Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

For a few days now, (maybe a week), I have been noticing that my plants have been looking kind of weak. Now my tomato plants have dark area all along the veins of the foliage. My levels are as follows.

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate approx 60ppm

The only other link that there may be is that I had put in approximately 30 feeder gold fish into the system. Which all but 5 have died. I have been removing the dead fish a couple times a day when I see them. The fish show no signs of doing bad before finding them floating. (not sure if it is related or not) as I went and purchased 8 regular gold fish which are all doing fine thus far, (day 4).

The tank is approximately 100 gallons and the bed is 8ft x 1.5 ft wide by 9 in deep. My first thought was that whey I was down to only 5 little feeder fish, that there was something missing or not enough waster for nutrition. Any input will be appreciated.

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I am having the same problem with my tomatoes right now as well. I was actually wondering if it was the cold weather we have been having as mine is outside in a hoophouse that doesn't stay super warm.

My tomato plants are going crazy. They are taking over my green house. My tomato plant that is in dirt and has no green house over it took a big hit the last few nights with the freeze, but it is still alive.

Ronbo,

Are you getting condensation on the greenhouse ceiling that's dripping onto the plants at night? If you are, increase air movement with a fan and there are other things you can try. I'd remove the portion that's dying in case this is a disease (which is what I'm thinking). Got any pics showing the entire plant (it does look a bit light and might have some nutrient issues (these can also show up with diseases)).

Now I remember what I forgot to do... must buy small fan today.

Sorry, I forgot to specify. This set up is in the basement, which is finished and dry. No moisture other than the tank for the fish. It also has central heat and air which blows. (not strong enough to feel a breeze like a fan would produce) The temp is about 68F

The info helps how about those Pics?

So you've only got 5 fish left out of 30???... no wonder your plants have started to look poorly over the last few days...

How long ago did you test your nitrate levels... tomatoes are huge nitrate suckers..

Maybe an issue with light? You said it's a basement setup.

Very probably a part of the problem...

Sorry for the delay, been busy as a one tooth beaver.
Update. I believe that the fish I lost were merely due to them being small "feeder" fish. Pet store says that its pretty normal for them to only live a week or two. SO, I bought 10 bigger gold fish. (Still only about 3 inchs long) Do you feel that I may still need more fish? My nitrate levels are still between 40-60ppm. Ammonia and Nitrite still ZERO.

Even my newly added cucumber plants, (Small 4 leafs) and tiny pepper plants, only about 2 inches tall, don't seem to be growing. And my kale is looking fine, but isn't "growing" near as much as my outside kale. I have the system surrounded with mylar to reflect the light (18 hours per day, as the lights are on a timer) My light source is two 4 foot double bulb florescent fixtures. Keep in mind that the bed is only 18 inches wide and 8 feet long. Although I guess it is possible, I don't think it is a lack of lighting.

Sorry for no additional pics at this time, cant' find my cord to connect my phone / camera to the computer.

Thoughts?

Ron, I had 33 goldfish in my 60 gallon system before the temp swings started killing them. Wouldnt hurt to go with 20 to 30 with as big as your system is

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what kind of temp's do you have inside?

It's possibly a combination of LOW NUTRIMENT, LOW LIGHTING(LUMENS) and probably even LOW TEMP.
Whet is the total WATTAGE for your two Striplight? and average room temp and water temp?

I had a similar issues with my outdoor aquaponic system in Michigan. I had feeder gold fish that died just how you are saying. No sign of problems and bamm! two or three dead everyday. I thought it was a the temp swings but the fish kept dying and I bought regular gold fish and they died the same as the feeders. It seems the virus that hits Koi has a gold fish cousin and the death rate is about 80% that seems right because the remaining fish just stopped dying. That said I did have a couple frogs get into the fish tank and ate some fish.

The tomatoes I had a similar issue. the leaves would turn wilted and yellow etc.. like in your pic. Are you finding this on the lower and mid part of the plants? That is what happened in my system and I just pinched off the affected parts and the plant did find and gave me many tomatoes.


I am having problems posting pics and video in this forum so here is a link to a quick home video I made of my system just before the snow and ice hit. Sorry upfront for the shoddy camera work.

https://www.dropbox.com/sc/fpcpcjr979h5n2e/9slm2aqEAQ


Now many plants are inside and the grow beds are solid ice and gravel.