Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

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Thats bokchoy look at the stem its very thin compared to regulat bokchoy

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7.6 is great - don't do anything..... people would love their systems to be at that level.

I don't think its the media (stones at least), maybe the fines or smaller bits.

system tests are fine. Your little fish are being kept in check by the bacteria in the media - that is good.

if your input water is 6.8 then over a period of time as you replace water it will drop anyway.

the plants are probably something else - as you are in Philippines it is hard to suggest a product.
But you probably want something that is going to give your plants some trace elements,
but from an liquid organic source (not a mineral fertiliser). What sort of products do you have access to ?

Try and avoid anything with too much nitrogen (N) or phosphorous (P) in it.

can you describe some products you can buy so we can comment.

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p.s. the bok choy is fine. they tend to be a bit leggy in AP in my experience and they probably wont head tight like you are used to from the shops. You can pick the leaves and use them all the same. It probably has something to do with light.

but I never get any pak choy, bok choy or lettuce etc to head in my AP.
I just use the leaves anyway no problems.

Ok... So far the only fertilizer i use is a local seaweed extract fertilizer... That they say is all natural i put half a cap ful every 2 to 3 weeks to help... But other than that nothing else..

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OK. That is good. Maybe try something with just a small amount of phosphorous and also potassium.
Can you get bone meal or blood&bone ? You can sprinkle that on the grow bed media and water it in.
Do not put anything in fish water - try just foliar spraying or adding meal as power.
but just try small amounts - don't put too much.

pak choy and bok choy grow exactly like that - little long stems until the leaves get bigger.
I will try and dig up a photo.

these vegetables are types of Brassicas (same as cabbage and broccoli etc)
and have similar nutrient demands - so nitrogen alone is not enough.


also don't bother adding the capful of liquid seaweed to the fish tank.
mix it up as per instructions in a watering can and water it directly on to the plants and grow beds.
again - don't go overboard - if not sure do it at half strength first and make sure it doesn't affect the fish water too much.
By adding it to the plants they will get benefit from it and you can do it *carefully* more frequently.

As you have goldfish you wont get the nutrient loads that people with food type fish get.
So you probably need to add a bit more.

But so far it looks OK - just need to go gently until you get experience in what is required.

here is a pic of a bok choy from my system in2015, and also in a bed among a few different things (on right is one BC) in 2014.
Don't have one when they got bigger, but they got eaten OK in a stir fry.
were not as dense leaf-head like a store brought one, but otherwise were fine.
you can see yours is not dissimilar. I seem to recall it was slow initially and then the leaves got big quite quickly.

Darren

thanks alot for the patience... newbies tend to be antsy hahaha... your pic is similar to my plants so i guess im going the right direction... the reason im so critical now is because i plan to add tilapia to the fish tank and maybe catfish to the sump tank and maybe another grow bed.... but will still see... planted a ginger and is doing good also and spinach is now starting to have bigger leafs also... will wait till january to decide on what next to do... thanks alot!!

Ah. Have you tested your water source after leaving it to sit for 24 hours, just by itself? If it has a lot of dissolved gases in it, that could be artificially lowering the pH, and then after it sits and the gases evaporate out the pH will bounce up to the 'true' level.

good point Mel makes - could maybe go a bit towards explaining your 6.8 to 7.6 rise - but no issue either way because the pH is very good where you are at.

"thanks a lot for the patience... newbies tend to be antsy hahaha... your pic is similar to my plants so i guess im going the right direction... the reason im so critical now is because i plan to add tilapia to the fish tank and maybe catfish to the sump tank and maybe another grow bed.... but will still see... planted a ginger and is doing good also and spinach is now starting to have bigger leafs also... will wait till january to decide on what next to do... thanks alot!! "

no problems, lucky I had that photo. I too got a bit frustrated in the 2011 to 2013 period when trying things - I could never get heads on anything. Just learned to eat them as they were - if I left them too long the bugs got them anyway....

Jan 2013 (summer) was first time I tried Asian Veg - they go really well in AP particularly when it is a bit hot and humid. Spinach will be OK but they like it a bit cooler - so that may affect you if trying to grow English Spinach - I think there are a couple of Asian varieties that are similar to spinach (Chinese Spinach). Otherwise try something like Asian climbing spinach plant (Ceylon Spinach - Malabar) - this is a perennial as well so good all year round in your location.

Now things are developing and you have plans maybe look at a larger fish tank before you go to the tilapia and catfish. Maybe try and get an IBC tote or something of similar volume. It is often much easier to have a sightly larger system Can keep using your barrels for sump.

I'm pretty sure that's tatsoi you've got growing there, not bok choy.

Psteve

its actually called pechay in the seed packet... maybe i translated the name wrong... sorry for that... Pechay is the filipino name that we use...

Haha, I just googled pechay and it comes up as bok choi and pak choi. That looks more like what we call pak choi. Incidentally, the pak choi we planted didn't do very well, Unlike every thing else.

Psteve

the plants i have trued growing are pechay, kangkong and spinach which are doing great and i placed a ginger bulb and is also doing well but i cant seem to get the parsley and lettuce to take off... weird everyone says that the easiest are the green leafy vegetables... plan to make 3 dutch buckets to plant tomatoes... and will take the plunge and buying around 15 tilapias and 5 catfishs for my fish tank and sump tanks to make make more ammonia... any thoughts on my plan?

I have grown both pak choy and bok choy plus a few of the Chinese Broccoli etc.
Gai Lan (GaiLan, KaiLan) also goes well in AP. Also Choi Sum (Choy Sum).

Pak Choy doesn't tend to have the thick white stems of Bok Choy (at least DT Brown seed I got).
Found Pak Choy grew faster (drier here than QLD or Philippines) but it does tend to be leggy and leaves more like Gai Lan.
There is pak choy in that photo of mine.

I had better success with Bok Choy from seedlings than I did with seed.
But always loose head - so mainly just leaves.
Seed tended to go leggy like disisroy. So I started raising in seedling mix then transferred to grow bed.
.
Must try some Bok Choy in my DWC. Spinach gone beserk in it at moment but willbe too hot soon.

[edit] "cant get parsley and lettuce to take off."

lettuce doesn't like humidity or heat. May have to try one of the open meditaranean types like cos lettuce.
rather than the heading types which like it a bit cooler.

classic english parlsey is a bit slow. I like it in AP because in my soil it grows quicker but bolts quicker too.
My AP gets reasonable size after few months and stays that way for quite a while.

Hi everyone... planning to expand my 350 liter system to a 1,350 liter system... planning on buying an ibc tote so i can add more fish and have a more stable system... so far i have a 1,000 liter an hour submersible which i plan to use and add 2 more half drum grow bed the existing fishtank will be the new sumptank.... getting exited but still cautious plan to use bell siphons still what do you guys think? all comments accepted wether good or bad hahahaha have a good day!