Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

hmm perhaps a change in the ph and hot days combo?? hopefully one of the gurus will comment . .

Went and collected 50L of water from the local lake. PH around 7.8 slight green tinge to the water with some little water bugs swimming around. Would the lake water be better to do some smaller water changes with then tap water? Thinking possible a better PH and bacteria already in the water? Got an air stone in a bucket of tap water now to do a PH comparison but previously got a reading of 7.8 straight out of the tap.

Also found some Clarifier Bacteria in my shed leftover form my koi pond. Says its a chem free natural product which halves water maturity time. Anyone given it a go in there AP system?

probably not good to use the pond max, let nature do the job
Just have plenty of shade over the tank,it will clear... go organic

Hillsy, well my honest advise/comment that comes from experience of killing fishes myself. Stop tinkering with your system. A pH of 7.8 or 8 is alright for a new system that is still cycling. Mother Nature rewards those who are patient. The more you start adding stuff like pH altering products, bacteria in a tub, water from the local lake, etc, you are trying to speed up nature. But nature has its ways of working in the exact opposite if you push it too far.

In fact, adding water from the local lake is the last thing you should do, as there could be water-borne diseases that could transfer to your system and cause fish health problems and possibly problems for the human inhabitants as well.

You will not get good growth from veges/plants until your system is fully cycled, which it is not. So go take a holiday and stop tinkering.

Just take a look at my 1st system thread. Vege growth were very slow initially, but check out my latest growth over a year later, I have snow peas I cannot finish eating... Lot of brocolli harvested, chinese veges, etc...

And in my short experiences, an aquaponics system does best when you let the system move along naturally, start adding and changing things to speed things up, you are actually doing the exact opposite... slowing things down really and possibly killing fishes...

Gday Hillsy

rkdraft seems to have similar problems to you and you seem to be running
the same medium i think from the same shop maybe this might be your problem

+1
Iv had too try do this also it's hard when you look at how awesome peoples crops are, and u wonder what am I doing wrong why aren't my plants going off etc.... But just try to let it pass keep reading posts from others and keep learning. But try stop tinkering

Hi Hillsy,

I'm setting up a similar system, I'm worried about algae growing in the IBC fish tank. Are you planning on covering the fish tank with anything like a tarp?

Regards Alex

Hi valhalla,

Yeah I have already wrapped the IBC with the old pond liner I had from my Koi pond. Looking at different options for a more permanent aesthetically pleasing option to cover it. Tried some bamboo screening but it didn't look very good. Might frame it in timber or mini orb sheeting which ever turns out the cheapest.

Throw some R32 fatt batts in behind it too, helps regulate temps, if u clad in mini orb and the sun hits it will work as a heater, oposite with a heavy frost. There cheap and you get tones of them I put them under the bottom then put the tank in and then wrapped them around the outside with ducktape then cladded over it.

Hillsy,
Is thats a photo of what your fish tank looks like when you are saying that you have algae issues, IMHO an Algae bloom in your FT looks like pea soup, I can still see to the bottom of your FT, I tend to agree with a few people above in which less is best to help your system cycle correctly. Make sure your ammonia and nitrites do not spike by regulating your feed, if they do stop feeding.
Sorry can not help you with your plant issues, maybe a quick swing with the PH additive and a salt dose pushed them over the edge

regards
Matt

mine went green, i got a UV clarifier to sort my pond and it took about 3 weeks to sort it all out. ebay it and you can find them cheap. i have a 24w running at 2/3 rec flow rate

Never have had a problem with Algae. The Fish Tank has never had direct sunlight!
A tiny bit of "Brown" algae on the acrylic windows (facing South; I'm in the Southern Hemisphere for you Yanks) but easily handled by the magnetic cleaning pads for a bit of a scrape, and the Bristle Nose catfish.

Just wish I could keep fish alive other than the Catties and Gold fish! But I'll get there.

Cheers ianK

Oops!

Hi all,

Everything seams to be picking up again. The least damaged plants have perked up a bit and finally saw the fish come up to feed today after nearly 3 weeks of nothing. Algae was not bad just noted that the water had a green tinge to it and sides went a little green after just a couple of doses of the PH Down. Put some extra shelter over the tanks and have left it alone, have the UV light on the small bio filter running also. Guess the extra shelter has helped the fish settle in without my big head hanging over the edge looking at them all the time. The little window has paid for itself now, seeing them come out from the corner and swim around has been great. Haven't tested the water for a few days, won't be tempted to tinker with the system that way. Just let nature do its thing for a while.