Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hey guys,

I put together a quick article on water chemistry in an aquaponic system and how it can affect your bacteria, fish, and plants within the system... Check it out!

http://greenmountainaquaponics.wordpres ... s-crucial/

Tell that to Jaymie.

A pleasant read but huge water changes for nitrites can set your system back.

Edit

Chloride for the fish and increased O2 for the bacteria.

And you can reduce ammonia levels by running your water through zeolite.

Thanks for the edit Sleepe! Glad ya liked it

Nice read

Only if you haven't salted the system already. Even low levels of salt restricts the amount of Ammonia the Zeolite can absorb.

...and zeolite MUST be removed before salting a system, as it will cause the Zeolite to give up, in one big hit, any Ammonia it has absorbed.

Hi 1ET, I would consider rewording this section:
I would start by clearly suggesting people don't add the acid directly into their system.

Also, the reason it's suggested that the top-up water be treated with acid instead, has nothing to do with Chlorine being gassed off, it's so the carbonates will be eliminated from, or greatly reduced in the top-up water. This is so the main system isn't constantly being topped up with more carbonates. This will lead to a natural pH drop in the main system sooner.

Thank you very much Danger!!

For some reason I was under the impression that Hydrochloric acid would release some levels of chlorine into the water which you would not want in your system either..

Here is a little edit and some adjustment:

By lowering the pH with acid in your top off tanks you are allowing the carbonates to be eliminated or greatly reduced. This will lead to a more natural pH drop to occur within the primary system sooner. Essentially, what you are trying to do is lower the buffering capacity of your system. Buffering capacity deals directly to hardness of your water. If you have very hard water (lots of carbonates) it can be difficult to adjust your pH. However, it is still good to have some dissolved carbonates in your system to prevent from large pH swings from occurring.

Hydrochloric acid will add Chloride to the water, which is beneficial to the fish, this is why Hydrochloric is the acid of choice for AP'ers.

I realize this is almost 2 years old, but the link isn't working. I am about to start up my new system and I am trying to read as much as I can about the water and PH. I know as much about aquaponics as an 8 year old