Al G Money

Observations

1. Water seems clearer after adding the catfish, slug, covering the front of the aquarium glass, and not feeding Thing One and Two for two days. It's not optimal yet, but when will it ever be? I had also been running the pump constantly over the last 24 hours.
2. The fostered plants seem a little spotty. I'm not sure why this is. The algae could have been robbing the water's nutrients from the plants.
3. The new seedlings growth appears to be stunted. Perhaps I'm being impatient, but I thought they'd be growing more by now.
4. The water readings are very stable except that its temperature raised to 25° C. It was 90°F (32°C) outside yesterday, and I have a window fan on the outside window. I have A/C, but the room is upstairs, two of the walls are almost entirely made of windows, and I have the duct  temporarily disconnected.

Analysis & else

I have to say that I'm feeling a little overwhelmed and dissatisfied. I thought that I'd had more growth in my new plants. Some of the seeds have not even germinated. What am I doing wrong? I'm really having trouble understanding. I think that I'm doing everything that I can, but it doesn't progress; it plateaus. I suppose it's part of the trials of pioneering by the seat of my pants, but knowing this doesn't make it easier. I'll just keep pressing forward.

Besides the aquaponics setup, I am growing Moonflowers and Morning Glory in pots downstairs. Since my wife works nights, I was going to set each one up on both ends of the porch. Depending on when she gets home, but the Moonflower would bloom when they arrived around midnight and the Morning Glory would bloom when she arrived early morning around 7 AM. It may not be the way that it's actually going to work, but I thought it was a great idea to put her in a better mood when she comes home.

I'm also trying to propagate some lemon balm in a glass. I'm going to do the same in the aquaponics setup to try to grow roots. My plan is to transplant them downstairs above the rain barrel as a mosquito repellent. I also planted some Marigolds in the same location which appear to be slowly taking off. Writing of lemons, the lemongrass seeds have not propagated. in the growbed.

Here's an idea! I'm going to start a Lemon Balm race. Two methods: aquaponics and glass of water. We'll see which method gets roots first. The race starts today! I'll create a page outside these posts and reference it for updates.

UPDATE: The Lemon Balm Root Race has been created. Yes, I know it's a crude page much like the rest of it, but I don't really care too much about the presentation at this point.

Water changes and anticipation

Observations

• Fish have a voracious appetite. I continue to feed them twice per day. I hasn't appeared to effect the water readings, which are dropping in the nitrite and ammonia categories.
• Tank water still has greenish tint. I still need to address the algae in the tank. At least for the interim, I've been covering the glass when we're not in the room; at least during the day, to minimize its growth.
• Growth progress; particularly among the chives. The lemongrass also appears to be sprouting in the corners where I placed it.
• The ammonia is keeping steady at 0.25 ppm while the nitrites have dropped to zero. I'm asking myself whether I should add another fish to keep the plants fed with nitrates. I may do this if the nitrates drop along with the nitrites. My other questions are:
• What is a reasonable level of nitrites and nitrates for sustaining the current level of crop? 
• Do some plants need more than others?
• What effect will a grow light have upon these numbers?

Analysis

Things are stable, so there's nothing to report. I'm going to use the basil for a pizza soon. I'll let you know how it turns out. For the (obvious) record, we intend to eat the items grown in this system, but not eat the goldfish. However, it's not uncommon for such a system to harvest both fish and plants; just not goldfish. :)

I also plan to take out the lemon balm (picture far-left) from the growbed and transplant them to the front and back porches. I've become obsessed with keeping away mosquitos this season as they were friggin' annoying last year. The nasty, deadly viruses they transmit, including Zika and West Nile, are also more than enough incentive for repelling them.

I'll report back in a few days and provide some pics as well.

The Numbers

Date	GH General Hardness	KH Carbonate Hardness	pH	NO2 Nitrites	NO3 Nitrates	NH3/NH4 Ammonia	Temp °C
25-May	120	40	7.0	0	80	0.25	24°