Aquaponics water test/troubleshooting.

[flienlow]

Hi Guys-

I have been running my system for over a month now with No fish, but Grow Chemicals. I have since flushed it out and now have a total of 7 fish. This system is in my garage in Seattle. I have 2 florescent grow light bulbs. 1 is a plant/Aquarium, and the other is a "Natural" that mimics outdoor light. The system is a continuous flood and drain and cycles about every 4 minutes.

Plants include:
tomato plant, jalepeno pepper plant, and strawberry plant.

Symptoms(all plants)- Plant flowers, then flower pedals fall off- No fruit. I had tiny little peppers form, but have not grown from the little numbs that they were.


What I think: I know Jack about this, but I think I am cycling too much water. I have some timers on order, and will slow back the amount of flood and drain.

My fish are cheap feeder goldfish. 1 has been sucked into the pump & died and another I just found floating a few mintues ago. -I think some dead loss is expected?

I just tested the water for the first time (fish have been in the 18gal sump for about 4 days now.)

Here are test results:
High range PH 7.8
Low range PH 7.6
Amonia .25ppm
Nitrate 0.ppm
Nitrite 0.ppm


How does this look so far?


Thank you!

[Oliver]

flienlow,

Welcome to the forum.

I want to invite you to read the articles of Aquaponics 101 posted on this forum.

I believe they will answer many of your questions.

The URL is as follows:

viewforum.php?f=112 (http://diyaquaponics.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=112)

If, after reading them, you have questions, then please ask them and you will find help here.

Oliver

[flienlow]

I think I have been welcomed to this forum about 15 times now :)

[keith_r]

lots of info, you're still cycling, i've never seen a system "converted" from hyrdo to ap, the chem's would worry me a bit,,, but that's not my forte..
anyways,,, read up on cycling, go easy on feed until after your ammonia peaks, then nitrites, after they drop, you're all good,,,nitrates are ok to be kinda high, but i would worry if they were over 100

[Oliver]

I think I have been welcomed to this forum about 15 times now

Perhaps that is because you are in the "A PLACE TO SAY HELLO" part of the forum.

I suggest that in the future, you post your questions in the appropriate area.

This part of the forum is strictly for introducing yourself.

Oliver

[urbanfarmer]

Welcome flienlow :lol:


I think I have been welcomed to this forum about 15 times now :)
Imagine how the rest of us feel. We were only welcomed once. :lol:

[flienlow]

I think I have been welcomed to this forum about 15 times now

Perhaps that is because you are in the "A PLACE TO SAY HELLO" part of the forum.

Oliver
:shock: Sorry,im an idiot! :oops:

So... since I have you all here. it looks like my nitrates, and trites are low. This must because I have 3 flowering plants to start off with? Should I yank them and just keep lettuce,ect?
What is the bottled bacteria you started with?

Thanks!

[urbanfarmer]

I know you're just looking for a quick answer, but that's hard to do without enough information. There are MANY factors at play here. How long does it take the plants to show the symptoms? What are your temps like? What do the dead fish look like?

It can be anything from low oxygen levels leading to fish death and root death in your biota.

It could be too cold for the plants. Peppers and tomatoes don't tolerate colder temps.

Where's your water coming from? What's the quality like?

It could be nutrient deficiency or conversely a nutrient toxicity.

The list goes on, but these seem the most common.



What I think: I know Jack about this, but I think I am cycling too much water. I have some timers on order, and will slow back the amount of flood and drain.Nope.


My fish are cheap feeder goldfish. 1 has been sucked into the pump & died and another I just found floating a few mintues ago. -I think some dead loss is expected?Nope.


How does this look so far?!Nope. Need a picture! ;-)

[aquaarche]

Hi Guys-

I have been running my system for over a month now with No fish, but Grow Chemicals. I have since flushed it out and now have a total of 7 fish. This system is in my garage in Seattle. I have 2 florescent grow light bulbs. 1 is a plant/Aquarium, and the other is a "Natural" that mimics outdoor light. The system is a continuous flood and drain and cycles about every 4 minutes.

Plants include:
tomato plant, jalepeno pepper plant, and strawberry plant.

Symptoms(all plants)- Plant flowers, then flower pedals fall off- No fruit. I had tiny little peppers form, but have not grown from the little numbs that they were.


What I think: I know Jack about this, but I think I am cycling too much water. I have some timers on order, and will slow back the amount of flood and drain.

My fish are cheap feeder goldfish. 1 has been sucked into the pump & died and another I just found floating a few mintues ago. -I think some dead loss is expected?

I just tested the water for the first time (fish have been in the 18gal sump for about 4 days now.)

Here are test results:
High range PH 7.8
Low range PH 7.6
Amonia .25ppm
Nitrate 0.ppm
Nitrite 0.ppm


How does this look so far?


Thank you!

Bring your pH down to 7.0 low range 6.8, and increase the number of fish according to the size fish tank. develop a two part filtering system. small cone swirl filter to catch the large waste and second filter for the finer particles then send to your flood tank.

[keith_r]

different folks go about the whole ap thing differently..
many base the number of fish on the amount of filtration, utilizing media growbeds as the biofilters,
a good starting point is 1:1 growbed volume to fishtank volume.. a very basic rule of thumb for stocking that i have used successfully, is 25lbs of fish at harvest time..
you don't need to mess with your ph, the nitrification process will bring it down, and then you'll have to buffer it up..
i ran my 1st system for 8months with ph from 7.6 up to around 7.8 and it ran great.. i occasionally added a cap ful of maxicrop with iron in 110gal ft/110gal gb

[aquaarche]

I buffer mine up with hard water but I maintain a 6.8 - 7.0pH on average. Got a good harvest of tomatoes last season 15 per plant.

I am shooting to set up a 1000 liter fish tank and a 4X16 foot float beds in ferros-cement. I will setup a three part filtering system using three 30 gallon drums, cyclone filter, particle filter and bead filter for bacterial conversion of the Ammonia and Nitrites. I will also put over it a hoop house with plastic on top and netting front and back and sides. fish tank will be mostly in the ground and light will be restricted as much as possible to the water so the UV does not kill the bacteria. The bacteria seems to be light sensitive.

My camera was finally repaired and returned so I plan on having pictures and videos of the construction and setup. I will jump start the system with the water and gravel from my current system.

[flienlow]

[/quote]

develop a two part filtering system. small cone swirl filter to catch the large waste and second filter for the finer particles then send to your flood tank.[/quote]


Where do I get a cone swirl filter?

[aquaarche]

you will need to build one yourself.

go here download and watch the video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39xT5xzN ... r_embedded (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39xT5xzNu3s&feature=player_embedded)

then modify to to your size system. If small 150 gallon fish tank then use five gal pails, mine is half their size I will be using 30 gal drums, the second fin filter use 3M round scrubber pads for a floor cleaning machine and other mesh type matting cut to fit and clean as needed. if you are using gravel then no need for a third bead filter because that is for bacteria

you can see all three filter at the above link but they only detail right now about the cone filter.