Aquaponics Lesson 3

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AdastraJunction
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Aquaponics Lesson 3

Post by AdastraJunction »

Maintenance of your system

One thing you should know about aquaponics is you do not need ANY pesticides even if it is outdoors. Please do not set up under trees or where trees leaves can fall into your fish tank this can hurt the health of your fish. If your plants get pests on them just remove the plant and rinse it in the fish thank, the little buggers will be happy for an extra meal of insects! Then just place the plant back into its growbed.

Maintaining your tank

1) Feed your fish daily: Your fish are an essential part of your aquaponics system, so it’s important that they stay fully nourished. You should feed them twice a day (or at least once), once in the morning and again before sun down.

You can use an automatic fish feeder to help you do this if you’re unavailable, but being present while feeding your fish also serves as a health check, because if you see that your fish are not eating actively, then it may be a sign that something is wrong.

2) Check your fishes health: Watch for signs of Ick, and bloating aka Dropsy, fungas and parasites.

3) Temperature: Check the temp of you tank daily for the specific breed(s) of fish that you are keeping. A thermometer in the tank is better thank the stick on ones for outside the tank.

4) Check the PH levels weekly: The pH level is your aquaponics system determines the ability of your plants nutrient intake, the bacteria’s reproduction abilities and the health of your fish. It’s safe to say that pH is arguably the most important factor of how well your aquaponics system runs, so it needs to be checked at least once a week.

The ideal pH level is between 6.8-7.0, and while some aquaponic systems steadily maintain this, over time, most systems pH will decrease naturally. If it falls below 6.5, it’s time to add hydrated lime or potash to increase the pH levels again.

You can get kits from your local aquarium shops.

5) Check Ammonia levels weekly : Like pH, another important indicator of the overall health of your aquaponics system is the ammonia levels. This also needs to be checked once a week so you can spot any problems that may turn out to be disastrous.

Ammonia levels should be equal to or less than 0.5ppm. A sudden rise in this means that you may have a dead fish somewhere within your tank.

6) Check the Nitrate levels monthly: Nitrates are usually a good thing, but when they rise to unnatural levels (above 150ppm), this could mean that there are not enough plants to take in the nitrogen that’s being released by the nitrifying bacteria.

You can solve this three ways – Add more plants, harvest some fish or add another grow bed to your aquaponics system.

7) Check the Pumps, Plumping and electrics: Check all the pumps and plumbing is connected and working properly for successful circulation. This should really be checked everyday, while cleaning out all the pumps and pipes should be done once a month. Same with the electrics, make sure they are safe and secure and no water is getting to them.

It’s a hassle and dirty job but it has to be done in order to maintain the efficiency of your system. A good way to clean them is to run high-pressure water from a hose through each component.
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