Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Theses are the tomatoes 24hrs later.
Planted in water vs not planted.

Just sharing breakfast time.

I think it's a combination of the baking soda and the algae. Your pH may be fluctuating depending mostly on what the algae do. I'm not real comfortable with a pH of 9. The goldfish can probably handle it and eventually it should come down. If it doesn't start coming down after the system has cycled or if you want to lower it before that then you can use Hydrochloric acid (aka muriatic acid) to adjust the top up water to a pH of 6.5. By only adjusting the top up water, then adding this to the system, it allows the system pH to change gradually (much safer for the fish and other critters).

One interesting note - Hydrochloric acid and baking soda give you water, CO2 and NaCl (table salt). Shouldn't be enough salt to be an issue - just don't add any more baking soda to the system

Thanks Scotty. You are very helpful.
I thought maybe the algae had something to do with my PH spike.
I'm adding plants hoping they will help get the algae under control. I am really at a loss, I feel like the algae is winning the war. I swear my pond is getting greener by the hour.
I will continue to battle it out.
Today I thought I'd see how some Basil would go just anchored by rocks in the water and I read somewhere that cannalilies also do well in water. So I went through my garden and uprooted a couple of plants and they have been added to my anti algae artillery.
Hopefully once all my plants are in full swing there will be no concerns of algae.

Shading the water will help with the algae until you can get more plants growing (or they get bigger).

Is there any fish or plants that might help keep the algae under control better?
I have 4 sucking catfish in the pond to try and help keep things clear but given how bad things are getting maybe it should be 400.

I can't really shade it. It's 1.8 meters across or 5'9" (approx) and unless I spend the whole day ensuring an umbrella doesn't fall over I really don't have a way to shade it without turning off the pump and putting a tarp over it probably killing off my plants faster than the algae.
And I can't build anything over the top due to it's location.
We have just finished summer here so the cold weather and dark days are coming hopefully that will help give me an advantage.

Hey mate have you thought of freshwater mussles to eat the algea ? The Freshwater Mussel Velesunio ambiguous is a native of Queensland, NSW and Victoria and a very tough, hardy species that thrives in still static water. Most rivers in Eastern Australia have species of mussels in them but these are river mussels and unsuitable for the still, static water found in wetlands and dams. River mussels require flowing water to breed and survive and will not multiply in static water. The Flood Plain Mussel Velesunio ambiguous is a mussel that thrives in static water and will readily breed and multiply to massive numbers if the conditions are right.

And you get to eat them as well
Cheers Buddha

Thanks Buddha,
The guy at the fish shop suggested muscles but he really seemed weird about it, it seemed more like he just wanted to sell me the expensive thing rather than listening to my needs. He came across like a used car salesman. I went in to get plants and he is trying to sell me muscles. Maybe I should have got some. But I felt like he was trying to sell me something I didn't need. ( like buying a 12 seater family wagon when all I need is a 2 door run about)
I did a bit of reading today on muscles and well they seem like a good idea. Maybe not the family wagon I thought he was trying to sell me.
Thanks again for your help.

If Tilapia are legal where you are and you can keep the temp high enough for them, they could help

Unfortunately Scotty Talapia are illegal in Australia ,
Kat make sure you get the breed of Muscle i mentioned as most need running water , i would get them from someone like these guys , http://www.aquablueseafoods.com.au/index.shtml

Thanks Everyone,
Buddha I have brought some mussels, they should arrive tomorrow.
I purchased the velesunio ambiguus variety (they are the ones that like still or slow water currents.
So fingers crossed they will help.
From what I've read each mussel can "polish" 10 gallons or 38 liters of water a day so I have 10 coming, and whilst I'm not sure how much water is actually in the pond (I'm not counting buckets) they should defiantly make a dent in the algae at least until the plants take off.
I also got some PH down today and have added a very small dose to the pond as I don't want to change the PH too quickly.
So hopefully my pond will be a wonderful place for all my plants and animals to enjoy very soon.

NATIVE freshwater mussels (Velesunio ambiguus) on Gumtree http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/1106301634
That's the mussels I got.
My local fish shop only had 1 and he was $16.50
So this seemed like a much better deal.

I just wanted to let you know (especially thanks to Buddha) that since my mussels arrived on Wednesday my pond is a good 20% clearer. And my tank is probably 70% from one mussel.
So they are doing their job really well 48hrs in and things are looking clearer.
The pond I worked out is just shy of 5000lts so it's a big clean up job.
And with 9 goldfish ( and 5 guppies) funking it up and not being part of the clean up crew (2 gravel cleaning catfish, 4 sucking catfish and 9 mussels) I think they are doing a great job.

I used Hydrochloric acid to lwer ph, but had to lower it around .2 - .4 ph per day so I did not kill the fish.

The reason mine spiked was that the scoria I used for media had concrete on it which raised the ph substantially.

Just put some of yours into some vinegar and see if if bubbles to test it. If is has, either replace it with scoria that does not contain lime (which is in concrete), or be resigned to adding acid each day (which is not something you want on your hands), or take out the fish and blast it with acid to burn off the lime (not recommended)

Also, that pump will cost you a fortune. Get a 1500 lph one that uses 30 or so watts.

350W for 24hs is 8.4 Kw per day.

our household of 6 people uses just on 12 Kwh per day.

Your electricity bills will almost double and 7500lph is overkill for what looks like a 1200l system. (n my calculations of your first post.)