New to aquaponics

[Steve Armeros]

Hello All..  Brand new to this kind of gardening.  Been at it for 3 weeks and added fish and plants a week ago.  I am concerned my nitrites are in the deep purple for several days with the nitrates beginning to show.

Should I be concerned because the nitrites are so high?  Ammonia is abt .25 and the water is becoming very clear with some slime on the sides of the IBC Tote.  I am using 2 grow beds with the clay pebbles at aprox 30 sq. ft of space. I currently have aprox 80 feeder goldfish in the tank.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

[Jonathan Kadish NYC AA Chair]

Your fish are in jeopardy. Nitrites can kill your fish. Do not feed and do a 50% water change. Give us new numbers after you have done this.

[Alex Veidel]

Yes, you should be concerned. Water change and stop feeding for a while.

[Ryan Garlington]

I had a similar problem last month. I had nitrites at about 5. I added 1 lb of aquarium salt to my 100 gal tank, and in 2 days the problem was solved. I didn't change the water, although that is a quick way to make a big problem into a smaller problem, assuming your water is pH-correct and has no chlorine.

[Steve R]

anything above 2 for nitrites is potentially lethal to fish. like jonathan said do a big water change.  Ryan by aquarium, salt do you mean epsom salt? what kind of salt?

[Steve Armeros]

Taking your advise I did a 60% water change (well Fla.) and stopped feeding...

Before water change  7:30 am

Water Temp 75 dgs

PH  6.8

amm. .25

nitrite  5.0 +

Nitrate 10ppm

After Water Change (well) 8:00 am                   12:pm      

Water temp (well)  72 dgs                         Water Temp  75 dgs

PH 7.2                                                        PH   7.2

AMM  .15                                                    AMM  .15

nitrite   2 ppm                                              Nitrite    2 ppm

nitrate 10 ppm                                             Nitrate   20 ppm

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

Steve

[Steve R]

looking good. Another week or 2 and your system should be cycled. id wait a day or 2 before feeding again and then id feed every other day until its finished cycling.

[Ryan Garlington]

No No- NOT epsom salt. Aquarium Salt is like salt we eat, but has no anti-caking additives or iodide added. This is the exact product I used:
http://www.petco.com/product/1697/API-Aquarium-Salt.aspx

Steve R said:

anything above 2 for nitrites is potentially lethal to fish. like jonathan said do a big water change.  Ryan by aquarium, salt do you mean epsom salt? what kind of salt?

[Steve R]

ah ok. Its calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium chloride, Magnesium sulfate(Epsom Salt), Potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. FYI i regularly use epsom salt to dose for magnesium in my systems. Its a good way to add sulfur and magnesium at the same time. Pure epsom salt is perfectly fine to use in AP as long as you don't go crazy with dosing. 

[Alex Veidel]

Yeah, I've used epsom salt. It does work great for treating magnesium deficiencies. It can be applied foliarly as well, I believe.

Steve R said:

ah ok. Its calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium chloride, Magnesium sulfate(Epsom Salt), Potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. FYI i regularly use epsom salt to dose for magnesium in my systems. Its a good way to add sulfur and magnesium at the same time. Pure epsom salt is perfectly fine to use in AP as long as you don't go crazy with dosing. 

[Steve R]

Its a great foiliant. we are just finishing up lab testing here on weather the plants respond better to foliant application or by dosing the tank.

Alex Veidel said:

Yeah, I've used epsom salt. It does work great for treating magnesium deficiencies. It can be applied foliarly as well, I believe.

Steve R said:

ah ok. Its calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium chloride, Magnesium sulfate(Epsom Salt), Potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. FYI i regularly use epsom salt to dose for magnesium in my systems. Its a good way to add sulfur and magnesium at the same time. Pure epsom salt is perfectly fine to use in AP as long as you don't go crazy with dosing. 

[Steve Armeros]

Well these readings are driving me nuts.

After changing 60% of the water (well) cleaning out the swirl filter and refilling with fresh water, cleaning out the holding tank and refilling with fresh water.,,  I still get these readings at 7pm..

Temp  79 dgs

PH  7.6

Amm  ,25

NITRITE   5.0 +

Nitrate  80 ppm

What in the world is going on?  Doesn't make sense.

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Plants generally always respond quickest o foliar applications to correct deficiencies (this has been studied and researched quite a bit already all over the planet). So a good strategy is to correct the deficient plant essential element in your water column, while at the same time applying said deficient element foliarly as well...

Steve R said:

Its a great foiliant. we are just finishing up lab testing here on weather the plants respond better to foliant application or by dosing the tank.

Alex Veidel said:

Yeah, I've used epsom salt. It does work great for treating magnesium deficiencies. It can be applied foliarly as well, I believe.

Steve R said:

ah ok. Its calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium chloride, Magnesium sulfate(Epsom Salt), Potassium chloride, and sodium chloride. FYI i regularly use epsom salt to dose for magnesium in my systems. Its a good way to add sulfur and magnesium at the same time. Pure epsom salt is perfectly fine to use in AP as long as you don't go crazy with dosing.