PH low...

[wh33t]

You can use the nylon scrubbies for bio filter. Quilt batting that you get at a craft store makes a very good mechanical filter but plugs quickly. Last pond I used a 32 gallon rubbermaid trash can. Inside was a plastic tall clothes hamper on 4 inch pvc legs. Inside were a couple hundred scrubbies. Inverted the hamper lid and put a piece of cut to fit ac filter material on it. Water pumped in thru the lid and out a 4 way on to the filter. Gravity fed down and out a pipe about 4 inches up.

I know that people use nylon scrubbies for bio-filter material, but I have a concern that I have not checked into, so I am throwing it out here.

Nylon is a high dielectric material. My concern is that autotrophic bacteria supposedly attache themselves to substrates and I am wondering if the high dielectric of nylon might preclude them from making that attachment. Again, I'm not saying they won't but for some reason I sense a need to question this.

Just a gut level feeling, which probably means I read somewhere in the distant past about organisms attaching themselves to synthetic material.

Wish I could recall it better. Guess I will do a search on this when I get the time, whenever that is.

I'm more into converting the solid and liquid fish waste than I am "filtering" it out of the flow.

Oliver

Yes I'd rather convert the waste into something useable. That's why my particle filter which is filled with gravel has 18 large worms in it. I'm hoping that the two air stones I put in the rocks will provide enough oxygen for them. At any rate, this system is not functioning in balance and I need to fix it.

I'm concerned that there is just simply too much waste in the system right now. I can see how the filters would keep the fish waste out of the pond and out of the table but if all water in the system is connected than I can't see how that will change the PH. I could see it helping if I periodically cleaned out my filter but I do not want to do that, that's why I got the worms.

I think I'm gonna try out those Scrubbing pads in my particle filter and siphon vaccuum out the solid fish waste that I can see in the table. Hopefully that will help. I may also dump in some PH up as I have some left over from my brief stint at Hydroponics.

[wh33t]

R u usin rain water for your top up water?

Tap water. It's ph 7.0 and I always let the Chlorine dissipate. I used to add this liquid called "Prime" which also de-Chloramines as well as de-Chlorinates and apparently it also detoxifies nitrites and nitrates. I don't use it anymore though. Perhaps I should.

[stucco]

You can check to see if your town uses chloramines on the interweb if so you need to use cloramx, amquel+ or prime. Very important! Read the dosage and check your water supply… my water requires three times the recommended dosage (chlorAMx is food safe) for chloramines.

[stucco]

I’ve used in the past bags of hair curlers from the dollar tree as bio balls.

[Oliver]

I believe that once you get your pH up above 7.0, you will start to see your ammonia go down.

We use a catalytic carbon filter to remove both chlorine and chloramines. It has garden hose fittings.

Oliver

[keith_r]

avoid "prime" and other chemicals like it.. many can be safe for aquariums, but are not meant for use with fish you intend to eat

the nitrification process is a pretty tricky thing.. and more research is being done.. as the ph drops the biological activity is not as efficient
Oliver makes a great point about wanting to keep the waste in the system.. that's why lots of folks add worms to their growbeds and i see you addes some to your gravel filter.. that should help some, but if you're pushing to much water through the gravel, it won't trap solids very efficiently
the "egg crate" i was talking about are the ceiling panels that are white pvc plastic with all the little squares, to go over lights..

[Basil1]

To be fair, the pond was for tropicals not aquaponics so removing solid waste was important. The nylon scrubbies worked as well if not better than the plastic bio balls and much cheaper. Once cycled the pond was crystal clear with only nitrates as a problem fixed thru water changes. 600+ gallons with heavy stocking and heavy feeding without a hitch. Would probably still be going if they hadn't eaten the pool. Would definitely have needed bigger by now. But that is for next time, the guys I had would certainly power some GB's.

[urbanfarmer]

Do you have a test kit for your carbonate hardness? If so, where are you at? Carbonates will help buffer your pH so you don't get swings as easily.

[wh33t]

Do you have a test kit for your carbonate hardness? If so, where are you at? Carbonates will help buffer your pH so you don't get swings as easily.

No I've never even heard of that. I do have a PH meter though but I assume you are saying if I keep my carbonates nice and high the PH swings will be more controlled?