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    Aquaponics 101 Oliver's Avatar
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    Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    This is the fourth in a series of posts that are going to teach you most of what you need to know about Aquaponics in order to help you build your first system. So, if you're curious about the most amazing food growing technology on the planet today, continue to watch for this series of educational posts on Aquaponics and please, become interactive by making comments or asking questions.

    In Part One, "The Process", I wrote about what Aquaponics is and why it is important to Preppers (those preparing for what is about to come down the pike), the fact that you can grow food for you and your family year round as long as your Aquaponics system is in the proper environment. I also gave a description of the biological processes involved that make Aquaponics work.

    In Parts Two and Three, "System Design", I wrote about the components of a basic system. To quickly review, I wrote about the need for a bio-filter and that it is usually combined with the grow bed to form a single Aquaponics component called the grow bed, which is one of the most important parts of an Aquaponics system. I told you about the grow bed media, the grow bed shape, and that you need about one gallon of grow bed/bio filter volume for every gallon of fish tank volume and the reason for this ratio. I discussed the need to flood and drain your grow beds four times an hour and how to properly size your water and air pumps.

    I'm now going to focus on how to get your system up and running, but first we need to talk about water. To your Aquaponics system, water is life. The water in your system contains elements that provide life to the various organisms living in your system. These organisms include the fish, bacteria and the plants. The one element in your water that is essential to all of these organisms is oxygen in the form of dissolved oxygen, or "DO". As mentioned earlier, an Aquaponics system with ample DO (dissolved oxygen) will perform much better than one that is lacking in this life giving element.

    At all times, you should strive to keep your DO levels above 6 ppm (parts per million). The only way to know the value of DO in your system is to measure it, and the only way to do that is to have a rather expensive DO meter. The design guidelines I have given you in the previous posts will assure that you achieve this goal, so the actual purchase of a DO meter is not crucial. Most backyard Aquaponics hobbyists don't pay much attention to DO levels because of this DO meter price. They are investing minimal money into their systems, and the price of a DO meter is not in their Aquaponics budget. I understand this; but for me, as a researcher, I felt that I needed to swallow hard and pony up the cost once I was convinced of the importance of DO levels in the system. Not knowing what my DO levels were and what I could do to affect them was more than I could stand. As I wrote in Part One, fish need oxygen to live. The bacteria also need oxygen to live and to convert the fish wastes into usable nitrates. The plants need oxygen to grow. Some of the plant oxygen comes from the DO in the water, which brings us back to the water.

    The water also has a pH, which stands for the Power of Hydrogen. The word, "Power" here is a mathematical function where each level is ten times the previous. So, pH is a logarithmic scale, base 10, or power of ten. Each number is ten times the next lower number and one tenth the next higher number. So, a change of one number on the pH scale is a change of ten times. The lower on the pH scale, the more acidic the water and the higher on the pH scale the more basic. Bases can be thought of as the chemical opposite of acids. A strong base will raise the pH of water toward 14. Seven on the pH scale is neutral.

    Notice I said basic (base), not alkaline. Some would argue that they are the same; but in dealing with pH and water quality, there is a difference. Alkalinity is a measure of the alkaline buffers found in the water. These alkaline buffers are dissolved minerals, like calcium, that keep the water's pH at a higher than neutral seven pH. Any attempt to lower the pH of water by adding in an acid (pH down) will be countered by these alkaline buffers and not allow the water's pH to change and go to a lower number. You might see a sudden change after adding in an acid, but it won't last and will soon rebound back to its higher pH value as it is absorbed by the alkaline buffers. You can keep adding acid to your water until you have saturated the alkaline buffers, but understand that acid + alkaline -> salt + water. What this says is that you will end up with is a more neutral pH and salty water.

    When the fish add their waste to the water, the bacteria release hydrogen from the ammonia in the waste. This hydrogen is one of the building blocks for acid, and you will see a decrease in pH. The alkaline buffers will attempt to raise the pH; but with the continued release of hydrogen, the water's pH will achieve a tug-of-war balance that is lower than the pH of the water with buffers before the bacteria started doing their job. As the fish grow out, and you feed them more food, they will produce more waste causing the bacteria to grow thereby producing more nitrites and nitrates. In the process, more hydrogen is released from the fish waste ammonia. This will continue to pull the pH to a lower, more acidic number. This will also increase your dissolved solids in the form of salt, mentioned above. Where your pH level starts partly determines where it ends up. You will be continually adding water to the system to replace evaporation and plant uptake. This will slowly increase your dissolved solids, including alkaline buffers if they are in your water, because they do not evaporate with the water.

    In our system, we started with a water pH of 7.3; and as the fish grew out, it went to 6.8 and stayed there until this winter when another pH influence made it go even lower. The previous winter we added a natural gas blue flame heater to heat our greenhouse and add some CO2 to the air to help the plants grow. This winter, the second one in this greenhouse, we experienced some very cold nights for our location and the heater was on a great deal of the time. It kept the temperature at a safe level but added an extra amount of CO2 into the greenhouse. The aeration pumps we use draw from the ambient greenhouse air, including the added CO2, and feed it into the fish tank water. This extra CO2 mixed with the water creating carbonic acid, and the pH plummeted all the way down to 5.8.

    Once we realized what the source of our low pH was, we ran a tube outside the greenhouse and fed the aeration pumps from the outside air. Now the pH is back to a nominal level. Before we discovered this "fix", the emergency action was to do a partial water exchange to bring the pH back up to higher levels and reduce the feeding level until we figured out the problem and implemented the solution. Lesson learned.

    This little story is to give you an example of what it is like to be an Aquaponics farmer. Just when you think you have it all figured out, it will throw you a curve, much like life.

    Because the water continuously evaporates, it leaves behind minerals. The solid fish waste is also mineralized so the mineral content of the water continues to increase over time as measured by a Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) meter. A high level of dissolved solids is generally not a problem, but this depends on the species of fish you raise. I am not going into this further here because there are just too many fish species to talk about them all. I don't want to pretend to be a fish expert, nor do you have to be one. But, you do need to learn as much as you can about raising the species of fish you choose to populate your Aquaponics system.

    We have found that a pH of 7.3 from the tap water is an acceptable number. It is very important that the water you use in your fish tank be free of chlorine and chloramines. Municipal water will always contain one or both of these. The best way to remove chlorine is to use a carbon filter designed to do just that. You can also just put the water in a separate bucket or open tank for a day or so, thereby allowing the chlorine to off-gas (evaporate) out of the water before transferring it to the fish tank. Because adding water is a repetitive chore for an Aquaponics farmer, this separate tank method becomes a hassle after a while. Adding a catalytic carbon filter and a float valve in your fish tank, connected to your tap water, is a way to reduce your work load and not chance letting your fish tank water get too low.

    You will need a water testing kit, and I recommend the API Freshwater Master test Kit. This is the number one preferred test kit by Aquaponics farmers. It will measure pH high and low, Ammonia, Nitrites and Nitrates. You can use the testing kit to make pH measurements, which will give you a ballpark range that is adequate. But the best way to measure your pH is with a reliable pH meter, one that is easy to calibrate and use. I know, I'm always finding ways for you to spend money on your system. So, tell me about a hobby where this is not the case. However, Aquaponics is more than a hobby. It is about growing your own food for you and your family, and you want to get it right because your life and the lives of your loved ones may depend on it.

    Monitoring your pH with a pH meter is very simple and requires less than a few minutes to make an accurate pH measurement. I leave the pH meter probe in clean water, place it in the fish tank water and switch on the meter to tell me the pH to the nearest tenth when I wish to make a measurement. The meter probe only takes a minute or two to adjust to the fish tank water temperature and give an accurate reading. This allows me to see the slightest change and gives me a warning if something is out of the ordinary. Letting a pH meter probe dry out will cost you another probe, for they cease to function once they have become dry. I calibrate the probe using filtered tap water and adjust it to my known pH of 7.3 on a weekly basis.

    I do not recommend adding pH up or pH down chemicals to your fish tank water, even if you get them from a fish store. They may contain elements that either are not friendly to plants or humans. Remember, this is an Aquaponics system, not an aquarium. I don't care how much fish raising experience you have. What I have seen is that those coming from an aquarium background bring with them knowledge that they believe is beneficial, but it is often detrimental to their Aquaponics systems. The same is true for those coming from a hydroponics background. This is not aquaculture, or hydroponics, it is Aquaponics; and it has its own set of rules and requirements which are all about balance between fish and plants.

    (Update) With the increased fish density as they grew out the pH in the water keeps drifting low, below the border of 6.6. As a result, We have had to add pH UP on a regular (weekly) basis. We are currently using Potassium Hydroxide (Potash) in liquid form. You can also use Calcium Hydroxide (Lime). It is important to mix either with lots of water prior to adding to your system and even then, go slow, very slow. Make certain that whatever you use is pure and doesn't have any other chemicals added, as it can kill your fish.

    Another source of pH problems is gravel grow beds. You need to make sure that the gravel you place in your grow beds is both sterile and pH neutral. This is just another reason to use Hydroton. Hydroton is expanded clay balls that have been popped in an oven, much like popcorn. It is pH neutral, sterile and very easy to work with. I recommend the 8-16 mm mix size. It is sold in 50 liter and smaller bags. You can find it at any hydroponics store or on line for a better price, but ordering it on-line will add shipping and may prove to be more expensive. Some Aquaponics do-it-yourselfers go down to the local river, gravel pit or Home Depot and get gravel, put it in their grow beds; and they don't have a problem. But from reading the fora, many end up with a serious pH problem from doing this.

    It will be necessary to keep your water temperature in a range that is healthy for your fish as well as your plants. For example, some species of Tilapia require the water to be around eighty degrees F. While other species of Tilapia can live in much colder water. Vegetable roots generally like the water to be in the sixty degree F range. You can see the water temperature conflict. Trout may seem like a good fish to raise because they do well in colder water; but they tend to take a long time to grow out and are sensitive to poor water quality. For a first time Aquaponics farmer, I would not recommend raising Trout. You might want to consider Carp if you don't plan on eating your fish. Look into the fish species that is best for your climate and legal for your area.

    Once your system is assembled, the grow beds filled with media, the water is in place, the pH is balanced, the pumps are tested and the grow bed flood and drain timing is adjusted, you can now cycle your system. Cycling your system simply means that you want to turn on the water and air pumps and leave them on so you can grow some bacteria. By the way, once you have your system up and running, you never, ever, want to turn it off; not even for the night. You might want to consider some kind of a power back-up in case of a power failure.

    First, you must get bacteria into your water; and here is where we get into an area of debate amongst those who have been into Aquaponics for some time. There are differing opinions as to how to accomplish this task. There are commercial products that claim to contain living bacteria; and we have used this in our systems. However, I make no claim of its viability. One source of this starter bacteria is your (or a friend's) aquarium water. You can take some of it and place it in your Aquaponics tank along with your water. However, in doing this, you will run the risk of bringing with it pathogens, which is not a good thing to do. The same is true for pond water.

    Bacteria multiply once they are fed. Here, again, we get into some tall grass of opinion. You must supply the bacteria with ammonia in order for them to multiply. This process will take at least two weeks before the system is considered "cycled" and ready for fish and veggies. One way to do this is to purchase chemically pure ammonia (keep it refrigerated) and very slowly (and carefully) add a diluted amount each day while measuring your system water chemistry. Do NOT use any animal urine, and especially not human urine, for these prolific sources of ammonia contain toxins, including prescription drugs (and perhaps nonprescription drugs) that you do not want in your Aquaponics system. Remember, we hope you are planning on growing organic fish and veggies in your system, so keep it pure and your fish alive. This whole process is known as "fish-less cycling".

    In starting our first system, we added some of the bottled bacteria I mentioned above. We then added some diluted pure ammonia. Later we added too much ammonia and killed off the bacteria that convert nitrites into nitrates (nitrobacteria). We knew this because we had very high levels of nitrites and zero nitrates. So, we exchanged some water and added more bottled bacteria and everything started to work. It would appear that the bottled bacteria did work, but there is no way to be certain because there may have been some nitrobacteria still alive in the water. The question arises then, how did they get there in the first place? My guess is from the bottled bacteria, but who knows.

    I believe the best way to cycle your system (once you have added some bottled bacteria) is to place your baby fish, be they fry or fingerlings, into the fish tank and begin feeding them small amounts of food. When adding in new fish to your system, you will always be adding in some water from their previous location. This water will contain the bacteria that you need for your Aquaponics system. Slowly increase the amount of food given to your fish while making daily water chemistry measurements. If the ammonia or nitrites gets too high (1.0 ppm), stop feeding your fish until it settles back down to about 0.5 ppm or less. This is just an indication that your fish feeding increase is getting ahead of your bacteria growth.

    After about two weeks, you should be able to feed your fish as much as they will eat and not have an ammonia spike. At that time, you can reduce your water measurement frequency to once every few days. You should never go more than a week without making a measurement, however. It is important not to over feed your fish because the excess food will have to be broken down over time by heterotrophic bacteria. In the mean time, your fish water will become cloudy. During this two week cycling process, you should see your nitrates begin to climb. Not to worry, for as I stated earlier, fish can handle higher levels of nitrates than they can ammonia or nitrites by about one hundred to one, depending on the fish species.

    Once you see nitrates in your system water, you can start your seedlings in a seedling tray. If the ammonia and nitrite levels are below 0.5 ppm or less, you can then use some of the nutrient rich (nitrate) water from the fish tank to spray the seedlings once they have sprouted. This will help condition them for the transfer into the grow beds where they will receive the full dose of the water chemistry in the system. By the time they get transferred into the grow beds, your nitrates should be high enough (10 ppm or higher) to start to support them. As a note, never transfer plants into your grow beds from a soil environment. Soil contains pathogens that can be detrimental to your fish.

    Go on line and purchase some API Stress Zyme. Stress Zyme contains heterotrophic bacteria; and as I mentioned in an earlier post, it will process any left over fish food and fish solid waste. It will also help keep your fish tank water clear. Just follow the instructions on the bottle. We use four ounces a week total in our three 120 gallons fish tanks. It works as advertised. Our fish tank water is relatively clear, and there are no fish waste solids over accumulating in the grow beds after 18 months. There will always be some fish solids in your grow beds because it takes time for them to break down. With the addition of the Stress Zyme, we have not seen any continued build up of solids; and we have cleaned our grow beds more than once to remove the excess roots mentioned below.

    For your first planting, it is best to plant only leafy green vegetables like lettuce, spinach or basil; as they do not require high levels of nitrates. Leafy green vegetables will grow quite well on 30 to 40 ppm of nitrates. Do not plant tomatoes or other flowering plants the first time out because when they start to flower, they will suck up all of the nitrates from your system. The other plants, along with the flowering ones, will respond by putting their efforts into growing roots in search of nitrates. You will end up with grow beds full of roots and not much happening above (experience speaking here). Wait until your system is considered mature, which is about one year, and your fish have grown out to plant your flowering plants. Even then, go slowly with just one flowering plant per grow bed. Test your water weekly and take special notice of the water measurements when they start to flower. You will need nitrates at or above 80 ppm to support flowering plants, and it will drop considerably when they flower.

    As always, make regular water chemistry measurements. If you notice your ammonia or nitrite levels rising too high, reduce or completely stop feeding your fish until they are at safe levels. If they get to very unsafe levels then do a water exchange until they are back at safe levels. These safe and unsafe numbers depend on the species of fish you are raising. Again, get to know your fish species' requirements.

    At this point you have enough basic information on how an Aquaponics system works, the components necessary to put a working system together and how to start up and operate your system. What I have given you here is just a thumbnail sketch of the complexities of operating an Aquaponics system. If you are serious about becoming an Aquaponics farmer, then I suggest that you join an Aquaponics forum such as this one.

    This particular forum is for Aquaponics do-it-yourselfers located mainly in the USA. There are, however, members from all over the world on board. You will find knowledgeable people here as well as beginners. There are several other fora located in Australia where Aquaponics has been around for some time. I have learned much from the Aussies about Aquaponics. They use metric units in describing their systems and talk about local fish which are not available here in the USA. Still, much information is to be had from down under because the physics is the same regardless if their fish swim upside down. I just don't know how they make water run uphill, though.

    Becoming an Aquaponics farmer can be an emotional experience. For some this will be quite the journey into this area of feeling. For others, it will be a little intense. To see your first plants grow out and especially to see, over time, your fish become edible size and then have to make the decision as to whether or not to have them for dinner, is what I am talking about when it comes to emotion. Perhaps the roughest part of becoming an Aquaponics farmer is to see one or more of your fish die, especially once they have become fully grown. I mention this here only to let you know that it is part of the life of an Aquaponics farmer and ask that you not become discouraged over these little setbacks, for life goes on, the system continues to produce and you will receive the benefit of having grown your own food for you and your family.

    I hope you have found these posts valuable so far, and I do plan on adding to them from time to time. For now, please consider what you have read and the possibility of becoming an Aquaponics farmer. These posts, up to this point, have given you what you need to start your first system. Keep watching as there is a lot more information coming, and please, read this forum.

    To successful Aquaponics systems and their owners, Oliver
    To measure is to know

  2. #2
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    Something critical is keeping control of kids, even adult ones that are not experts. They love to see the fish eat and will sneak in several times a day to feed them. My son, old enough to vote, and a smart man, was clueless when it comes to fish. He saw me feed the fish, and without my knowlege started feeding them too, several times a day. Needless to say the water went skunky. I monitor my fish all the time so when this happened I did lots of vacuuming and water changes and saved the fish. When I asked around he fessed up (to his credit), but just a heads up.

    All sorts of things come out of left field and you need to always be vigilant.
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

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    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    Quote Originally Posted by badflash
    When I asked around he fessed up (to his credit), but just a heads up.
    I don't think he wanted a spanking. Now we know why they call you badflash! WHEW!

  4. #4
    Moderator badflash's Avatar
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    He'd an Iraq vet that ran the convoys we read about getting blow up all the time. He saw quite a bit of action. Stands a head taller and out weighs me by about 30 pounds. I don't think he was worried about a spanking...
    The best fertilizer is the farmer's shadow

  5. #5
    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    This is not aquaculture, or hydroponics, it is Aquaponics; and it has its own set of rules and requirements which are all about balance between fish and plants.
    Beautifully said! Bravo! I think you should have this point in big text in bold and red or something!!!

    Remember, the fish like their water pH high and the plants like it low.
    I agree with the plants pH, but where do you get that fish like the pH high? Aquaculture research shows that aquaculture setups do well with high pH because the biofiltration is far more active, but the added risk of unionized ammonia offsets the the benefits if not properly monitored (which aquaculture facilities obviously are). Since it costs money to remove water from aquaculture facilities they would rather keep the pH high remove the ammonia than to have more frequent water changes that costs them money to dispose of. This is my understanding as to why pH is suggested high in aquaculture, but this is not the case for aquaponics... in general freshwater fish like a median pH of 7.... I could be wrong as I have not extensively read on the subject, but I never really questioned it because it appealed to my common sense...

    The logic is that bacteria cannot live in a bottle for any extended period without oxygen and ammonia constantly being fed to it.
    Oh they can survive just not reproduce. Sure some will die. This, among other experiments, are common in an introductory microbiology course. Believe me, the people who make this stuff know plenty about it, and you are getting living bacteria. Even if they are dormant, they will come back alive. Think activate dry yeast (which we are all more familiar with and can believe easier)

    Do NOT use any animal urine, and especially not human urine, for these prolific sources of ammonia contain toxins, including prescription drugs (and perhaps nonprescription drugs) that you do not want in your Aquaponics system.
    Okay, very good points, but you can use your own urine if you are not on any drugs (or smoke). If you carefully check what your drugs metabolize to, you may even still be able to use your own urine. You can always consult with your doctor for added wisdom. As far as disease, if you are the only one eating your fish and plants then it doesn't matter what disease you might have. Debatable, human pathogens cannot get into the systems of plants or fish, but again if it's just you go for it. Would you be worried about getting yourself sick? Of course not! Oh and yes, most people have arsenic, cyanide, and other nasties in their urine. DO YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE IT'S IN OUR WATER... YES, THE WATER YOU JUST PUT YOUR FISH IN. So who cares! The plastic and PVC pipes will leach far more carcinogens into your water and food than your urine... so it REALLY does not matter. Happy peeing folks!

    If you have incoming water pH numbers in the eight plus range, then the best way to lower the pH is to use a reverse osmosis water filter.
    If you are in a rush, sure that would work. My suggestion would be to set up your system with the tank, grow bed, and water. Start the pump and either seed the system with bacteria or let nature take it's course (just be ready to wait a month or two). Next, take a whiz in your pond, tank, or aquarium. Now, let the bacteria start doing their thing. As you mentioned, the bacteria will put hydrogen ions into the water thereby increases the acid content naturally. Take periodic ammonia and pH readings and pee in there some more as needed (you want to keep the bacteria producing hydrogen to lower your pH). Once the pH is where you want it (and to be honest a pH of 8 or even 8.5 is fine) put the plants in. The plants will start to remove the nitrates. You can wait until the plants are established in a few weeks or put the fish in right away.

    With the addition of the Stress Zyme, we have not seen any continued build up of solids; and we have cleaned our grow beds more than once to remove the excess roots mentioned below.
    I prefer using red wriggler worms. First off, they're cheaper. Secondly, it seems far more "organic" than buying something in the store. Third, doesn't the bottle say not for use on fish for human consumption??? The bottle at my Walmart does, but I am guessing they carry a different brand at your Walmart. I will snap a picture next time I am there of the container for comparison. Oh, I was just digging up plants to remove from for the new growing season, and the handful of worms I put in last season have multiplied aggressively. Every plant had roots covered in fish poop and WORMS! The worms were SO FAT AND BIG. I have worm bins set up, and I have rarely seen worms the size that all of these were... Needless to say, they were happily chowing down on fish poop and sludge, and they like to stick around the roots for some reason, which is GREAT for the plant, just GREAT. Also, worms are home to hetrotrophic bacteria in their intestinal tract.

    Notice I said basic (base), not alkaline. Some would argue that they are the same; but in dealing with pH and water quality, there is a difference. Alkalinity is a measure of the alkaline buffers found in the water. These alkaline buffers are dissolved minerals, like calcium, that keep the water's pH at a higher than neutral seven pH. Any attempt to lower the pH of water by adding in an acid (pH down) will be countered by these alkaline buffers and not allow the water's pH to change and go to a lower number. You might see a sudden change after adding in an acid, but it won't last and will soon rebound back to its higher pH value as it is absorbed by the alkaline buffers. You can keep adding acid to your water until you have saturated the alkaline buffers, but understand that acid + alkaline -> salt + water. What this says is that you will end up with is a more neutral pH and salty water.
    I can't agree with this paragraph based on my knowledge. Your chemistry here is a bit vague and frankly sounds a bit mystical? Are you saying that despite the concentration of alkaline solutes in the water, anything that is an "alkaline buffer" will keep the pH high (in other words infinitely, irrespective of concetrations)? If anything, I would say this has to do with the media in the grow bed or some other material that the water comes in contact with that starts reacting when a certain level of pH is hit. As you know, egg shells or other shells are commonly used as natural pH buffers because the surface area to mass ratio of these items are low, but the reaction with the water as pH lowers increase (exponentially by a power of 10 per pH point) thereby giving a maintenance free method of controlling pH assuming a slow change. However, we unwittingly might use a grow bed media that act in a similar fashion thereby preventing us from getting the pH we want and because there's so much media this could be a near infinite source of "alkaline buffer" for all practical purposes... which could be what you have observed.

    I like how you've understood the differences and implications between basic aqueous solutions and alkaline solutes (salts) in solutions. This needs its own section because pH is quite important... or at least expand and reorganize that information. I can't stress this enough, but pH is the single most critical variable to control in your system. The single most. I can't stress it enough. Single most...



    SIDE NOTES:
    The aeration pumps we use draw from the ambient greenhouse air, including the added CO2, and feed it into the fish tank water. This extra CO2 mixed with the water creating carbonic acid, and the pH plummeted all the way down to 5.8.
    I had written a bunch of information on carbonic acid before reading the subsequent paragraph which supports your claim that it was in fact carbonic acid in your water. I did not believe your CO2 concentration had risen that high, but since you have shown that is the case, I would like to change my statements to warnings regarding CO2.

    If your CO2 was high for extended periods of time, the concentration of CO2 in the air would be TOXIC to your plants. Also, if you do not actually monitor the spike in CO2 you can get LESS yield from your plants, which is NOT what you want... I have the paper somewhere that goes into it from my archives, but for now I site this as evidence: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11540191

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    Moderator urbanfarmer's Avatar
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    P.S. I don't mean to sound overly critical. I just want to give some feedback and constructive criticism. This is a wonderful post filled with tons of practical information. On behalf of the community, I would like to thank you for the effort you put into it.

    This is for you:



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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    are you really recommending using a product called "Stress Zyme"? have you read the msds?

    http://cms.marsfishcare.com/files/msds/ ... 112409.pdf
    i'd be more worried about using something like that than using humonia!

    bacteria will show up on it's own

  8. #8
    Aquaponics 101 Oliver's Avatar
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    Post Posted: Fri Feb 18, 2011 7:28 am
    Reply with quote
    are you really recommending using a product called "Stress Zyme"? have you read the msds?

    http://cms.marsfishcare.com/files/msds/ ... 112409.pdf
    Yes, and if you read it it says:

    HAZARD
    Not hazardous

    It has a rating of:
    Flammability = 0
    Toxicity = 0
    Body Contact = 0
    Reactivity Chronic = 0
    Everything else in the msds is standard boiler plate cya verbiage that is in every msds.

    If you are reading something else in there, let me know.

    ACUTE HEALTH EFFECTS
    SWALLOWED
    ? The material has NOT been classified by EC Directives or other classification systems as "harmful by ingestion". This is because of the lack of corroborating animal or human evidence. The material may still be damaging to the health of the individual, following ingestion, especially where pre-existing organ (eg. liver, kidney) damage is evident. Present definitions of harmful or toxic substances are generally based on doses producing mortality rather than those producing morbidity (disease, ill-health). Gastrointestinal tract discomfort may produce nausea and vomiting. In an occupational setting however, ingestion of insignificant quantities is not thought to be cause for concern.

    EYE
    ? Although the liquid is not thought to be an irritant (as classified by EC Directives), direct contact with the eye may produce transient discomfort characterised by tearing or conjunctival redness (as with windburn).

    SKIN
    ? The material is not thought to produce adverse health effects or skin irritation following contact (as classified by EC Directives using animal models). Nevertheless, good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable gloves be used in an occupational setting.

    INHALED
    ? The material is not thought to produce adverse health effects or irritation of the respiratory tract (as classified by EC Directives using animal models). Nevertheless, good hygiene practice requires that exposure be kept to a minimum and that suitable control measures be used in an occupational setting.

    CHRONIC HEALTH EFFECTS
    STRESS ZYME Section 11 - TOXICOLOGICAL INFORMATION
    ? Long-term exposure to the product is not thought to produce chronic effects adverse to the health (as classified by EC Directives using animal models); nevertheless exposure by all routes should be minimised as a matter of course.

    TOXICITY AND IRRITATION
    ? Not available. Refer to individual constituents.
    As far as bacteria showing up on there own, this product helps them show up and by using it the water is much clearer and the fish waste solids do not accumulate in the bottom of the fish tank as they do if I don't use it.
    To measure is to know

  9. #9
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    I'm interested in aquaponics as a way to feed my family once things get really tough.

    In the above article you stated: "once you have your system up and running, you never, ever, want to turn it off; not even for the night. You might want to consider some kind of a power back-up in case of a power failure."

    What do you suggest using as a backup power source once TSHTF? In a case where there is no access to fuel or electricity for over a year, does anyone have suggestions? You'd also need a backup power source as well... and solar power may or may not be completely reliable.

    Also, how/where would you find the nutrients, etc you need to keep the water, fish & bacteria at optimum levels once TSHTF?

    I find myself wondering if this is a viable solution. It may take more water and work to get food from the ground, but you don't have the concerns of power/backup power, pH levels, bacteria, etc, etc. And there's only so much you can stockpile... we have no way of knowing if we'll be off-grid for 2 months or 12 years.

    I may be way off base (and I probably am). Could someone set me straight? Thanks.

  10. #10
    Aquaponics 101 Oliver's Avatar
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    Re: Aquaponics 101 Part Four: System Start Up

    CBB,

    You bring up some good points, many of which we've considered.

    If you reduce the fish density, then you could turn off the pumps for a period of time depending on that density. Considering this, you could run the system during the day on solar, assuming the sun is shining, and turn off the water pumps at night.

    Reducing the fish density will not necessarily reduce the nutrient value. As long as the fish to bio-filter ratio is maintained and the fish to plant ratio is also maintained the fish to water ratio can be reduced by increasing the amount of water in the system. This can be done by increasing the size of the fish tank. It will take longer initially to build up the nutrients but given the above, they will be maintained. This will also make the system more stable, meaning that it will take longer for it's chemistry to change.

    You must, however, maintain a high level of dissolved oxygen in the fish tank. It would be best for the fish to have their final daily meal several hours before turning off the water pumps in order for the fish to produce their final waste of the day and for it to be processed.

    We have looked at a sustainable system, including fish food, and to some extent you can capture the part of the vegetables you grow that are not consumed, desiccate it, grind it up and pelletize it. For the most part, you need to live in a climate where you can grow and store fish food by using standard soil planting techniques in order to have enough food for the fish year round. You can also desiccate the leftover fish parts and process it along with the veggies for fish food protein.

    As an aside, we purchase palletized fish food in large quantities relative the amount of fish we have, bag it in one gallon zip locks and put it in the chest freezer until we are ready to use it. We do this because left unfrozen, it has a short shelf life.

    Vegetables are mainly water. Once desiccated they are mainly carbon, which is sequestered from the CO2 in the air. The fish are the same. The fish food, then, does not make up most of the mass of the fish. The fish waste does not make up most of the mass of the vegetables. So, there is no perpetual motion going on here. It is possible then, to grow enough fish food in the aquaponics system to sustain the process.

    Worms may be another alternative for fish food. Others here can chime in on that option.

    Fish are sustainable as any fish farmer knows. Plants are sustainable as any tillage farmer knows (unless Monsanto gets involved).

    As for sustainable power, I am an advocate of ethanol. You can grow plants that have a high gallons per acre (over 1000 gallons per year) of ethanol. Ethanol can be used for running a generator when the sun is not shinning. Ethanol can be stored for long periods. A century ago, almost every farm had an ethanol still for running farm equipment before Rockefeller backed the suffrage movement in order to stop its production and get petroleum as the only fuel for automobiles through the guise of probation. It is now legal in the US to have a still and the permit is easy to obtain. Ethanol is making a huge comeback in the US and around the world. I'm not talking about the politics of ethanol, but its use as a sustainable fuel. As for the politics of ethanol, there is a large effort on the part of the Petroleum Institute to get people to believe that in it some way makes food prices increase, which is pure propaganda on their part.

    Aquaponics has its down side as you have indicated. It should be considered as a part of a greater whole when when looking at a total sustainable solution in case of WTSHTF. Or, as the flying nun once said, when the fertilizer hits the ventilator.

    I believe this would be a good topic to pursue on its own on this forum.

    Oliver
    To measure is to know

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