Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Ahhh the nitrate test yet to be done on the system. A problem could be i don't have an efficient bio filter (it is kind off experimental) . or a handful of food a day is not enough.

I put in a tea spoon of iron to the 400gall

I Haven't seen Joel in a while

here is my filter

my thinking behind the bloody thing is that the solid waste never settles so the bacteria gets to colonize the surface of the waste so the more waste the more surface area.

And two the pieces of waste collides with each other and this reduces the size of the solids digesting it faster.

Yes, without complete water tests it's really hard to figure out what's going on.

I don't think the solid-waste-floating part of your filter will be very effective. Get more shade cloth or some gravel.

What is the total volume of the area filled with shade cloth? IMO, (Filter gallons):(fish pounds) should be 4:1. So 4 gallons of filter media would support 1 pound of fish. Of course, this is based on gravel instead of shade cloth, but it gives you a ballpark.

well i got the idea from a fluidized sand filter ( its some were in t he forums) but if the fluidized sand worked i don't see why this shouldn't. well its beening put to the test and we will see whats happens.

some of the plans have root rot!!!!!

Damian - sounds like you still have your original problems which are most likely insufficient nutrients (nitrate in particular) and possibly insufficient DO. Mat, you need some more fish otherwise this aint gunna work for you. DO you not have a nitrate tested in your AP toolbox. THis is essential to diognose your problem.

CG, every ones right, you need to isolate the problem before trying to find a solution. Get a NO3 test kit.

OK i dont have one as yet but i am sourcing one as we speak

i am happy to say that there is new Green growth on all the plants and there growing very fast, i could almost see the growth! So the problem was iron def.

I got a next problem with root rot, before i transplanted the plants to the system they were hatched in peat moss and some of the moss was left back in the root ball, now its causing a problem in the mediumless nft and i am all so seeing algae in the tubes.

I got a parasite that came along with the fish, a snail and there are multiplying fast too but there in the breeding tank (must of came in with the moss) i wonder if i could put them in the tubes and let them eat the rotting roots and algae.

I cant use those sucker fish because i drain the tubes ever so often and they would end up in the tank. plus they don't eat the roots of plants and i cant use peroxide to kill out the root rot because this would harm the fish, or would it?

does any one have snails in there system? do the fish eat the snails?
Is this a good idea? Are there any better ideas out there?

No problem with the fish eating snails CG, well at least most carnivorous fish species.... might have to help them along a little by crushing the shells before throwing them in.

Peroxide.... hummm I have doubts about using it ANYWHERE

They often come with plants and breed like rabbits. They DO like the algae if its the grow on the wall type.

They can casue problems with pumps and small diameter pipes by blocking /restricting them, but if you have a beefy pump and large diameter pipes then you should be right.

CG, plants are like animals and fish in the sense that if they are weakened then they will be more suceptible to disease. The iron def. might have played a part in it. not sure about root rot, but maybe high temps in the nft (along with low DO at higher temps).

i wonder if silver foil might help?

You know, I just added some greensand to my system a few days ago. Plant growth had been mostly lack luster. I swear to you I've been seeing new growth hourly since then. The greensand would have added both iron and other trace elements.

I have also had a few seedlings rot out, but they were started from seed directly in the gravel--no moss. I'm wondering if they started to rot simply because they weren't so healthy due to the lacking trace elements.

Snails = free fish food. Don't put them up with your plants; most snails will happily eat living plants as well as rotting ones. Earthworms would happily eat decaying matter, but I'm not sure you have a place they would live.

I would hesitate to use peroxide to clean up the rot for fear that it would kil the living tissue of the plants, too. I would also be concerned that it would harm the fish gills. I used to use it to clean out small wounds, but stopped after hearing that it could harm healthy tissue. Peroxide (H2O2) decomposes into water and oxygen as I recall. So it wouldn't have lasting harm to the system, but short term I think it would do more harm than good.

Goodness. I type too slowly. Steve already made most of my points.

The biggest problems I would look at with peroxide are:
1- it kill bacteria - good for a fish dip, if in low concentrations, but don't run it through your system; it will kill the bacteria you have worked so hard on growing.
2- the standary grocery store peroxide has a preservative in it - probably mercury based like thimerasol. If you can find food-grade, it is great stuff.

If I wanted to treat plants and/or animals with peroxide, I would dilute it below 1%, and dip. If it were for external use only, the 3% will be fine, but with fish and plants, they are breathing the stuff in through the gills/roots. I would probably go for .1-.3%.

For foliar feeding of plants, people have used FG H2O2 quite successfully. It reduces pests, cleans the plants, and helps oxygenate the plants.

Running it through the AP system though, would set the system back to a brand-new system bacteria-wise.

Hmmm...I did a little surfing, and found that food grade peroxide can be used in hydroponics to increase oxygination and stave off rot. I also found where people use it to treat fin rot or fish fungus, with the caution that it can very definitely damage the gills. H2O2 works to kill fungus and bateria. So yes, there goes the filtration. Maybe if you removed the plants from the system, removed any obvious rot, dipped them in dilute peroxide, then rinsed in clear water, then returned them to the system? I would add some airstones to increase oxygination, and do what you can to cool down the system. Lettuce doesn't like a lot of heat. Maybe try some other types of plants?

http://www.quickgrow.com/gardening_arti ... lture.html

H2O2 is also used in dirt gardens, mixed with sugar in foliar feedings, and used as a fungicide wash.
I think you have the right idea of pulling things out to dip. You could also (in an NFT setup, divert the exhaust from the fish tank, recirculate it through the roots a few times, then dump it to the dirt garden).
-Doug