Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

We built our system in July, cycled without fish through August and September, then got our bluegill. It has been a difficult time.
The design is a small system that utilizes agricultural stock watering tanks, one shallow one (the GB) stacked on top of the larger 100 Gallon fish tank.
It is located in a south facing insulated solarium.
Our pH has been really LOW , and now there are crystals forming on the hydroton.
And, yes, the fish have expired.
We've now added a bacterial supplement and a dose of kelp, and are keeping it running and at about 60 degrees F.
Too early for plants, but hopefully we'll get this water chemistry worked out so that some fish can survive.
Our system runs great and is a good size for our small space, if only we could get the water right!
Can't wait to spend some more time here.

Welcome Jason. It is never too early for plants. It is in a solarium, so temperature should not be an issue. Get some winter vegetables in there. Brassicas are always a good winter choice. As for adding supplements, be careful. The bacteria supplement you added probably died off due to the low ph. Depending on how active your system is you can raise it a couple of different ways. The gentlest way is with shell grit in a sock. It will buffer in the low ph, causing it to raise. The more aggressive way is with brickies lime. You have no fish right now, so adding directly to the system is acceptable. However do not do it once the fish are in. When you have fish, you add it to your topup water. Gradual adjustments only once you have fish, or you will kill them. Crystals on the hydroton is normal. What are your stock tanks made of? Plastic is okay, galvanized steel is not.

The tanks are rubbermaid stock tanks. The GB is the 50 Gal.
What do you think caused the pH to drop so much? The water I put in initially was rain water (around 6. and tap (around 10.5, and chlorine was evaporated off).
Thank you for the info.

What is the ph reading, and the water temp?
What's the water cycling arrangement (constant flow, flood drain, etc)?
Is the water in contact with any other materials?
I'm no expert, they are just questions that popped into my head when trying to imagine your setup. And they are some of the Q's people asked when trying to diagnose some of my early problems. Pics?

Oh, and welcome!

I still have chard, broccoli, spinach, onions and herbs growing in my GH beds. It has dropped as low as 21deg f in there and they bounce right back when the sun warms it. The only plant I lost was celery. The drain for the beds froze up so I haven't ran the pump for several days. The bluegill have survived and still eat with water temp at 37.

Tallman, the water was at about 5, and it is a flood and drain system, using a bell siphon that was inspired by Meg's 365 aquaponics system. It is a closed system, so the chances of contamination are low. No cleaners were used, the tanks were well rinsed and set in the summer sun, the hydroton was washed...that's why we were surprised to see the pH drop so much. Some of the fish got fungus too. ugh.
Now, we're keeping it at 60F and contemplating adding lime after a 20% water change before adding fish again.

Rairdog, That info is encouraging. Maybe we won't have to heat so much after we get fish established.

Has anyone had any luck getting bluegills to feed in a black tank? They did not seem to see the food in there...
Thank you.

Jason, Did you use the actual Hydroton brand or another? I had to scrap my 1st system due to a bad batch of Plant It. Constantly dropped my ph to the high 4's.

I just started again w/ gold label hydrocorn and it seems to be ph neutral (it floats though).

Spicy1,
It was not Hydroton, but another brand from a hydro grow store. I've changed some of the water out, added some bicarbonate, and it is now at about 7.2.
If that grow media is bad, wouldn't hydro growers have issues too?

Hello,

Also in Appleton , interested in building my own system, would love to see what others
have done. How they have met the challenges of our location.

Ok one .... Winter.