Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Managed to get 8 good sized broccoli from the plants.
Planted 4 more broccoli today, also some strawberries.
Carrots, Spinach, Parsley, lettuce, Beetroot, Leeks going well.

I am planning on trying some Watermelons again this year. I am going to plant
seeds this year, when do most people in Perth put in there melon seeds.

Sounds like your system is doing well.

Well according to www.gardenate.com, it is actually time to put watermelon seeds in seed tray and plant out in a few weeks... I figured that the weather is somewhat warming up so I have actually put the watermelon seeds direct into the growbed about two days ago... Hopefully it works...

Thanks Ivan, system is going really well. I am not sure if I am getting quite enough sun
on the system in the winter, peas not doing all that well.
I think I will put a few Watermelon seeds in the growbed and some in seed trays to plant
out later. Hopefully one of them will work, I didn't have any luck with Watermelon seedlings last year. Maybe system is more mature this year and melons will go better.

Been a long time since posting but there hasn't really been anything happening over the winter. In the past few weeks since the warmer weather has come I have been expecting things to go great guns. Instead of this things are going very ordinary. My dad has a system only 10 minutes from here and his plants are going crazy. Most of mine have done nothing. I have tomatoes that are doing nothing planted the same time as dads and his are over grown and flowering. Same with the ruhbarb mine doing nothing his going mad. I thought it was just a lack of sun because my system is a bit shaded. I think I have finally found the issue. I have a PH of 8 and dads is 6.4. I am experiencing nutrient lockout and should have picked it up earlier. I haven't tested in ages because there was nothing that really seamed wrong with the water quality. How wrong was I.
Now I have the problem of not knowing the best way to bring the PH down. I don't really want the use HCL Acid but may have no choice. Any assistance would be appreciated.
All other water test are good.
Amm 0.25
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40+

Well what fish do you have and what fish does your dad have?
Also do you and your dad use the same fish feed?

Ivan we are both using the same food.
Dad has 25 Trout and 25 small silvers.
I have 25 small silvers, 2 large Koi and 8 medium gold fish.
We have both got the same amount of nitrates.
Dad is running 3000ltr tank and 2 BYAP growbeds and I have
2000ltr tank and 2 BYAP growbeds.

Whisper, if you don't want to use acid you can buy pH down and pH up from pond and aquarium shops. I have used this (powder) sucsessfully to both raise and lower pH at school. Cost a lot more than a litre of HCl though.

Yeah your right. I am just a bit worried about quantities to use.
Really don't want to kill the fish. I have had some really bad luck with fish early on and haven't had a problem for nearly 12 months now with the fish.
I will try with the HCL and just use a tiny bit at a time.

Whisper - fear not, you won't kill your fish if you exercise caution.

I used HCL slowly and surely. I believe it is the safer option that won't leave any unwanted mineral salts in your system for the long term.

There are plenty of threads on the topic - just search for 'em!

BTx

Well this is just my general observation so don't take it as the truth. I believe that you know that over time as the system matures, the pH tends to drop. I have however also noticed that if ammonia production is not high, the pH tends to creep back up again with water top-ups, etc.

Hence why I asked about your fishes you have, your fishes have not been active during winter, hence although the nitrates are available, not much is happening with the actual ammonia to nitrate production, hence pH remains high, thus blocking out the nutrient uptake.

I think if you had trout in there, it could be a different story.

Very interesting thought. If I had time I would probably leave it alone and see if the warmer weather changes anything but the plants are really suffering and I will miss too much of the growing period if I wait any longer.
I wish I had of worked out the high PH earlier then my Water Melons may be doing better at the moment.

I added a small amount of HCL tonight. Was very cautious so probably didn't add enough to do anything. I will test again tomorrow and add some more.
If Ivan is correct then things should drop naturally once the perch start eating more.

You don't need to add much Whispers... and, with fish in the system... you shouldn't move the pH more than about 0.2-0.4 points at any one time...

as in 24hr or 12 hr??

I think that is 24hrs.