Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

does the rock dust cover the iron?

also I was up at steve jones and they had iron sulpate for trace elements. Any one know if this can be used instead of Chelated iron.

Sorry to hijack VB

iron sulphate AKA ferrous sulphate is ised as an iron supplement in humans. It can be of use as a foliar spray however may not be very effective in the water due to high ph 7.0 to 7.5

the FeEDDHA chelate works best for high ph

but hey, AP is uncharted waters, so give it a go! Iron content of the ferrous sulphate is 20%

Here ya go Nick MinPlus elements

You can have a kilo or 2 of mine if you want to give it a try

thanks les but will pop up to steve jones and get some for myself. the iron content looks good so will pop it in and should be all good.

A few other questions which again might be answered else where, but does it dissolve slowly like the shell grit and such, thus providing long term supplementation? VB have you noticed any changes to your system since using it? are you having to supplement any more?

I started out and added 100g or more and the tank water went real dirty, cleared up within 2 days but - so it dissolves in the water, not as slow as shellgrit

I've added 2 new GBs and have been adding 10g/week (cubic metre of gravel), only keeping this up for the 1st month tho - will be cutting this down to ~10g/month/m3 (I don't like monthly feeds coz I'll prolly forget - Monya calls it alzheimers)

Of the 3 fish that I chucked in the purging tank 2 & a 1/2 weeks ago, I have eaten 1 (filleted and crumbed) and given 1 to Les, who shared it with his wife last night (baked). This is on top of the one I ate straight out of the tank.

The last of the 3 fish is still in the purge tank - poor bugger. Good news is I stopped any water changes about a week ago. Although the fish have continued to produce ammonia as they metabolise their fat store, the biofilter that I started afresh on the purge tank seems very close to being fully cycled. Although I started getting some nitrate within the first week, the filter was not fully handling the ammonia and nitrite. However now the ammonia is 0. Nitrite is still 1, but I expect that within a couple of days this will be under control. The nitrobacter have been a bit slower in multiplying to the required level. Nitrate is currently between 10 and 20.

Added a pic I took weekend before last. Still makes my mouth water.

Yep, that picture still makes my mouth water too VB.. How was the skin, not too chewy?

Looks like it would melt in your mouth, nice!

I don't like fish all that much, but that certainly looks delicious!

The one I was graciously given (450g) tasted delicious....baked it whole then peeled the skin off....now can't wait to compare my SP (they're only ~200g atm)

Highly recommend jade as a good eating fish....and very filling - wife and I went halves and the one satisfied our hunger (used bits from the AP garden toooooo )

The one I was graciously given (450g) tasted delicious....baked it whole then peeled the skin off....now can't wait to compare my SP (they're only ~200g atm)

Highly recommend jade as a good eating fish....and very filling - wife and I went halves and the one satisfied our hunger (used bits from the AP garden toooooo )

I take it Les that that's one [s]post[/s] vote from you.... and one [s]post[/s] vote from your wife

Should put a decent update together sometime soon. In the meantime, here are a couple of pics of my poor grow-bed and plants killed by frost. Pulled the paw paw out - the die back caused by the frost gave me the excuse I needed. Bloody thing was taking up far too much room and the roots are right through the bed. I've had to leave most of the roots in there, many as thick as your thumb, to rot out. Impossible to remove them.

VB do you think it was wet feet(root rot) that killed it.