Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

My ammonia was high because I missed the part where I was supposed to stop feeding the fish. I stopped around the 8th and the ammonia has dropped considerably since. The question marks just mean I wasn't quite sure but I put the value I thought it was closest too, or the range in some cases.

Good to see you up and running Honeybadger. Hope the finger is better. The high ammonia coupled with high pH is toxic to fish, as is high nitrite. Be careful when measurements are at the extremes of the scales as they can be a lot higher (or lower for pH) than the chart. You really want your ammonia and nitrites to be running at 0 to 0.25ppm once the sytem has cycled.

Pale new growth usually means a deficiency in immobile nutrients such as iron, and high pH can 'lock out' some nutrients even if they are there. Foliar sprays can work when pH is high. New systems can be a bit deficient.

What sort of fishfood are you using? Goldfish flakes don't have enough goodies for your plants. You can add a liquid seaweed product (maxicrop) for potassium and trace elements, and dose with iron chelates - Mr Damage provides advice on rates. Scotty suggests sprinkling blood and bone in the GBs. Use the search function to pull up some info.

pH - 8.2?
Ammonia - 0ish
N02 - 0
N03 - 20-40



My fish food:

that sucks about the aphids. Try introducing some jumping spiders! they will take care of all your bug problems!

Any idea where I could get myself some jumping spiders? I've been spraying them off with cold water but it doesn't seem to be having much of a permanent effect.

Really anywhere outside. Just look for the little black spiders with white stripes on their backs, move in very fast short bursts, and jump across gaps. Super easy to find.

Well I didn't find any spiders. I tried a few things for the aphids but I think I ended up hurting the plants more than helping them. All the new leaves were turning black at the tips and curling and all the flowers were dying and falling off. I decided to cut my losses and pulled every plant that had aphids/damage from me.

So, after another trip to Art Knapp's I've got peppers: Round 2

Our jumping spiders here on the coast have red backsides. I've seen a few in the greenhouse, so that is probably good.
One of my local garden centers has ladybugs right now, and I believe they are the predator of choice for aphids. May be worth looking for you?
By the way, Looks good.

@Gingerbread Man - I looked into using beneficial insects to take care of the aphids, but as my system is located inside my apartment I didn't think releasing a few hundred ladybugs or lacewings was really a preferred solution. I ended up just pulling all the infected plants and starting over. It only cost about $15 for the new batch of peppers.

The pH results I got today have me baffled. The regular pH range is too blue to chart, like normal, but the high pH range test is really reddish/pink, unlike anything on the card. I tested the high twice and got the same result. I then tried my tap water and got a clear 8.2. Any suggestions??

Very cool indoor attempt !

Fart, I thought I had problems, but I take my hat off you you USA guys the thought of growing indoors holy moly man your either totally dedicated and commited or your insane