Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

i have been doing aquaponics for a few years now.
I have had minor problems but was able to fix them
This year ive had real problems growing tomatoes
Ihave planted seedlings of many different varieties.
Iniitially for the first week or so they see to grow normally
Then they seem to stop.It looks as if they are not taking up the nutrients
The roots dont grow.Some produce flowers and baby tomatoes
but the whole plant looks tired and withered.I get sick of looking at them
and pull them out.Ive tried lots of times.
My ph is 6.8
ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates highest reading on my chart
my nitrates have been high since day1.

i have tried adding eco rose
chelated iron
seasol.
Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong
I would really appreciate it if someone could help me with this problem
thank you very much Ravel

It could be a number of things. I've done a lot of reading and from what I can gather, I think you just need to give them a chance.
Maybe add some seasol. Don't have too much salt in our system either, while tommies are more tolerant than strawberries, they still can't run too much salt. Stay below 3ppt.
If you could post pictures that will help us diagnose what's going on.

-K98

What and how much are you feeding the fish? How many fish do you have?

Thank you both for answering
First i dont know what my salt content is
and i dont know how to measure it
I found an old plant completely withered.
I checked the roots and found small bug like things
too small to photograph.They had a green head with a cone shaped body
I am just wondering if these were the problems and what are they

secondly to answer the next reply.I have fifty jade perch in a 1300 litre water tank
the water flowsfrom there via 2 90 mm upright stormwater pipes with holes in the bottom
to a ibc pump tank.It is then pumped to the 5 grow beds with auto siphons.which then goes back into the fish tank by gravity
i feed the fish 4mm aqua feed from Ridley and also lettuce from my garden
the fish were slow eating over winter but at the moment i am feeding them 500 grams
They would eat more but the nitrates have been so high and i was trying loads of tomato plants to try and use them up
but it didnt work.I have lotd of shallots basil some squash parsley rhubarb that seems to be growing quite well

I cant think of much more to tell you and i would like to thank you again for your help ravel

Wow 500 grams! I feed 30 8-10" trout 30 grams a day feed more and its on the bottom.

Can you share some images of your plants? for the better understanding of the problem.

Regards,
Murray Hallam
Consultant in Queensland
https://www.backyardaquaponics.com

Murray
thanks for answering.
Since my last visit to the forum I have planted a few
more trial tomato seedlings.When I saw that you had answered
the tomato pest problem I checked them.They seemed at one
stage to be growing okay but they are definitely retarded.
I think I planted them almost two months ago.The plant is withering
and the roots haven't got any bigger.I checked the gravel around the
roots and I found two more of those snail periwinkle look alike things
They ,I think are definitely the problem.I have other plants rhubarb parsley
cucumber squash basil leeks and shallots which are doing good
I'm just wondering if you know what these things are and how do I get rid of them
I enclose two pictures .The photography leaves a lot to be desired but that's about
the best I can do
One of the bugs looks like it has long legs but that's just a bit of straw.They have
small legs on their front green bit and they can crawl around.
I would really like to thank you again I do appreciate it Ravel