Hello. New system in Ohio.

[Joshua]

Hey folks my name is Joshua, you can call me Josh if you like. 

I have a new build going up in Ohio. I've got four 8x2x1' media beds "sporting" granite, two 16x2x1' filter beds beneath the media beds, two 16x4' DWC's and a 500 gal fish tank (without fish just yet). I'm pumping from the sump to the fish tank and gravity sends the water through back to the sump. 

I am almost done with the build and have some questions about my bell syphons which I will ask later in a different forum area (with some pictures). I just wanted to say hello here and make an introduction. 

Hope this finds you all well and to see you around the forums from time to time. 

~Josh

[Rob Nash]

Josh, a well established ap system can generate sufficient amounts of P and K to grow flowering plants.. just for clarity (so when you do grow some ganja) it can be done in ap just fine.. i would still add some bud formula nutes in a dual root zone scenario  (thanks to Vlad for introducing that concept to the group with his incredible cucumbers)

yes, the 330 is the 10%..  i have found that basil of all the things i grow, needs the higher than a 2 ppm for iron.. that our i have too much of something else thats looking the iron out. but now that i have the hanna checker i should be able to keep it lower..

i have switched to using Actino Iron and have been amazed at the iron levels it produces.. but.. the streptomyces lydicus (maybe spelled wrong) must be firing off some of the residual biology, because now my nitrates are off the chart.. 200+

so far im loving the Actino Iron.. when i plant into the media, i add about 1 tbs to the base of each plant, and that plant rocks its entire lifetime until i pull it out of the system. (basil and kale are the only two so far)

but will use it on all my plants .. i use it im my coir mix for seedlings too.. appears to have helped with germination and roots !!

[Joshua]

just sent for blue nile/food combo from aquaponic source

hope they arrive ok

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Oh yeah...weird about the basil. You're probably right in that there may be something else going on there...I've got a bunch of it (Genovese, spicy Tai, Bush basil, purple amethyst) growing in a bunch of different systems (3 are AP sytems, 1 is bio-ponic, and a couple are classic hydro systems). None of those systems ever gets above 1.5ppm Fe. (Once they get down to about 0.5 or 0.6 I jack them back up to 1.5ppm)...With no discernable problems/deficiency yet...but you should do what works for you in your systems :)

[Vlad Jovanovic]

It's quite likely that Actinovate's carrier material contains some sort of carbon species food source for the Strepto (like the 1.5% came sugar that's in the GO line). Simple carbohydrates (like sugar) are there to boost microbial activity once product is added to potting soil container/ soil/ cocco coir culture...whatever. And does cause blooms in Aquaria and AP (fish guys do it on purpose to induce nitrate oxidizing bacterial blooms, then skim off the bio-slime)...could be what's driving up nitrates more than usual? (Or at least adding to it)...I doubt that it's the Strepto itself, but could be the Strepto's food source/carrier material...Or the Strpto strain (lydicus W108) is somehow able to form non-selective relationships (plants other than legumes) and fix atmospheric nitrogen using your basil and kale...but even then I'm having a hard time seeing how that would affect your system water (unless 1] you composted those plants and put their N contents back into the water, or 2] they were taking up less NO3 since the Strepto was was fixing some N for them...No.2 seems more likely of those two options...though a carbon species food source in the carrier seems the most likely cause...

Rob Nash said:

Josh, a well established ap system can generate sufficient amounts of P and K to grow flowering plants.. just for clarity (so when you do grow some ganja) it can be done in ap just fine.. i would still add some bud formula nutes in a dual root zone scenario  (thanks to Vlad for introducing that concept to the group with his incredible cucumbers)

yes, the 330 is the 10%..  i have found that basil of all the things i grow, needs the higher than a 2 ppm for iron.. that our i have too much of something else thats looking the iron out. but now that i have the hanna checker i should be able to keep it lower..

i have switched to using Actino Iron and have been amazed at the iron levels it produces.. but.. the streptomyces lydicus (maybe spelled wrong) must be firing off some of the residual biology, because now my nitrates are off the chart.. 200+

so far im loving the Actino Iron.. when i plant into the media, i add about 1 tbs to the base of each plant, and that plant rocks its entire lifetime until i pull it out of the system. (basil and kale are the only two so far)

but will use it on all my plants .. i use it im my coir mix for seedlings too.. appears to have helped with germination and roots !!

[Scott Roberts]

Where is this "sufficient amount" of K coming from in an established AP system? It's my understanding that fish don't require dietary potassium, so fish food has none added.....

Rob Nash said:

Josh, a well established ap system can generate sufficient amounts of P and K to grow flowering plants.. just for clarity (so when you do grow some ganja) it can be done in ap just fine.. i would still add some bud formula nutes in a dual root zone scenario  (thanks to Vlad for introducing that concept to the group with his incredible cucumbers)

[Vlad Jovanovic]

Most K is probably not coming from the fish food. Though Car Gills 24% protein feed contains 0.53% K (+/- 0.0014%). And tilapia have been shown to assimilate (on average throughout a grow out period) about 7.16% of that. The effluent solids settled out and analyzed contained 5.85% of that (original amount in the dry weight fish feed). 

So even though ( a little) K is contained in some (at least most decent) fish feeds, it's still going to be pretty lacking if not amended (through a K buffer or however). This jives with everything I've ever seen, experienced, analyzed or read. Again, most of that K is made plant available through the use of K buffers (KHCO3 or KOH)...

[True]

Josh,

I just joined today, live in southwest Ohio. I am helping start a system at a high school near Hamilton. Good luck!

True

[Joshua]

Thanks true. Just got my fish the other day, no deaths in transport or since they moved into their new tank. I'm pretty familiar with Hamilton, is it a private school? Have you worked with an aquaponic system before?

[True]

Josh,

The school is north of Hamilton; it's vocational. There's a lot of buzz around the school about getting fish (congrats on that), but even with delays it's a teaching and learning opportunity. Stay in touch, maybe we can share info.

-- True