Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Running constant flood now.
Tests today
Ammonia- 0
Nitrite- 0.25-0.5
Nitrate- about 80
Ph is coming down now too. Currently about 7.2

Will be feeding twice a day now. Will have to get the wife to feed in the morning and I'll feed in the arvo. They don't feed at 6:30am for some reason. Maybe still too dark for them.

I think I will hold off adding iron chelate to see what happens when the ph is a bit lower. It isn't too bad at the moment and the caulis are only a week or 2 from harvesting.

Hey Rob I'm no expert but what I went thru I would hold off the the feed for a bit with the nitrites if they go over the 1.0 mmark also check the low pH you might be going thru the same thing I am at the moment correct me anyone if I'm on the wrong track

Yeah Rod, ammonia and nitrites are both potentially poisonous to the fish. So if the nitrites continue to rise then be careful.

Regards, Martin.

Use the TAN chart as ur bible during the cycling process

hey rob, welcome to the forum , your system looks great .
I'm no expert either but yer watch the levels of ammonia an nitrites as I'm learning now ,
if u want to catch up at all there is a few of us in bunbury
good luck matey

Ammonia is 0
Nitrite is hovering around 0.5 the last couple of days
Nitrate is up around 60-80ish

Last couple of days they have had 2 smaller feeds rather than one big. I will give them a light feed today and if Nitrites are still present, none Sunday.

I have moved my pump a bit to try collect the solids that are settling in the tank that I am having to scoop out. Will see how that goes.

I am noticing a fairly big gap in sizes of trout so when I fed now, I try to spread it across as much of the surface as possible to give the smaller ones a better chance at having a feed.

Cauliflower are close to being harvested, and with the nitrates high still, I will need to throw a few more plants in when they come out.

Might make a start on making the second growbed in the next week or so.
Might even take a silver out this weekend for dinner

Yea Hezzy if I am free when you guys meet up, ill pop round

Hi Rob you also mentioned your pH coming down I took reading with low pH bottle and mine is 6,0 to 6.4 I will have to buffer my system soon

Yea the ph should naturally come down when maturing. Once it is in the mid 6 I will be happy. I am using the low ph test as it is below 7.4.

I am going to shut down a couple of aquariums I have and one has a digital ph meter in so will set that up in this for more accurate reading.

Hmmm... No feed at all for the weekend.
I moved the pump in the tank to try collect more of the solids but done the opposite. Scooped out waste from the tank and there was more than normal.
Tests were
Ammonia- 0.5
Nitrite- 1
Nitrate- 80
The system was definitely cycled months ago so strange readings. Must be over feeding.

Tested my tank with my ph meter


Changed a bit of water out to try help with nitrite. If it climbs any more I will add salt.

Fish look happy.
Plants look good.

You can see the green is starting to darken. From what I understand it is because the ph has dropped and now allows the plants to uptake the iron.

You seem like your onto it rob good luck hope levels come down for you

Nice work Rob.

I had a few weird things going on last week ended up being mushy solids blocking up the grill on pump

I have found that too rod especially when I run constant flow for a while. As soon as I switch back to timer the solids drop off the pump and problem solved


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I actually took the cover off the pump and cleaned it yesterday
Good minds think alike hey?

Tests this morning are much better
Ammonia- 0 (always looks like in between 0 and 0.25)
Nitrite- <0.25
Nitrate- 40