Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

HUGS FOR ALL!

Week two:

Well no deaths so far - except the poor sod who got sucked through the pump
Ammonia zero, Nitrates 30-40ppm (I find it difficult to read these colour variations) - I guess I have cycled

My veggies have suddenly take off in growth.
The Jades range between 40-60mm and are like a pack of pirhanas. They are really hungry all the time and I am sure I am already feeding them too much.
They are actually grabbing bits of flake from my hand. The poor comets are circling underneath a mass of fish in a feeding frenzy. I don't think anything makes it down to them.

Miraculously the Itch seems to have disappeared!
I very definitely saw white spots on several of the fish when they first arrived, but its all gone. And I bought 40kg of salt just in case.
So maybe the wide open spaces of 10,000 litres of water was sufficient to make the Itch larvae die out without finding a host?

My concern now is that I haven't got enough growbeds. I have only 0.5 metre gravel. so the water:gravel ratio is not good.
On the other hand I think the ratio should be <weight of fish>:gravel.
However if my nitrates level is already 30-40ppm and they are still so small I think I'll have problems.

Can Jades over-eat? Besides loads of sinking pellets they get flakes (put in for the comets) and lettuce leaves (stripped to the veins).

Cheers
Jamie

Nitrate readings - this has been brought up previously and Steve suggested diluting the mixture 200ml of tank water to 60ml of tap water will reduce the reading to 25% (so multiply by 4) - you can use other ratios

MY limited knowledge says that goldies are gutses but SP and JP only eat their fill - problem with lots of food gives lots of nitrates and you then need lots of plants to stabilise the system - so cut down on feed if nitrates start to rise too high (200+) or put in more plants

Hope this helps

How many fish again Jamie? That is impressive to get the Nitrate up to that level so quickly in the 10,000 litre tank. What plant life do you have in the 500 litres at this stage?

VB - Got 200 Jades (199 left!) plus numerous guppies and 7 comets (unless they've been breeding).
Yes - I was amazed at how quickly the nitrates came up.
Mind you before I got the Jades I was feeding the comets pretty sparingly. Now I am putting in a couple of handfuls of sinking pellets a day.
I tried to be scientific and give them 1% body weight, but I forgot about all the guppies and comets also grabbing a share of the feed.
So I decided to feed them until they stopped being in a frenzy.
That hasn't happened yet They just eat and eat.

Plant life - 5 tomato plants, silver beet, beans, lettuce, herbs and celery.
Nothing huge yet - but growing vigorously.

Ell - I'll try the dilution trick. Or maybe a different kit? Is there some variation in colour ranges from kit to kit?

Those toms will strip the nitrate pretty well once they get a bit bigger Jamie - but there's nothing surer than the fact that 500 litres of grow-beds, no matter what you plant in them, are no tgoing to be enough to support 200 Jades as they start getting bigger. I have only 30 and my 550 litre approx grow-bed only just gets there (though there are no fruiting plants in it atm).

J, i'm fairly sure that most kits although they may be a different colour are equally hard to read for nitrates

I know what you mean Jamie Our new babies don't seem to have a full switch But I am not feeding them until they pop as they are only in 1000L for a few more days. Once they go into the monster more food will be available to them.

Jamie, you are going great! But do get more growbeds on line as soon as you can.

As for nitrate testing, dilute the sample water is the easiest way to get an accurate reading. I thought mine were off the fchart, diluted it down enuf to work it out based on 4 x the reading. Came out at an easy to read level

Thanks for all the tips guys
Jaymie - love to hear how the fish are feeding in the monster - whether they are greedy.

Steve - so Nitrates is a problem for everybody - nice to hear
I'll try your suggestion Monya.

VB - yes - I have already figured I need to expand my growbeds (already!@#)

Unfortunately its going to be difficult - I can't use my current system of gravity feed back to the fish tank due to lack of space.
I'll have to use some kind of sump pump for additional beds.
Problem is my solar power system was sized for my 100w continuous flow 7400 lph pump. So I'm looking for a low power - 50W pump for the other beds. See if I can sgueeze out the extra load. Any suggestions?

One other problem - my water is drifting to acid - down to about 6 and I know jades prefer more alkaline 7 -9.

Whats a fast, cheap way of getting to 7+?
I was reading about people using sea shells - I have a few but they don't seem to be doing much. I expected them to dissolve away?
Don't want to change water either - one reason why I like ap is the low usage of water on the veggies, so I don't want to change 5000 litres of water!

What about dolomite? Is it bad for fish?

Cheers
Jamie

Fast cheap ways to raise PH usually kill fish, PH needs to be raised over a period of time.

A cheap way to raise PH is to use shellgrit, this can be obtained from pet or aquarium stores (used for budgies) - about a kg wrapped in a porous bag (shadecloth) and strategically placed in the water flow - gradual increase over a week to about 7

Ell - thanks for that - I'll take the longer but safer route
But first I'll Google dolomite

Cheers
Jamie

Ok - Dolomite looks good!

"Liming to Increase Nutrient Availability and to Increase and Buffer pH
The application of limestone (calcite or dolomite) to fish ponds with acid soils will increase the availability of nutrients, primarily phosphorous, to aquatic plants, specifically phytoplankton. Phytoplankton (microscopic free-floating plants) are the base of the food chain in fish ponds, and are essential for rapid fish growth and survival in recreational fish ponds and in commercial ponds in which small fish are being reared. Calcite and dolomite increase the total hardness, total alkalinity, pH, and act as a buffer to keep the pH constant. The rise in pH is primarily responsible for increasing the availability of phosphorous from the pond muds. Although pH can range from 1 to 14, pH of 6 to 9 is considered desirable for most freshwater fish. Water in ponds reflects the quality of the soils thev are in. In acid soils. ponds typically have low alkalinit,'. hardness and pH. Hardness and alkalinity values of less than 20 parts per million (ppm) and a pH value of 6 or less, are common in many ponds in the southeastern United States. Fish production in these waters is poor. Calcite (calcium carbonate) and dolomite (a combination of calcium and magnesium carbonates) both increase the hardness (the calcium and magnesium concentration) of water.

Carbon dioxide, a by-product of respiration of plants and animals, acts as an acid in water, reducing the pH, especially at night. Plants photosynthesize during the day, consuming carbon dioxide, which causes pH to increase. This daily fluctuation in pH is greatest when alkalinity is low. At higher alkalinity. more carbonates are present to bind with the free carbon dioxide in what is termed the carbonate cycle. The addition of lime to a pond increases its alkalinity (carbonate concentration) which decreases the amount of free carbon dioxide in the water, and therefore increases and buffers the pH.

Phosphorous is almost always the limiting nutrient in freshwater ponds, and is relatively unavailable when pond soils have low pH values. The increased pH resulting from liming improves the availability of phosphorous, making fertilization more effective. In addition. microbial activitv is increased at higher pH, which will assist in decreasing the amount of organic debris at the bottom of the pond.

"

I'll give it a go. I'll report any fish deaths

General Dolomite Information
Chemical Formula: CaMg(CO3)2
Composition: Molecular Weight = 184.40 gm
Calcium 21.73 % Ca 30.41 % CaO
Magnesium 13.18 % Mg 21.86 % MgO
Carbon 13.03 % C 47.73 % CO2
Oxygen 52.06 % O
______ ______
100.00 % 100.00 % = TOTAL OXIDE
Empirical Formula: CaMg(CO3)2


Hah! - cross posts

Dolomite:
See This page for info