I'm curious about ph...if my fish want neutral, and my plants want more acidic, will I need to provide a peat moss or similar acidic amedments to the root zone? Or do I find a happy medium between fish happiness and plant happiness? I feel foolish for not looking into this before
I just had my stuff at 5.8 to 6.2. Didnt even adjust it, just let it cycle and never even had to mess with it
a bunch of fancy goldfish (still have), 2 koi, 3 oscars, 1 catfish (real one, not the aquarium kind) and some crayfish in 275 gallon ibc tote that i framed in with t11 siding. just used an old hydro table for my bed and filled it with hydrotron and planted in that. you can just throw seeds in it and they grow Worked well, never had an issue until the end of the season and got hit hard with an algae bloom. That sucked but as far as growing plants, everything worked well, got a bunch of lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, beans and carrots all in a 4x4 table
Im surprised the oscars didn't chew all the goldfish...I kept a mating pair of red tiger oscars for almost 4 years when I lived in Phoenix.
Oscars did eat a lot of the smaller fish at first, anyrhing roughly their size they were fine with. They were not nearly as aggressive as i thought theyd be...dirty but not aggressive. Its weird, the oscars were a pack at all times and prob the most friendly fish to people. The koi would hide when you came over to them, the oscars which would hide most of the time would actually come out and make eye contact with you and givr you a look like hey whats up. I feel bad, my heater broke and they frooze in a single day this fall. All others made it except them, water did dip to 60 though.
Target pH for aquaponics is 6.4pH to 6.8 pH. Aquaponics is more of an "organic" growing situation, meaning the the bacteria, and nematodes like the pH a little higher. In aquaponics, I highly recommend dual root zones, with soil. This allows fungi, the other microorganism, to thrive, and help with uptake as well.
The pH for hydroponics works best set lower because salt/chelate based fertilizers dissolve easier in lower pH. Generally hydroponic grows are near sterile. Aquaponics, being organic, thrives bether with higher pH ranges.
Here’s a good read on Aquaponics for MJ. I still believe the ph should be no higher than 6.5. http://stuffstonerslike.com/2015/12/aquaponics-is-stuff-stoners-like/
I've been growing cannabis with the aquaponic method since 2015. I get 1.5 gpw on average. My 5000L system floats between 6.4pH and 6.8pH. I teach aquaponics professionally. I've had it as high as 7.2pH. It's all about microorganisms diversity.
Meaning biodiversity keeps ph in check, or makes for nutrient availability? What do you use to modify ph in such a system? 5000l
The carbonates in tap water keeps the pH upto about 6.8-ish. The nitrification of ammonia slowly drops the pH throughout the week. Luckily, it works out about perfect in my system, as I've dialed in the proper amount of fish feed, while keeping the proper amount of fish healthy.
My garden is 1000 sqft, and I'm always upgrading. Problems usually occur with an error in design, and spills; sometimes hundreds of gallons. Since I use tapwater, if I add a too much, pH is upwards of 8.5, so I add acid, for the sake of the fish.