Day two of new seeds, second day of calm

Observations

1. It may be an illusion but I think that the fostered plants grew a little bit. I know that is what they're supposed to do, but it's still wondrous to me.
2. I did not cover the glass of the aquarium for much of yesterday. This may explain the increased cloudiness that our lovely daylight nemesis, algae, brings to my tank. It should be able to keep it under control if I cover it today. Of course, I have to watch them first.
3. I was able to feed them today. Their appetite seemed normal.
4. Either the oxygen stone for the oxygenator is going to need to be cleaned or the batteries to the unit will need to be replaced. It's not outputting enough air.
5. Day two of seeding; as expected, there is no noticeable progress yet.
6. Added 21 drops of API pH UP to deal with 6.5 pH issue.

Overall, the tank and its components seem normal. There's a small maintenance item regarding the oxygenator to which I have to attend, but it seems fine otherwise. I was really thinking that this project may have been a total disaster a few days ago, but the proverbial storm has passed.

Starting from the Internet of Things

So, how did I learn about the existence and symbiotic beauty of aquaponics? I actually discovered it by accident. At the time, I was learning about Arduino UNO microcontrollers. I had purchased the Official Starter Kit, which included the microcontroller, tutorial, components and breadboard; everything you would need to get started. The boards alone cost between $30 and $50 US. For the record, I would recommend this kit for anyone, even children, wanting to learn about electronics as well as computer programming. Once you build your components, the UNO board allows you to control them by writing code. It's actually a subset to the "C" programming language, which is pretty easy to learn. I find the whole concept of the Internet of Things concept, and more specifically, microcontrollers, a wonderful bridge between the virtual and the real to customize the physical world that way you want it to work; but let's get back to the story.

I was perusing YouTube about the Arduino when I discovered a video entitled the Internet of Things. It was an older gentleman who was running an aquaponics setup in California. He build his entire setup, including water towers for strawberries, growbeds for vegetables, and tanks for his fish. The additionally fascinating thing about it was he was controlling and monitoring it through custom-built components which included Arduino microcontrollers. His setup also allowed him to control the pumps and monitor is system through the Internet; hence the term Internet of Things. Anyway, both concepts really fascinated and inspired me. The video helped start my journey to now.

I hope to get more elaborate as I learn more, but the Aquasprouts system is where I am starting.

The Numbers

Date	GH	KH	pH	NO2	NO3	NH3/NH4	Temp °C
19-May	120	80	6.5	3	80	0.25	23°