Seamaiden said:

Ah, but there are FW flounder. Not sure how tasty they are, but I understand that fishes like Oscars, Red Devils (the large Central & South American fishes) are extremely good eating, if not perhaps a little bony. But you just kind of described a trout, too. I don't care for trout, one of my least favorite fishes to eat. I'd rather eat a bass.

FW flatfish. It's very, very flat.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatfish

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Seamaiden said:

Hmm... I was going to comment that B- is hard to get, but your photos seem to show what could indeed be a B-. Some micronutrients would be in order here, question is how best to introduce them. It's been a LONG time since I've used a bottled product, and I can't remember what it is that I have downstairs, it's reddish/pink, soluble, worked pretty well last time I used it some years ago. Now I use stuff like Azomite and volcanic rock dusts, but I honestly think those may take too long to become available to be of use to you here.

I also believe that you actually want readable NO3 here, don't you? If you're not getting it, you may need to up the biological load, or pee in the system.

Hey. I like your meter.

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GanjaAL said:

Duckweed. A living plant that feeds the fish without adding nitrates to the water. Just a thought.

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ttystikk said:

Nice meter. I have the portable version, myself- one's results can only be as good as one's instruments.

In a properly running aquaponic system, N levels are low to non existent because plants soak it up immediately. This from a couple of different people who run fish farming operations, one of whom also had an aquaponic setup.

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GanjaAL said:

Duckweed. A living plant that feeds the fish without adding nitrates to the water. Just a thought.

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ThePreacher said:

Added some better pictures of the Boron issues.

This is two of the other plants that are not affected. The stem is almost all green:And this is the one that is. Keep in mind that even tho the stem looks thinner than the ones that are not affected, it's just thinner all the way. Like I was saying, it had a bad childhood.
View attachment 334332View attachment 334334View attachment 334335

Also updated the close ups:
]View attachment 334345View attachment 334346View attachment 334347

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Seamaiden said:

Preacher, let's assume that the plants are indeed using all the available NO3. The only issue I see with that, and this is based on my own limited understanding of plants, is that they also need NH4. The thing is, if your nitrifiers have kicked in, they may be processing all the available NH4 into NO3. This is where my own knowledge level drops off quite a bit, because I don't quite understand the interplay of NH4:NO3 and how that affects Brix (sugar) levels within the plant, which is generally a pretty decent indicator of plant health (unless it's high first thing in the morning). I need to read a lot more Hugh Lovel (sp?)!

It's occurred to me that you may also be able to incorporate Tubifex worms, or maybe bloodworms, into your system. They would be both fish food and feeders, creating a bit more of a complete cycle. I wouldn't want goldies eating too much, especially that black moor, but green veggies like green peas squeezed out of their skins helps in that regard. It's the fancies that are most prone to stuff like swim bladder problems, or constipation, the Comets are just a few steps away from being wild fish.

I can't get the idea of using ugly-ass pacu for an aquaponic system out of my head. Why? I suck at cooking tilapia (which are really just a big cichlid).

Hi Ganja! Glad to see you posting, hope to see more. :) The plants, including duckweed, should be using NO3, not adding it back. They may also use NH4 (ammonia), but I don't think they use NO2 (nitrite).

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ttystikk said:

Good need is it doesn't look like bugs, but use a microscope to be certain.

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Seamaiden said:

Preacher, let's assume that the plants are indeed using all the available NO3. The only issue I see with that, and this is based on my own limited understanding of plants, is that they also need NH4. The thing is, if your nitrifiers have kicked in, they may be processing all the available NH4 into NO3. This is where my own knowledge level drops off quite a bit, because I don't quite understand the interplay of NH4:NO3 and how that affects Brix (sugar) levels within the plant, which is generally a pretty decent indicator of plant health (unless it's high first thing in the morning). I need to read a lot more Hugh Lovel (sp?)!

It's occurred to me that you may also be able to incorporate Tubifex worms, or maybe bloodworms, into your system. They would be both fish food and feeders, creating a bit more of a complete cycle. I wouldn't want goldies eating too much, especially that black moor, but green veggies like green peas squeezed out of their skins helps in that regard. It's the fancies that are most prone to stuff like swim bladder problems, or constipation, the Comets are just a few steps away from being wild fish.

I can't get the idea of using ugly-ass pacu for an aquaponic system out of my head. Why? I suck at cooking tilapia (which are really just a big cichlid).

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ThePreacher said:

I have some bugs, going to the grow store to pick up my mites later today.
Most of the bugs I have have wings, and I think they all are Fungus Gnats, but I have also seen some smaller crawlers, around 0.8 - 1 mm long, kind of transparent. Will release the wrath of the Hypoaspis mites tomorrow.
On my command, unleash hell!

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