Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Thanks for all the feedback.

System ran for bout 3 weeks fish-less and has had the perch in it for just over a week.

Do me a favor and test your source water again, but this time leave it to air out or bubble for a day before you test it. See water out of pipes if tested immediately will give a false low pH reading. There is dissolved carbon dioxide trapped in water that have been underground or sitting in pipes or in a pressure tank and that carbon dioxide will temporarily mask the buffering agents by acting as a weak acid and therefore give a low pH reading. My water right out of the tap often tests at a pH of 7 however if I bubble it for a day and then test the pH again, it is usually between 8 and 8.4 cause my well water comes from a nice deep limestone aquifer.

Your system is still cycling up so hang tight and follow Rupes advice.

Unusual... they normally stock "Diggers" ... a 5l black (rectangular) plastic bottle....

Hi Rup,

Yeah not sure which section its in then. I was were all the hydroponic stuff was, even asked the staff member in the section who rang their manager and told me I had to go to a fish type shop. They had other PH up and down stuff (phosphoric acid) but didn't recommend use with fish?

Water tests this morning, water temp approx 16 degrees PH still about 8, Ammonia 0.5, Nitrites 2-5, Nitrates 5-10. Added the juice of another lemon, will get some supplies today and test again this afternoon.

... It normally resides in the aisle with the brick n concrete sealants and cleaners!

Cheers I will have a look today. Didn't have a great deal of time yesterday and still managed to walk out with $100 of stuff I didn't need.

Also found out the hard way yesterday that test tubes don't bounce!

I just bought their (B Store) Pool Acid in the swimming pool section. It works well for me and it is safe to handle in the granular form.
Just mix 100 grams a time in a bucket (4 litres), mix it in with the FT water and repeat every second day until the ph comes down. Went from 8.1 to 6.9 in 2 weeks and has stayed thereabouts even with my idiotic fish kill.
Cheers IanK

The granular stuff is good for a small quantity of water like an AP system, It is for Spa's, You can go to a local pool shop's or pool section aT B or even W it's normally called lo n slo, they will have dilution rates for Ph buffer per 1000L, HCL they will have in liquid and it is cheaper but the dilution rates are for pools, =50000L rates, hard to work out, I think when I tried it on my Spa years ago it worked out that I needed an eye dropper to measure 1ml per 1000l litre, difference between buffering a spa and Ap is in a spa you can say nobody swim for a couple of hours, u can't do that with the fish so slowly,little bit at a time, Hope that helps,

aquarium shops will sell PH down, which is sodium bisulphate. very good stuff, and nice an effective. is slighlty expensive but a tub will last forever

Hillsy,
The pea gravel you are using is it from the soil place in Ellenbrook and are you having any issues with High PH? Only reason I ask is I got mine there and after finally getting it as clean as possible, I am having PH of around 8.4. I found what I thought was Limestone and tested with vinegar no bubbles but I got some very small bubbles when I put it in hot vinegar apparently this is a test for dolomite.

Cheers Rob.

That does make sense he has Limestone soil Bays, It's could be a slight leaching contamination.

Do a search for "sodium bisulphate"... I wouldn't use it in an AP system...

And a 5l bottle of "digger's" hydrochloric acid costs about $10.... and you only need a couple of mls at a time.... will last more than forever...

i had a high pH after adding a peagravel bed, I buffered it down and now it sits at about 6.5-7. took about 2 weeksish

i did, got he following from wikipedia . .

Sodium bisulfate is used primarily to lower pH. For technical grade applications it is used in metal finishing, cleaning products, and to lower the pH of water for effective chlorination, including swimming pools. Sodium bisulfate is also AAFCO approved as a general use feed additive, including companion animal food. It is used as a urine acidifier to reduce urinary stones in cats. Sodium bisulfate is considered GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) by FDA[1] and meets their definition of a natural product. The food grade product meets the requirements set out in the Food Chemicals Codex (FCC). It is denoted by E number E514ii in the EU. Food Grade sodium bisulfate is used in a variety of food products, including beverages, dressings, sauces, and fillings. It is also widely used in meat and poultry processing.

Sodium Bisulphate is increasingly coming under concern as to possible carcogenic effects on lungs and skin....

Proven in mice, still uncertain in humans... not enough studies done....

But it is known to be "Mutagenic" for bacteria and/or yeast... which is likely to have consequences for your bacterial colony...

Also likely to breakdown into hydrogen sulphide...

Here's the actual MSDS... http://www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9927590