Loosing color in plants

[brent]

I have my system up and running. I have purple basil planted, but the leaves are turning greenish. Any ideas why?

[keith_r]

how long has your system been running?
how big is your ft? gb? what are you readings?
if you ph is high, you might have a little nutrient lockout going on.. a little maxicrop with iron will help with that..
do you have worms in your gb's?

[brent]

The fish tank is 200 gallon. The grow beds are 45 gallon barrels cut in half(10 grow beds). I have no testing equipment, but my ph is around 7.5ish. I have a buch of minnows and some small gold fish. I think the nutrient level may be low, but I would like another opinion.

[urbanfarmer]

Try the seaweed extract as suggested and see if that helps.

[keith_r]

there aren't to many things that i would view as "safe" to add for plants as a nutrient additive, because most fertilizers aren't made with fish in mind..
maxicrop is the name brand of a seaweed "extract", also available with chelated iron.. same thing as seasol that is used by aussie's
you don't need to use much, 1 liter i bought last year still has several "doses" left.. it can also be used diluted as a foliar spray, just don't spray during the hot part of the day

[urbanfarmer]

there aren't to many things that i would view as "safe" to add for plants as a nutrient additive, because most fertilizers aren't made with fish in mind..
maxicrop is the name brand of a seaweed "extract", also available with chelated iron.. same thing as seasol that is used by aussie's
you don't need to use much, 1 liter i bought last year still has several "doses" left.. it can also be used diluted as a foliar spray, just don't spray during the hot part of the day

It can have a negative effect in terms of turbidity (specifically inorganic), but otherwise I can't think of any prominent issues. This shouldn't even be a concern for MOST aquaponics hobbyists.

[keith_r]

there aren't to many things that i would view as "safe" to add for plants as a nutrient additive, because most fertilizers aren't made with fish in mind..
maxicrop is the name brand of a seaweed "extract", also available with chelated iron.. same thing as seasol that is used by aussie's
you don't need to use much, 1 liter i bought last year still has several "doses" left.. it can also be used diluted as a foliar spray, just don't spray during the hot part of the day

It can have a negative effect in terms of turbidity (specifically inorganic), but otherwise I can't think of any prominent issues. This shouldn't even be a concern for MOST aquaponics hobbyists.

if you mean it darkens the water, yeah, at first it would last several days, but now when i add a cap ful, it's only "tea" stained for a day or so.. i have noticed the fish feed a little more aggressively after i've added it.. i add to my "flood" tank (ala barrel ponics)

[urbanfarmer]

[quote=keith_r]

there aren't to many things that i would view as "safe" to add for plants as a nutrient additive, because most fertilizers aren't made with fish in mind..
maxicrop is the name brand of a seaweed "extract", also available with chelated iron.. same thing as seasol that is used by aussie's
you don't need to use much, 1 liter i bought last year still has several "doses" left.. it can also be used diluted as a foliar spray, just don't spray during the hot part of the day

It can have a negative effect in terms of turbidity (specifically inorganic), but otherwise I can't think of any prominent issues. This shouldn't even be a concern for MOST aquaponics hobbyists.

if you mean it darkens the water, yeah, at first it would last several days, but now when i add a cap ful, it's only "tea" stained for a day or so.. i have noticed the fish feed a little more aggressively after i've added it.. i add to my "flood" tank (ala barrel ponics)[/quote:1asng88w]
Doesn't it contain tannins? If it does, it will stay that color (although as it mixes it might dilute the concentration). The problem is very well documented for certain types of aquaculture. Just know that even if it does increase the turbidity there should be minimal impact on the typical home AP system. No worries.

[badflash]

I've used small amounts of bloodmeal with good effect. Loaded with organic iron, it helps many yellowing problems.

[brent]

Here are a couple pics of the basil.