Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hey

did you do a high range PH test? I know sometimes... the low range will always show
7.6 even when its higher

jT

yeah, i did a high range test, and tested my tap water too.. the tap was 7.2 both nights i checked, and i tested hi ph range both night, and it looked to be between 7.8 and 7.4

Tap water directly from the tap, will almost always give you a false low reading. Leave the tap water to air out for a day and test the pH again to get a more accurate reading of what your tap water pH really is.

If I test my tap water right out of the pipes, it will read around 7 most of the time but If I bubble it for a day it will wind up with a pH of 8 to 8.2 depending on the time of year.

Why is this you might ask, well CO2 is often trapped in well water and water that has been in pressure tanks or trapped in pipes for a while. This trapped CO2 dissolved in water will act as a weak acid causing the pH to seem lower right when you draw the water from the tap. Once this CO2 has time to escape from the water, the pH will come up to it real level.

was getting impatient and put some minnows in the tank on sunday..
set up a raft for one of the overflow tanks, getting duckweed for the other overflow tank tomorrow
had a little action on tests

5/15
ph = 7.6
Amonia = 1.0
Nitrite = 0
Nitrate = 2.5

5/17
ph = 7.6
Amonia = 1.0
Nitrite = .25
Nitrate = 5

i've been reading about test results on here, and feel kinda overloaded right now.. but i think things are starting to move, still waiting on getting my fish

No worries. You'll get it! The ammonia and nitrites should head to zero for a well balanced and cycled system. The ph will start to drop as the system balances. Usually that isn't a problem.

I've run into a problem of my own. I went to pick up the fish and I asked the owner if I could get some fish food too. He looked at me and said that the redear (bluegill) that I got do not pellet feed! Ooops! I did get two yellow perch, which he said train very well to the pellets. I was pretty sure they DO pellet feed, so I got the fish anyway.

I spent some time reading google pages about training bluegill. It seems that they train fairly easily as long as you consistently feed them everyday. The problem I have is that I'm sure they are not eating the pellets, so I worry about the pellets gunking up the water. Any suggestions on how to get that to work until they are trained? Anybody here train their fish? These are 2-3" fish.

i know that you can use a flashlight to train perch.. maybe try that for the bluegill too.

i've got the minnows eating (using pellet cat food, just a couple at a time) -
i stood by the tank until they start to come up to investigate and sprinkled the crushed pellets.. it's only been a couple days with the minnows and they already act like they expect food when i go out there. i've thrown a few bugs in and they get eaten immediately
i was just reading about aquamax, purina fish chow, if you look for a tractor supply they should be able to get it.. for perch they recommend the same food as for trout as it is high in protein

did you get your fish from jonesfish?

No, don't expect Tractor Supply to get the Aquamax for you. Yes they have just become a Purina Dealer but they only stock what they stock, no special orders. At least that is what I was told at the Tractor Supply near me. So I look for the "other" Purina Dealers in my area and call them.

Good Luck in the training.

No, I got them from Don at Inspired by Nature (ibnature.com). It was a little closer and about the same price. I'm trying to train them so we'll see! How does the flashlight thing work?

yellow perch are photo something.. attracted to light.. so when you shine the light in the water, they should come to it,, when they do come is when you throw in a little food.. start with just a bit each time within a couple days you should have them coming when you move your cover, or just stand by the tank for a minute

Well, I've been feeding them 1/2tsp or so every morning, and their certainly eating now. I might start to bump it to twice a day feedings. I need to put something in the water, though so they can hide. I've never before seen a fish go completely horizontal to hide under something (the pump). My wife thought they were dead so I moved the pump and they happily swam away! Only to go hide there again once I put it back in. They sure are shy!

finally getting some new colors on the water test
5/23
ph = 7.6 (a little lighter, high ph shows the same)
amonia = 2.0
nitrite = 5.0
nitrate = 10

that was last night, got home from work tonight to find one of the bottles off the siphon and the water squirting on the ground, lifted the ft cover, the pump was still underwater, but 50 or 60 gallons ended up on the ground
the minnows are fine, the water is clear, but i had to add all that water back, should i add some humonia? (it's aged about 2 weeks) wait a bit, and test?
or should i test, and add pee if amonia is down?

Fill the system back up. Let it cycle around and mix with what little water you still had in the system. Then run tests and decide if you are gonna dose after that.

I don't like dosing a system with any fish in it unless you area trying to kill the fish. Especially with high pH and warm temperatures, ammonia becomes much more toxic to the fish.

thanks TC..
finally starting to warm up here,, in the 70's every day this week!
still a bit chilly at night (into the 40;s),
living right on lake erie, it really affects our weather, a few miles away can be 10 degrees (f) warmer..., our spring comes a little later, but our first frost is later too

I'd recommend waiting as well. No need to spike the ammonia/nitrite levels with fish in it! By the way, unless you're really looking for nitrates (ie, plants aren't growint), I find I don't need to test for them as often. I think it was Rupert that said that the harmful limit for nitrates is really high - in the 400s or so if I remember right.

If the ammonia is zero, nitrites are zero, and you're feeding the fish, it's gotta be going to nitrates! TC, do you normally test for nitrates all the time?

No I don't always test for nitrates. And because I have a high pH so my nitrates tend to stay kinda high. I think the plants have trouble using up the nitrates as well with the higher system pH.

Through the initial cycling though, I think it is probably good to do the full battery of tests fairly often. Once the system is cycled up and everything seems to be running well, testing can be less often and mainly to track pH and checking for ammonia and nitrite when increasing feed levels. Now that my system has been running for a couple of years, I probably only test every two to three weeks (keep in mind that my system is heavily buffered by shells so is unlikely to have a problem of dropping pH, I actually wish my pH would drop a bit.)