Water Changes

[Chi Ma]

This was split off from another discussion.

AP has been said to be a closed loop system. But as a layman, I see that we are always inputting something whether it be feed, water or extra nutrients. This extra "stuff" we are putting in has to go somewhere. The bio load (fish, plants, bacteria, etc, etc) take up this "stuff". We pull this stuff out of the system by harvesting it. But some of it stays in the water.

In AP systems we try to conserve water by just topping it off and not doing water changes . Is there a point where all this input of stuff becomes toxic? In nature it rains and floods and the water chemistry is reset. Do we as AP growers need to reset the chemistry of the water also? Wouldn't it be wise to do so to imitate nature? Lot's of people that do AP don't have the technical background or patience to test water for the hundreds of things that may affect the health of the fish/plants. Wouldn't saying that a 50-75% water change every 3 months be feasible for the health of the system? You can use the water to water your soil based crops or landscaping.

[Sahib Punjabi]

Dear Good People,

Shanti...Shanti...Shanti...please.

We are all here to learn, experience and begin a new "way of life" in growing our own food naturally, hence taking care of our bodies. There are many roads to Rome, so what works for one may not work for another. Just keep a few ground rules. If it works for you, great :-)

I love the research and discussion but start to get disturbed when it get "too" complicated for my simple mind or we get to a stage, even though we did NOT intentionally mean to do so, that some one gets offended. That really make me uneasy and I then tend to give up further time on the forum (:

This is a brilliant forum and I value all of your advise, suggestions and experiences that you share as well as those videos and photos. I wish there was some way we could set up a section like "Advanced Aquaponic Research Areas" and transfer such discussions, research data and possible conclusions to this section so that the novice or recent members are not over whelmed with such and discouraged to try living this wonderful "way of life".

Just my thoughts...not meant to offend anyone :-)

God bless,

[Sylvia Bernstein]

Thank you for that, Sahib. I will try to figure out a way to highlight some of the more esoteric discussions, but I'm not sure it can be done if it is popping up within an already existing thread. I'll see if other Ning community leaders have figured this out, though.

While I hate to play Mom here, I do want to say that I think the tone of this discussion got unnecessarily negative. We are here to gently learn from each other, not to duke it out in a boxing ring. Please treat each other with kindness. Thank you.

Namaste.