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My system is finally cycling with the pots in the grow beds, soon their will  be little seeds a sprouting and little fish a swimming. Its gurgling a bit, but I am expecting the water flow to normalize as the loose litter moves from the grow beds to the aquarium tank below. I have long narrow grow beds, and rows of seven four inch pots nestled in a layer of aquarium gravel. The pots are filled about 2/3rds the way up with a bottom layer of gravel and coco coir on top. The pH reading was 6.4, so I will add oyster shells to the grow beds, which may help raise the pH. If not, I will be looking for some suggestions. :) I would rather use a chemical additive to regulate before adding in any organisms, terrestrial or aquatic.

I am actually doing two systems, same components at different sizes. I described above my home system, I am doing a smaller version at the Plant Sciences Lab at Seattle Central C.C. I am having a real problem with the pH sitting around 5 in the smaller system.I am thinking about using something to help boost the pH at the Greenhouse. I am checking the pH in the morning, after having cycled a few times with oyster shells.Then I start the watercress, then tender salad greens, some herbs, we shall see how diverse it can be.

I ordered the seeds for my system through seed savers Sunday night, with Once Upon a Time on, barely brighter than ambient lighting, flipping through the slick glossy pages. I spent a good 30 minutes picking out the tomato seeds. Luckily there were several dwarf or shorter varieties that are perfect for the size of the system, and the level of productivity I am looking for.

I have selected the variety goldfish and a few bottom feeders to help keep the tank clean. The watercress will also be a big help in filtration, also a bit of duckweed. I am all ready killing elodea at the greenhouse, so I can check that off my list. I have not decided about edible fish at this point in time, I know tilapia is really popular, along with catfish, but I don't eat either. I would like to go with some native fish, but its not like I should be growing salmon in my backyard. There are tons of trout varieties and the like, and so some tasting is in order.

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