Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

If the ammonia is still sitting on 0.25, I wouldn't be worried to be honest. If you got the system from the other guy, he might have been horribly overstocked or something, and there is still lots of solids in the media?

I'd say add some worms in the mean time, if there is solids/something in the media, they'll munch down on it, and just grow some fruit and veg and stop stressing.

There is a chance you've got nitrates that are being converted, but the plants are using them up quickly, I found my first nitrate reading in two years yesterday!

I would have thought the fish that have been in there would have produced enough Ammonia to get things moving... what have you been feeding them?

If you do decide to add NH4OH, you don't want your fish in there when the Ammonia levels peak, at that high pH it will do them no good at all.

However, high pH will help the bacteria get established. The Ammonia spike will be followed by high Nitrite, so you may have to accommodate your fish elsewhere while things get going. It's hard to say how long it might take, there has to be some bacterial action happening, but it appears to be at a very low level.

Also try to get the DO levels up even if it is just a temporary measure and try to hold the ph just below 8 until the system brings it down.

Although, with Adelaide water, there is a chance that it won't come down naturally.

I've been going three years, and it's still sitting at the 7.8 mark, and I've checked my media for limestone several times. I think they add limestone in the water treatment process. We are on other sides of the state though, it might come from a different source.

To think i have been trying to stop what should have been happening....derrr lesson learnt...hopefully

Worms ...are we talking worm farm guys or earth worms?

Fish food .... mainly small pellets (from the guy in Victoria) crush them slightly and occasionally flakes (they really go crazy over them) but that was all two weeks ago. Poor sods must be hungry by now, might tempt them tomorrow.

NH40H Potassium?

My thinking is to siphon some system water into a vertical blue barrel, add a pump and airstone to circulate and add oxygen this water then transfer fish into tank. Then I can start adding ?? & ?? & ??

DO.... dissolved oxygen? shoit I may be learning something.. how do I add extra. Or how do I test for this and is their a rate it should be?


THanks guys, it seems as if I having been trying to stop something that was trying to help my system.

No Colum its all from Murray River. Ive been put onto a local contact with SA Water who should be able to give me a real reading of whats in our tap water. We are only renting at present and where down pipes come down there is very little room for a tank, but will check out whats available in rarrow ones

Worm farm worms.

They won't fix everything, but they'll help eat plant roots, and that sort of thing.

NH4OH = Ammonium hydroxide, or a solution of Ammonia in water

DO.... dissolved oxygen? shoit I may be learning something.. how do I add extra. Or how do I test for this and is their a rate it should be?

Very few test for this as meters are expensive.
Think about it like this; all (for practical purposes and ignoring photosynthesis)) organisms in your water are constantly using O2, so the ratio of O2 in your water is out of balance with the ratio of O2 in the atmosphere. The more organisms you have the greater the imbalance.
This imbalance is corrected at the water air interface where gas pressures try to equalise. So you are not adding O2 in a manner of speaking, you are trying to increase the interface to allow this equalisation to occur.
In practical terms airstones, a more splashing return to the FT, turning the surface of the FT over more rapidly, better FT circulation etc allow this to happen.
The bacteria that convert ammonia to nitrite to nitrate use oxygen, the better the balance the faster they can process this.
Hope that made sense.

thank you Colum, have 50 arriving shortly.

Gunagulla

NH4OH = Ammonium hydroxide, or a solution of Ammonia in water .... thanks, as I said fish into spare tank add this to moooove things along.

Sleepe.

Yup that is understandable, considering how much water turbulence I have and turning over 1.5 - 2+ times an hour I think we are okay with that.

Heres hoping guys.

Its not unusual. Delivery standards in Australia are notionally 7-8 but 6.5-8.5 is often within acceptable limits.
Groundwater often can be higher pH. Also when water is of a lower quality there can be quite a bit of buffering in the treatment process.

Perth varies from consistent 7 south or river and 8 north of river (with hard water and pipe scale issues).
They used to shandy it a bit, but we have seen high pH 8-8.5 raised by Perth forum members.

Just something got to adapt to. It is what it is.

[edit] the only other real option is trying maintain a good volume of rainwater [which is typically acidic <7]. But summer top ups will ultimately then result in pH swings anyway unless you want to dedicate a rainwater tank of decent volume for summer top up use.

Guess the only other option is to RO, filter or treat the water and store as an auxiliary supply......
but that requires you to be keen or commercial.

todays readings.... PH 7.9 going down ?

Amm between .25 & 0 not there yet though

Nitrites .0

Nitrates .0

yesterday would have changed over 500 litres, added seasol to help the plants colour up. The fish are only goldies and will have to be tough or else die. AND I will wait and wait and wait.

further to this saga,
We have tried or at least thought we had everything, we have a 200 L drum that I smashed with hydrocloric acid and had sitting at PH of 3.5 was thinking of slowly adding into system.

last Monday I decided to get 3 youghurt containers of above water and then add gravel from each bed and see results.

Bed water PH after 15minutes aftter 24 hours after 48 hours
1 3.5 3.9 4.2 4.9
2 3.5 3.9 3.9 3.9
3 3.5 3.9 3.9 3.9

me thinks I have a problem with bed !
I will be bringing a load of new gravel shortly to bring 2 more beds on line so think bed 1 will be changed over. I have already tested a sample of new gravel and its also stable at 3.9

The lettuce in bed 2 taste like #*!#@* never eaten hard rubber texture lettuce before.

Thoughts please

What are your stat's sitting at?

Lettuce could be a few things, like it bolting.

Bed 1 has a few brocilli & garlic just added tomatoes,

bed 2 has the lettuce not bolting

bed 3 has garlic and more garlic.

we also covered the sump tank with shade cloth, hoping that will make a difference, at least stop any chance of algae