Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Still being patient. I've added a make-up water system to the greenhouse system.

I'm sure your fish will feel much prettier once they have some makeup.

Well, they look better with makeup.

5 months of patience and still killing plants.

Heck, you're not trying... most people can kill their plants an awful lot quicker than that...

I've killed lots of plants in five months. Fish are doing well.

Still being patient with the biology. Solar panels installed, combiner box and charge controller mounted, system working with my camper battery. Just need some batteries. And more patience.....

Two more weeks of patience. My first seeds sprouted. Don't know what I planted but 3 of something came up....

new plants still doing well. Is it ok to get my hopes up?

I added some kale plants to see if they will grow.
This is the start picture 4 of these were transplanted today.

Sump tank floated out of the ground today.... Minor change to it's location, It is now in contact with the bottom of the grow bed. No room for it to go anywhere. I figured it would stay put but somebody (me) left wile refilling the make-up tank and flooded the greenhouse.
The plants that came up are mustard and seem to be growing well. Fish were not concerned at all.

Gene do you still have the bricks in your system? They may well be lifting your pH up constantly.

While your pH is higher than ideal, there are systems that run successfully up that high.

Yes I do have bricks in my system. Will they raise the pH?

cement bricks will raise pH as do concrete blocks.

Clay bricks will only raise pH if there is mortar on them or if the clay particles have limestone mixed in.

Gene,
I was going to mention the bricks as well as checking your gravel media for limestone as it will increase PH as well. Decaying matter such as dead bugs, leaves, and dead fish will spike your system with PH and ammonia as well. Your water looks very murky which tells me you have something leaching into the system.

A dozen goldfish doesn't seem to be near enough for a system that size. I have 33 goldfish in a system with the tank being roughly 45 gallons and a total system volume around 60 gallons. I was having problems with plants not doing well when I started with a dozen fish, so I added 2 dozen more and seen results within days. The only fish I have lost are the 3 that jumped out of my tank. I completed the build on my system in late June and I have a ton of tomatoes almost ripe, cucumbers growing, and bell peppers starting to show up as well.

Where did you source the troughs for your growbeds? I have been looking for some of those myself.

By the way, I am no expert, I just know what worked for me and I am in a similar climate to you.