Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

if at all?? poor fish will be starving...
will they be alright if i dont feed them for 3 days?? sometimes sucking on pebbles just isnt enough.

They'll be better than you ... by the sound of it.....

Just put a cold drink in your hand, sit on the couch and DON'T go and check them....

what can i say....times are tough...

Hey - great little system - I love it.
But I find your avatar very disturbing - Its distracting me from the read!!

after 50% water change...

ammonia 4.0
nitrite 0.25
nitrate 160-80 for what i can tell

a couple of homebrews giving me wobly eye

significant drops since early this afternoon anyway..

will do 50% tomorrow and hopefully will be on track with it all within the week.



chookshit

cookshit, fish will be fine.

i fed my trout 1/3 their normal amount only twice in 5 days

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The only tool you need is a paperclip

The fish can go a week with no food just fine. The high ammonia is much more of a danger. What is your pH? Please tell me that it is under 7.0; that will make it easier for the fish to handle the ammonia.

_________________
Rules are for the obedience of the ignorant and the guidance of the wise.

Janet he posted a pH of 6.8 and a temperature of 20 degrees... has a heater in the tank set to 25 degrees...

http://backyardaquaponics.com/forum/vie ... 4882#84882

So according to the chart, and the fact that he plans to do another 50% water change, he should be OK.

Chooky... post your readings after your next water change and retest, including pH

hey guys, its been over 12 hours since i did the first 50% water change

ammonia 4.0
nitrite 0.25-0.50 its a bit of both?
nitrate 80-160 its still a dark red so inbetween
ph 6.6
temperature 25*

so i have some progress
ill do another 50% water change this afternoon after work

thanks
chookshit

hello again...
i did my second 50% water change

ammonia 2.0
nitrite 0.25 definate
nitrate 80-160 160
ph 6.4
temperature 25*

should i get my ph up closer to 7 or leave it?

6.8 would be nicer. You have to strike a balance. Lower pH means fish can tolerate the ammonia better. Higher pH (7.5) means bacteria will establish faster.

_________________
Rules are for the obedience of the ignorant and the guidance of the wise.

heyas.. i just tested my water, everything is good except Nitrates
a few questions.. what level should ammonia be at?.. mine is sitting on 1. so i put my ph up a bit to 6.8 from 6.4
how do i get nitrates down?
what levels should everything be at?

Chook - look at the table on this page regarding ammonia toxicity at pH and temp. Provided you are below toxic levels, don't stress, though in the end you should have readings of 0 provided your biofilter is functionning effectively.

Regarding nitrate, the plants remove this. Can you add more plants? See also the Really Smart Guy thread regarding anoxic removal of nitrate. While high nitrate levels (I mean 80-160) have not been an issue for most of us growing perch - I understand that nitrate will in the long run damage a fishes health (a bit like smoking in humans). Accordingly, if you are growing ornamentals, which should have a longer life than the eating fish then you probably want to keep your nitrate below 40. You don't want to have to be doing water changes to achieve this because one of the major advantages of AP is not having to waste water.

thought id put my test results up,
nitrate is still bad. i find reading the nitrate colour card to be very difficult
can anyone tell me which shade of red it is?



my strawberry plants are kicking arse with growth, but i have diseases.



and this one has a white powdery substance on it, also on the back of the leaf



whats a good pesticide thatll work and not kill my fish?

Hi Chook

the one in the first photo is acutally cause by an insect. Break off the infected leaves and destroy, the second photo is fungus, common in strawberries apparently. sorry i dont know the cure however im sure someone else has it