keep the thread going!
started a small aquaponic experiment in my grow room with 15gal tank, 10gal ebb/flow with hydroton, 100watt MH, air stone, a few water plants in the tank, and a 150gph pump dialed down to about 50% flow.
i thought i had it cycled, but i don't think so. started with 200ppm tap water, added ammonia to 300ppm, waited for it to come down to 220ppm or so and assumed the bacteria had colonized the tank.
added about 20 small goldfish and 30 tiny feeder fish. probably way overpopulated for 15gal tank. 5 goldfish died off in the first few days. pH then went up to 7.5-8ish, so i hit it GH pH down to bring it back to 7.0. TDS around 500ppm. after being away for 4 days and feeding using a vacation block food, 4 were belly-up when i returned. since then, pH dropped to 6.5, then to 6.0 (which is great for plants) and TDS around 800ppm, but virtually all of the goldfish have died and a few more feeders. might have had something to do with heavy feeding. most of the feeder fish still going strong, probably about 20 of 'em left, which is closer to the "1 inch of fish per gallon" guideline.
looking to grow some duckweed outside if i can get a hold of some. do the fish just eat that stuff? or do you dry it first?
i put 2 rooted clones in the grow bed. i picked the 2 weakest ones from my DIY aero cloner. first clone is about a week ahead and is showing modest new growth, albeit deficient (bright lime green leaves), which tells me that the bacteria still aren't quite breaking down the ammonia and nitrates enough. second one staying alive, but no new growth. lettuce sprout in a root plug also sitting in there and looking awfully lime green, but maybe that's the color of the lettuce. seems like it should be darker though. plenty of light given that the 100watt MH is just inches away. fan keeps temps in grow bed around 85F. ambient room temp and water temp 70-80F.
going to just let things ride and see if the system establishes itself on its own. will post obituaries and ppm readings in a few days.
any suggestions?