Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi, this may seem a strange situation with what appears to be low nutrient production.

I check at least weekly the status of the water for my system. The stats are showing a balanced system, low ammonia, low nitrites, low nitrates and produce growing BUT slowly according to aquaponics reports.

This a hybrid system of media growbeds (2), 2 x 3 metre long NFT tubes (28 lettuce). The NFT tube are via 2 x no product DWC beds (not in use).

The media beds are fed by gravity from a 200 litre fish tank from a sump tank on a flood/drain basis. The NFT are fed on a seperate pump from the same sump.

Growth appears to be slow of "bench mark" products like lettuce.

The fish in the tank are tropical, small ish, Xiphos, freshwater fish are difficult to find here. There is 50 + in the tank, happy and the group is expanding.

The above is a short outline of the setup. My question is:

Is it right to add a small amount of ammonia, say 25% or amount used in cycling the system after the "spike" to produce more nutrients whilst waiting for the fish stock to increase.

Some comments would really be appreciated, in my location I think I a on my own. The location has an average temperature of 25 C year round.

Thanks for any comments.

Or add a few goldfish and increase feeding... bumped mine right up!

What fish feed are you using? I wouldn't add ammonia just to boost the levels.
If you are getting a nitrate reading at all then you have more than enough nutrients, I've not had a rate reading for over a year and it still produces.
Add some seaweed solution for adding trace elements to give the plants a boost. I've not had the huge plant growth either but it's still maturing and I can see the difference from last year.
Hth.

Thanks for your comments. I am feeding the fish with JBL Tropical Basic Flakes. In a couple of days I will be adding Mosquito larva.

I will try some seaweed solution, is that usually a product from a garden centre or pet store? We don't have stores like Wallmart and Home Depot.

History. Whilst waiting to get some fish for the system and before starting to cycle the system I used some Hydro Supermix to start some growth and checkout the pipework tanks and pumps. This would contain the trace elements, this should give the plants a boost, but I wonder whether is would affect the fish. I read somewhere that some use a Hydro mix when taking down the fish tank for maintenance or some other reason when there are no fish.

My little system is having similar problems. I've been dosing it with liquid Kelp to try and keep the plants going and it worked for a while but has now stopped.

I think my real problem is the lack of minerals in my water - iron, calcium, and potassium. This might be something for you to look into as well.