Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

OKk
i have looked oyou tubebe i have goggled it but can not get answers to my questions
i like to begin from the beginning i want to know why you have to test the water levels
why things have to be certain way. (yes i was that annoying child that always asked WHY)
if some one could point me in the right direction of books to read or websites i would be very happy
i need to understand what i am doing in aquaponics
i know how to set up a system but i do not know why it is done the way it is hope i make sense
thank you

stupid spell check

Dear shella,
I think the best book you can find is the one you are writing on. It is called backyardaquaponics.com/forum
Plenty of dedicated and helpful people, friendly and outgoing, that will answer all your questions.
Use the search bar A LOT and you will find that everything you are wondering has been covered before.

I am also new to this and have bought 2 books online (won't say which ones) and they are very basic. On here is the real deal, people who are doing it and have been doing it for years!

Other than that, it is not by all means an exact science (I think even the vetarans will say the same thing) so there is no exact formula, but plenty of rules to follow to be on the safe side.

I.e., to be more specific, you have to test water because you want to know how much ammonia you have, where your pH is, etc. etc.

Tojo

Hi shella,

Much of what you want could be here -

http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/information/47-information-and-links.html
Download the IBC of Aquaponics and read it even if you aren't planning on using an IBC it's good background..

Try here -
http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/information.html - there are 5 links near the top including basics, designs, fish, plants and info. Info is the link I pointed you at first.

and here - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/index.php
look in the FAQ, Useful information, and Basic Information section.

If you can't find the answer, ask questions on the forum. We'll be glad to either answer them or point you to the answer if we can. Cheers.

hi
i have been reading on this forum but could not find the information i was looking for so decided to ask
thank you that is what i was looking for a starting place

Welcome to the forum Shella.

Hi shella, as previously mentioned you are welcome to ask all the questions you like right here and the IBC of aquaponics download is free and full of helpful info. You can also click on the "Information" link at the top of this page for basic info.

But I will help you with your first question

Water tests are taken for a number of reasons but primarily are to indicate the quality of your water. Simply, the most important values of aquaponics is fish survival and plant growth (in that order), and to achieve this it is important to keep your water quality withing certain parameters for healthy and happy fish whilst providing safe levels of nutrient for plant growth. Because in aquaponics the water is contained and re-used it can become toxic due to fish waste (ammonia) but this can be contolled by following basic guidlines and to help us understand how the system is behaving so we must to test the water so we can somewhat control it or assist it. Water tests are critical when starting a new system but eventually become something you do just now and then.

Hope this helps

thank you
my brain prosess information differently to most people.
so its like giving your system a blood test to check every things OK when the results settle down then you randomly check on levels to make sure its in normal parameters

yep

And there are a few things you can adjust to make the numbers correct in the long run so your system is stable.

When you feed your fish, I find it help full to think of it as feeding your system.

Feed your system too much and it gets sick and becomes toxic. The solution, is to feed it less, or add grow beds, or both.

So the water tests can tell us that we are feeding our system too much, or that something else is going wrong.

Tests can also tell us when a new system is cycled, (when it is capable of turning fish exhaust into plant food) and so can tell us when we can add fish if we are fish-less cycling, or how many fish we can add if we are risking fish to cycle.

water = blood, fish = stomach, growbed = intestines, plants = liver, you = brain, fish food = well... food

=)

Thank you
you get me
i totally understand it when it is put this way
i love this forum