Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey all,

System is about 5 months old. Initially my first round of plants died (general consensus on here was due to too much moisture as it was winter).

So when the weather started getting a little better (its still raining off and on) I planted some new plants. Now they are either dying or just not growing however my fish are doing well and as a result my nitrate levels are now really high between 40 and 80ppm. pH around 7.4, nitrite 0, ammonia almost 0 also.

So my question, what the hell can i do about these plants? I really want my system to work but it seems like all i get is failures, its really frustrating. Could I add some supplements?

Also as the plants are not taking up the nitrates should I stop feeding the fish? I'm worried the fish may die from the high nitrate levels but on the flip side I have to feed them also. So I'm not sure what to do.

the lettuce and baby spinach I have planted is dying, the tomatos are just not growing (these are all transplanted about 3 weeks ago). some basil has started sprouting from some seeds however so maybe there is some hope.

Here are some pictures

here are some more pictures

Thanks all!

I'm far from expert in this area, but I have seen many members using seasol and maxicrop.. have you tried either of these?

funny you mention that as I was just searching for that info and dosage rates. do you know if seasol can negatively affect the fish?

if not I reckon ill get some tomorrow. another thread said to add worms to the growbed so ill look more into that too.

Seasol is safe for fish...

Nitrates of 40-80... are not high...

Nitrates of 40-80 wont affect native fish....

Nitrates of 40-80 indicate that you should probably be adding additional grow bed area... and plants...

So you have run your system mostly through winter. Give it a little more time till things warm up and watch it explode.

Thanks for getting back to me guys! Big relief to find about the nitrates not being too high!

As far as seasol dosing rates I found this on another thread: 'Seasol added to the main system water at 30-45ml (2-3 caps) per 1000L weekly'.

Does this dosage sound about right?

Cheers again!

I use the scientific measurement of "that looks about right" when I tip it in from the bottle...

Haven't done a water test for at least 2 months... Pleants have only just started taking off... doesn't help that we're hitting 26+ during the day and then 0 and -1 or -2 at night.

As others have said once it warms up it'll explode. You'll need to put shade cloth up at some stage