, then down to 7.5 in the next half year, then down to 6 in the last month. Optimally, grow plants that will do OK at this PH, feed them as needed, and let the PH drop with time. Lettuce, kale, tomatoes, and cilantro did fine for me. Same for onions/leeks/garlic/chives.

Hydro, Thanks for the insight! I have recently pulled some plants in an act to thin the bed in hopes to get the remaining plants more nutrients. When I pulled arugula, lettuce, cilantro and tomatoes all of the roots were white and healthy looking, and were not all that long. I can see roots from my spinach in the sides of the GB (its clear) and there does not appear to be any discoloration in their roots, which extend to the bottom of the GB.

As far as the draining of the GB, there is less than 1" of water left when it stops running down the stand pipe, is this 1" enough to potentially cause root rot?

That's good to know that all of those plants worked well for you in a high PH environment. It's also discouraging and puts me back to square 1 as to figuring out what is limiting plant growth.

If the roots are healthy I'll go back to saying "lack of nutrients." But I still think a deeper growbed would be good.

my gb is only like 6inches deep on my 30gal aquara system...but i do have a aqurium filter on it

i agree hydro, but isnt root rot caused by low O2? becuase i know with soil, even if you get the planter to drain, if it is not bring down O2 with the flushing process. it will get root rot

Yes, the deeper the growbed the more fresh air will be pulled down to the roots in each "breath". Lots of folks seem to be able to get away with shallow setups (like NFT), but others (like UVI and their floating styrofoam) have some trouble with root rot. If you pull a dying plant and take a look at the roots that could be useful...

thank you for understanding with all of my inproper grammer....and spelling
i do a lot of that


Tookairr, have u tryed any aquara pH down? be carful becuase some have Ammoina Nutralizers(missed spelled to ).

I'm following your system with interest, because I'm planning one sort of similar for a classroom. I'm wondering if you have a local extension agent. At least here you can bring plants in to a master gardener and ask advice. Is it possible to test AP water the way you do soil to check for specific deficiencies?

I've done a few tests using my soil testing kit. Everything checked out, plants look fine.

so you can use the NPK tests with AP?

That's what I used.