All Discussions Tagged 'help' - Aquaponic Gardening2024-03-29T12:02:43Zhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/forum/topic/listForTag?tag=help&feed=yes&xn_auth=noHigh Nitrates NFTtag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2018-07-25:4778851:Topic:6534542018-07-25T23:06:47.003ZRachel Schipullhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/RachelSchipull
<p>I work in a restaurant that has a 800 gallon NFT aquaponics system inside the restaurant. We have been in operation for 4 years, and about a year ago our nitrates skyrocketed to over 160 ppm and we haven't been able to get them back down. We've just purchased a lower protein food for the fish, which would go from 40% protein to 28% protein, but I don't have any data on this yet. We've done massive water exchanges, but it doesn't seem to impact the high level of nitrates. We've also added…</p>
<p>I work in a restaurant that has a 800 gallon NFT aquaponics system inside the restaurant. We have been in operation for 4 years, and about a year ago our nitrates skyrocketed to over 160 ppm and we haven't been able to get them back down. We've just purchased a lower protein food for the fish, which would go from 40% protein to 28% protein, but I don't have any data on this yet. We've done massive water exchanges, but it doesn't seem to impact the high level of nitrates. We've also added bacteria to the system to help the plants take up nitrates, which seems to help for 2-3 days, but not long term. I think we might need to increase plant density, but in the space that we have and in a NFT system it doesn't seem possible. Considering that the system was pretty robust for 3 out of 4 years, and now we're seeing this issue, I'm not sure what changed. The fish seem healthy, but I'm starting to see stress in the plants, like maybe they aren't getting enough calcium? The pH is right between 6.6 and 6.8 and our nitrites and ammonia levels are at 0. Being indoors, the water temp is almost always 75 degrees F.</p>
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<p>Basically my question is if anyone has seen this issue before and if there are any troubleshooting ideas for reducing nitrates that do not involve massive water changes. Thanks.</p> less then a week away from adding fish, final thoughts on heating options for my set up. **newbietag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2016-02-24:4778851:Topic:6249042016-02-24T01:11:48.722ZJordan Gonzaleshttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/JordanGonzales
<p>im new here and to the aquaponic world. i live in oklahoma so weather is very un predictable. last weekend i built a 10x12 hoop house. i did not use greenhouse plastic i want to make sure this is something i will enjoy before investing that much. i have one 230 gal ibc tote. i plan on trying to use a raft system, a grow bed and the PVC pipe sytem with net pots to see what i like more. i will be using a sump tank and pump. i plan on building grow beds with 2x12's and using lava rock. i dont…</p>
<p>im new here and to the aquaponic world. i live in oklahoma so weather is very un predictable. last weekend i built a 10x12 hoop house. i did not use greenhouse plastic i want to make sure this is something i will enjoy before investing that much. i have one 230 gal ibc tote. i plan on trying to use a raft system, a grow bed and the PVC pipe sytem with net pots to see what i like more. i will be using a sump tank and pump. i plan on building grow beds with 2x12's and using lava rock. i dont want to use gravel for i am renting so prtable is a must. before i make the grow beds i want to stock the tanksahead of time to get it nice dirty. planning on doing this this coming weekend.</p>
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<p>first question, do i need between the time i stock fish and build grow beds? about 2 weeks.</p>
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<p>second question, i seen the water heater post using elements. awesome idea, but will that work with my ibc tote. and my none greenhouse plastic? it is 4 mill contractors plastic.</p>
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<p>if it does how much do i cyscle it. 15 minutes on the hour? or is this something i will have to tinker on to fine tune.</p>
<p>oklhoma weather.... 80 f one day...25 the next. i have a free starter supply of some full grown tilapia.. dont want to lose them the first day. thank you guys!</p> Azolla for stagnant water & disease controltag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2015-12-07:4778851:Topic:6196412015-12-07T19:40:25.534Zshrinihttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/shrini
<p>Hi, <br></br><br></br>I am from Chennai, India and we have a flood situation right now here, and there are stagnant water everywhere and lot of health issue might come due to it. I have azolla with me in my garden and was wonder if it can be used to fight back problem due to this stagnant water. Can we use azolla or any other natural water plant to control any kind of problem from stagnant waters, heard it good against mosquitoes and also purifies water. A little help from experts would be a lot of…</p>
<p>Hi, <br/><br/>I am from Chennai, India and we have a flood situation right now here, and there are stagnant water everywhere and lot of health issue might come due to it. I have azolla with me in my garden and was wonder if it can be used to fight back problem due to this stagnant water. Can we use azolla or any other natural water plant to control any kind of problem from stagnant waters, heard it good against mosquitoes and also purifies water. A little help from experts would be a lot of help for people here in Chennai, India. <br/><br/>Thank you<br/>Shrini</p> Could use some help...tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2015-03-30:4778851:Topic:6014922015-03-30T22:32:47.652ZDon Basshttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/DonBass
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<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I've recently built a new media bed/DWC system. It's supplied by an approx. 900 gal. pond system. I had great success with my initial set up which was just a 4' X 4' media bed with pea gravel and two zip grow towers. We had tons of Kale, Chards and Collards.</p>
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<p>The new system is a 4' X 10' media bed with Viastone expanded clay for media, and the DWC is 4'X 8' with 4 air stones. As of tonight my pH was approx. 6.6, zero Nitrite and Ammonia, and my…</p>
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<p>Hello all,</p>
<p>I've recently built a new media bed/DWC system. It's supplied by an approx. 900 gal. pond system. I had great success with my initial set up which was just a 4' X 4' media bed with pea gravel and two zip grow towers. We had tons of Kale, Chards and Collards.</p>
<p></p>
<p>The new system is a 4' X 10' media bed with Viastone expanded clay for media, and the DWC is 4'X 8' with 4 air stones. As of tonight my pH was approx. 6.6, zero Nitrite and Ammonia, and my Nitrates were about 30. The temp is upper 60s and my fish are Koi/Goldfish.</p>
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<p>My problem...essentially zero growth, I've had 75% die off and what has survived has barely grown over the course of a month. I added two decent sized Basil starts at about 2" high on Saturday and they are showing some yellowing on the leaves and not looking so hot already. I supplemented with Iron in Jan.</p>
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<p>I would greatly appreciate any input as I really don't know what else to look at! Thank you in advance to anyone willing to try and help me out!</p>
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<p>Don</p> 3 months in, tomato problemstag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2014-06-28:4778851:Topic:5690692014-06-28T20:11:34.112ZJoehttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/Joe446
<p>I'm very new to aquaponics. I started sometime in April and got a very basic setup. 150W HPS light, 2'x2' grow bed with expanded clay media, 2'x2'x6' grow tent, 30 gallon fish tank filled with mollies, flood and drain, 4 tomato plants and a small basil plant growing in it. </p>
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<p>pH - 7.4</p>
<p>Nitrates - very high (100+)</p>
<p>Amonia/Nitrites - 0</p>
<p>Flood/Drain - every 15 minutes</p>
<p>Light - on 17 hours per day</p>
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<p>Photos attached.</p>
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<p>I have gotten 3…</p>
<p>I'm very new to aquaponics. I started sometime in April and got a very basic setup. 150W HPS light, 2'x2' grow bed with expanded clay media, 2'x2'x6' grow tent, 30 gallon fish tank filled with mollies, flood and drain, 4 tomato plants and a small basil plant growing in it. </p>
<p></p>
<p>pH - 7.4</p>
<p>Nitrates - very high (100+)</p>
<p>Amonia/Nitrites - 0</p>
<p>Flood/Drain - every 15 minutes</p>
<p>Light - on 17 hours per day</p>
<p></p>
<p>Photos attached.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I have gotten 3 tomatoes from the plants. One is much more dominant in the grow tent than the others and is about 4' tall. The dominant plant has tons of flowers, a couple small tomatoes, but all the plants show some foliage dropping and necrosis along shoots and stems. </p>
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<p>Any idea what is going on and how to fix it?</p>
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<p></p> pH continually dropping to 5... What the heck is it??tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-07-24:4778851:Topic:4971172013-07-24T02:52:34.205ZDagmarveloushttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/Dagmarvelous
My system is 6 months old and the pH has been dropping since day 1! I can't figure it out and it's driving me bonkers. No dead fish, no dead spots, I even replaced a bed that had pond-liner cuz I thought it might be the culprit. Nope, still dropping! It wants to go below 5! Plants seem happy, I get great squash but mushy tomatoes. And a gigantic pumpkin that is very happy. Fish seem fine as they are eating and making babies, but the fry will die if it gets too low.<br />
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Water out of the tap is…
My system is 6 months old and the pH has been dropping since day 1! I can't figure it out and it's driving me bonkers. No dead fish, no dead spots, I even replaced a bed that had pond-liner cuz I thought it might be the culprit. Nope, still dropping! It wants to go below 5! Plants seem happy, I get great squash but mushy tomatoes. And a gigantic pumpkin that is very happy. Fish seem fine as they are eating and making babies, but the fry will die if it gets too low.<br />
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Water out of the tap is fairly hard, and 8.3 (after sitting a few days in a barrel). I also have a breeding tank (no plants) and pH stays right around 8. But in the outdoor AP system, it drops. I even have 30lbs of crushed coral in the beds and sump. At this point I'm adding a tablespoon of pHUp almost every day. I've read tons of posts, been patient, but I'm at my wit's end. Help please!<br />
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Here's the low down:<br />
CHIFT PIST System<br />
275 gallon Fish Tank<br />
with 30 6" fish and usually some fry<br />
60 gallon sump<br />
3 Growbeds 4'x4'x12" with Hydroton<br />
<br />
Temp is 74<br />
Ammonia .25<br />
Nitrite 0<br />
Nitrate 0-5 (closer to 0)<br />
<br />
Any ideas? Could it be the Hydroton? my nitrite levels just jumped sky hightag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2013-06-17:4778851:Topic:4863162013-06-17T01:18:24.273ZDavid Rieshttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/DavidRies
<p>My system is about a month old. I've got a 150 gallon tank with no fish yet. I've got a grow bed I filled with pea gravel and plenty of healthy vegetables. My grow bed apparently with lime stone in it as well because my ph levels sky rocketed. I've been adding a cap full of seasol a day right off the bat. I stopped that four days ago because my water was turning brown. about a week ago I started adding 150ml of ph down. these past 3 days I haven't been testing anything but my ph…</p>
<p>My system is about a month old. I've got a 150 gallon tank with no fish yet. I've got a grow bed I filled with pea gravel and plenty of healthy vegetables. My grow bed apparently with lime stone in it as well because my ph levels sky rocketed. I've been adding a cap full of seasol a day right off the bat. I stopped that four days ago because my water was turning brown. about a week ago I started adding 150ml of ph down. these past 3 days I haven't been testing anything but my ph which finally came down to 7.2, but when I checked my nitrite levels, they were today5ppm. </p>
<p>I did some research and I have something else to add, I cleaned out the filter on my water pump Friday, 2 days ago, it was over 2/3 blocked. I don't have any other filters in my system yet. I flushed it out in the sink, did some research, found out I just got rid of a lot of my bacteria.</p>
<p>My question is how do I fix this? change 20% of my water every 3 days, or something to this effect? let me know, </p>
<p>Misc, My levels are currnetly</p>
<p>PH 7.2<br/>Ammonia 1ppm<br/>Nitrite 5ppm (my api test kit, 5ppm is my max reading)<br/>Nitrate 5ppm</p>
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<p>Thanks,</p>
<p>Dave</p> Help With Dropping pHtag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2012-11-15:4778851:Topic:4163542012-11-15T02:04:01.503ZSteven Mhttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/StevenM
<p>Hello all, I am hoping someone can help me troubleshoot the problem I’m having with dropping pH. The weird thing about this is it seems to be happening without anything being added to the system. </p>
<p>My system is comprised of an IBC fish tank with the top cut off and flipped serving as the grow bed, supplemented by a 55gal barrel split in half with hydroton media. </p>
<p>A few weeks back I just finished plumbing the system, washed the hydroton and filled the tank using LA city tap…</p>
<p>Hello all, I am hoping someone can help me troubleshoot the problem I’m having with dropping pH. The weird thing about this is it seems to be happening without anything being added to the system. </p>
<p>My system is comprised of an IBC fish tank with the top cut off and flipped serving as the grow bed, supplemented by a 55gal barrel split in half with hydroton media. </p>
<p>A few weeks back I just finished plumbing the system, washed the hydroton and filled the tank using LA city tap (unfiltered). I let the system run uninterrupted for about two weeks filling and draining the beds beautifully without a hitch. The water was crystal clear. When I went to measure the pH after week of running, it was LOW off the charts! I tested the water directly out of the tap which measured at a 7.8 which seemed normal. I could not figure out what could have dropped the PH so drastically. </p>
<p>To be sure I took some of the hydroton clay pellets and let them sit in a glass of tap water over night. I measured the PH and found it was still 7.8 meaning it is pH nutral.</p>
<p>Frustrated I completely emptied the system and filled it again, this time using a chlorine/chloramines <a href="http://www.macarthurwatergardens.com/pond-fresh/PF-100.shtml" target="_blank">filter</a>. I measure the pH from the tank upon filling to be 7.8 on 11/11/12. Today on 11/14/12, I measured the pH to be 6.6! The same trend of dropping pH is continuing and I have not added anything to the system other than filtered water. I have three 300W heaters keeping the water temp at around 71F. </p>
<p>Does anyone have any possible idea as to what might be causing this drop in pH or experienced something similar? Any help would be much appreciated. </p> Thrifty Bare-Bones Home Systemtag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2012-11-06:4778851:Topic:4141952012-11-06T22:38:23.876ZAmanda Plantehttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/AmandaPlante
<p><span>Hello All,</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>For the past year I've been thrilled to work on a building and maintaining a medium-sized aquaponic system at a local high school as a part of my job. We're looking to expand to teacher training to include gardening in their curriculum, and not every school has access to an aquaponic system. Instead of excluding aquaponics from our workshops, I challenged myself to build a bare-bones home system.</p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p><span>My bare-bones home…</span></p>
<p><span>Hello All,</span></p>
<p></p>
<p>For the past year I've been thrilled to work on a building and maintaining a medium-sized aquaponic system at a local high school as a part of my job. We're looking to expand to teacher training to include gardening in their curriculum, and not every school has access to an aquaponic system. Instead of excluding aquaponics from our workshops, I challenged myself to build a bare-bones home system.</p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p><span>My bare-bones home aquaponic system -- designed to cost about $75. Materials were:</span><br/><span>- 10 gal aquarium</span><br/><span>- 5-15 gal air pump</span><br/><span>- a handful of feeder goldfish</span><br/><span>- 2 foot section of 4 inch PVC and endcaps</span><br/><span>- 30-45 gal/hr fountain pump</span><br/><br/><span>I figured it would be less expensive to cycle with martyr fish that are doomed to die of ammonium toxicity than pay for a cycling starter.</span></p>
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<p>I expected to have some trouble clogging up the pump, but with the intake covered in gravel and weekly rinsing, I haven't had any problems.</p>
<p></p>
<p>I also expected to have problems from a lack of light, but the plants seem green and happy and aren't stretching.</p>
<p><br/><span>The system's been running relatively flawlessly for 3 weeks now.</span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p><span>I'm open to any tips and suggestions to improve before we start including this in workshops.</span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p><span>Click <strong><span class="font-size-5"><a href="http://community.theaquaponicsource.com/photo/albums/bare-bones-home-aquaponic-system" target="_self">HERE</a></span></strong> for more pictures.</span></p>
<p><span> </span></p>
<p><span>Thanks for your help, Amanda</span></p> Fish as Pest Predators?tag:aquaponicgardening.ning.com,2012-08-08:4778851:Topic:3807642012-08-08T04:29:31.300ZAmanda Plantehttps://aquaponicgardening.ning.com/profile/AmandaPlante
<p><strong>Background:</strong></p>
<p>While I was on vacation, I had the chance to read Sylvia Bernstein's step-by-step guide to aquaponic gardening. The pest control section mentions feeding pests to your fish, which I hadn't even considered before. Simply remove the affected plant from the grow bed and submerse it in the tank for 15 minutes. While the fish are eating the pests, they do a great job of cleaning up dead roots and foliage too!…</p>
<p><strong>Background:</strong></p>
<p>While I was on vacation, I had the chance to read Sylvia Bernstein's step-by-step guide to aquaponic gardening. The pest control section mentions feeding pests to your fish, which I hadn't even considered before. Simply remove the affected plant from the grow bed and submerse it in the tank for 15 minutes. While the fish are eating the pests, they do a great job of cleaning up dead roots and foliage too!<a width="449" height="600" target="_self" href="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656373377?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024"><img width="449" height="600" class="align-right" style="padding: 3px;" src="http://storage.ning.com/topology/rest/1.0/file/get/2656373377?profile=RESIZE_1024x1024" height="408" width="309"/></a></p>
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<p>Before vacation, I had a waged a 2 month long battle against green aphids that were eating my peppers, and I was excited to get the chance to test this new form of IPM when I got back. Imagine my dismay when I returned home after 4 days to find that every single aphid had disappeared! What are the chances of that ever happening? Luckily, as I was walking out the door I noticed just a couple strawberries with early stages of spidermite damage (a phrase I never thought I'd say). It's so much fun to watch the fish clean up the infested plants!</p>
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<p>I'm familiar with spidermites, and I firmly believe this has slowed down the spread over the past couple weeks. Be that as it may, about 1/3 of our strawberries are now affected. I pick out any mite ridden strawberries for a dunk in the tank every couple days, but I'm concerned about the problem getting worse.</p>
<p></p>
<p><strong>Question:</strong></p>
<p>Does anybody have experience with this form of IPM in their system? Should I keep on just with this method? Would you recommend I also start doing some insecticidal soap sprays and hort oils? Or should I consider some other way to control the mites?</p>
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<p>Thanks for your help!</p>
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