Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

How about thoee Jades Steve - tough biggers. They are not going to take kindly to not being fed. I seem to have lost my digital thermometer, so had to put an old floating one in the aquarium. Its been in there for over an hour and they are still rising to it now and again and trying to eat it .

Checked PH again (post water change). It is now closeer to 6 - though not quite there. I reckon it was definitelly below 5 before .

Wow, thats got damn low VB.........

Have you got a bit of lime you could stick into the tank?

I have PH up EB - but Steve always says not to do those sudden ph changes or the high ammonia might kill the fish. Unless you all think otherwise, I will do another water change tomorrow night, which should bring the PH up further again

VB, Id say that most of the damage is already done and your water changes are saving the rest from dieing. I think a slow raise in ph as you do your water changes is the best way to go, less stress for the fishies. (all this comming from a novice)
And watch your fingers they just maybe hungrey enough this time to get ya.

Its more that the toxicity of the ammonia (if large quantites are present) will go up 10 fold or more.

If its any consolation to you VB i tested my indoor perch aquarium last night, as i have just got a new "shipment" of shells (from when mum went to the beach), and i have not had any in there nor have i been buffering ph or testing it. It measured 6.0 which was as low as my test kit went (so it may well have been lower).

I immediatly tested ammonia and found it to be 4.0 ppm

I had not the strength not the time to do a huge water change, so i placed 4 LARGE shells in there. They were not your typical hard shells, but more of a chalky flaky type, so i assume the will dissolve faster. Any way, i have just tested ph again now, 24 hrs later and it is still bottomed out on the chart.

I think the shells are better at keeping the ph right rather than adjusting it. Still, i will wait until i can change some water out rather than simply buffer it back up again becasue of the ammonia PPM, changing the water out will both reduce the ammonia and raise the ph again (i know i've said this before )

What i was trying to do was bring the ph back up Slowly over 3 or four days so that the nitrifiers would start working again and reduce the ammonia as the ph was comming back up

This is just my opinion from what theory i have gathered. If it makes sense go for it, if not then please feel free to debate it. A good debate should always result in pepole becoming more enlightened

Steve

Forget baking soda your plants hate it, it's salt.

My best guess is that you have inadequate KH. Have you measured the TDS of your source water? While not always the case, an initial TDS of 100-200 ppm will give adequate KH, while a lower reading will almost certainly need supplementation. An easy thing to do is to measure a portion of source water and pour into a pot. Test the TDS. Boil the water for twenty minutes, let cool, then pour in enough distilled or RO water to bring it back up to a gallon. Test the TDS again. The drop in TDS is KH. A large drop indicates high KH, small drop indicates low KH. This works because the carbonates in heated water rapidly change to CO2 and then evaporate out of solution. It is important that you use RO or distilled water to bring the volume back up to the same level as it was before you started heating the water, or your measurements won't be valid.

If it isn't your KH it's probably that you have root rot somewhere. An anaerobic zone somewhere in your pipes, tank, or bed.

You may need potassium bicarbonate. Potassium bicarbonate will increase your KH, which will increase your pH buffering capacity. This may or may not be what you intend according to the above test results.. If not, try looking at potassium hydroxide. This will raise your pH and leave the KH virtually intact.

Are you using rainwater in a built up area or had winds coming directly from industrial areas lately?

Stopped tap water and using only rainwater?

AA - am using tapwater. You may be right about the root rot, as the plants in the system are not doing well because there is no direct sunlight.

One strange thing is that I left the water from the second test in the vial overnite. This morning the colour had changed and showed as PH 7. I did a retest on the aquarium and it is back to 5 (according to the test). The fish all look happy, though hungry, so I will wait until tonight and do another water change. I am not sure I am up to doing that KH test AA. See how energetic I am when I get home tonight. Maybe it is time I got a decent kit.

Tested ph when I got home tonight. Is 5 still. Will do another significant water change tonight (waiting for water to heat up to the temp of the fish tank). The tap water is about 7 - 7.5, so this will up the ph. Fish all seem happy enough.

Yeh, the sodium in the bi-carb is not like to much by plants, but a once off should be ok.

KH is the key as AA stated. A water with a higher KH has a higer "resistance" to swing low (which is a natural part of the bacteria by-products)

Calcium carbonate (shells) will slowly raise KH.

If you are using straight tap water (and your supply has a low KH, which is most) and your type of gravel is not high in carbonate material (or you don't use gravel at all) then expect to do REGULAR ph adjustments, like minnamurra does with potassium hydroxide (like caustic soda, but the potassium variant)

Will have to get some shells to put in the bed I think. The one over the aquarium is not gravel, it is hydroton. Should I put in some ph up (sodium bicarb) and do you know how much I should use. The directions are useless. If I put some in I will do it tomorrow, and do the water change tonight (still watiting for it to heat up).

Dunno how much VB. The way i would do it, is to pull out a known quantity line 10 Litres in a bucket, then add a table spoon of bicarb and stir well until dissolved and then test ph. You can then ratio the number of spoons up by 200 for a 2000L tank!

don't shift the PH by too mcuh though

Steve

Thanks mate - pretty obvious but had not thought of it. I will do 1 litre in a jug. Luckily it is just my 200l aquarium, so don't have to treat too much water.

go with tea spoons then if you are doing 1L

Also don't make it a habit with the bi-carb, lants won't like you if you do I wonder if i can start selling sea shells over the net

Would egg shells do anything for me? BTW, my pond system has been operating at about 5ppt salt and this has had not obvious effects on the plants. Growth is great and roots have gone mental also.