My tank is kinda Instagram famous!

Instagram Famous (kinda)!

Hey! Long time, no type. After putting in my dual LED light panels with a daisy-chain of zip ties, my jalapeño plant has experienced a lot more growth than the other plants. Before I knew it, I had three peppers and the plant had reached the top of the grow lights. After posting my pictures to Instagram, Aquasprouts noticed and recently used my tank as a promotion for its light extenders on Instagram and Facebook. They were kind enough to ask my permission to share the photos. For doing so, they provided me with some free extenders to put on my tank. Thanks, Aquasprouts!

Tank Happenings

To get this growth, my digital timer is set to turn the grow lights on between 8 AM and 10 PM for a total of 14 hours of virtual sun. The pump is running for 15 minutes each hour and the oxygenator runs for the rest of the time; only shutting off when the submersible pump is running. I feed the two goldfish, who happily feed the plants for me, once per day, but I sometimes feed them more if they beg.

For maintenance, I scrub the tank walls using a magnetic scraper, remove any solids through net or siphon, and replace any water lost through evaporation. Typically, five gallons will have to be replaced per week.

Since my municipal water system does not use chlorides to treat the water, I can leave a bucket of water out for a day to dissipate the chlorine naturally. I check the water vitals once per month to make sure nothing is wrong.

The algae problem has decreased, but not eliminated, since moving the system from the Ikea Room to my bedroom, but I miss the quiet. I'm wondering where else I can put it where it's in view and in-mind.

Harvest

I have eaten the peppers, which had a good heat level, but hadn't harvested any of the other plants yet. I thought of making a pesto for the basil and thought of making an essential oil for the lemon balm, but I haven't had time to do this yet. There are lots of ideas on Pinterest on how to do this, but I have to commit. I've been getting a house ready for renting, so I haven't had a lot of time to do anything else.

Postings

I hope to post more often, but time gets away from me. Rest assured that I'm keeping up with the tank's maintenance. It's the harvesting that needs to be done, but not too much. The aquarium's water still needs to be cleaned.

Douglas's peppers are taking over his AquaSprouts Garden. Good thing we carry light bar extenders at AquaSprouts.com! A photo posted by AquaSprouts (@aquasprouts) on Oct 18, 2016 at 1:15pm PDT

Thanks for the light extenders, @aquasprouts! #aquaponics #aquasprouts A photo posted by Douglas Kelley (@dmartk) on Oct 25, 2016 at 9:58am PDT

And growing some more

Howdy

It's starting to look like a garden!

Hey folks! The tank is still going strong and I'm finally starting to see some significant growth from seeds instead of fostered plants. I was surprised at how large the Sweet Basil's leaves have become. I have to start using this in food.

As you can see, I zip-tied the aerator to the light bar's post, which allowed me to remove the makeshift shelf on the right-side of the growbed. This is why there is no growth in this area of it. Some seeds were put down, but I haven't seen progress yet.

The fish are as hungry as ever. My number checks are within spec with zero ammonia, zero nitrites, and a seemingly healthy level of nitrates that the plants are using. In order to further fill-in the growbed, and based on my previous experiments and Pinterest advice, I've been propagating some plants and reinserting them into the growbed. It'll also be a good way to manage the bed so that I don't take too much out for recipes and what not.

My growlight looks a bit wonky. It's not as symmetrical as those nice fluorescent long bulbs, but it was only $30 from Amazon, and it does the job very well; as has been demonstrated through this blog. I should buy another one and link them together. (I just did!) It would still be cheaper than the $100+ for a proper looking one that may not perform as well.

Looking back

Things have gotten much stabler as this project has progressed. If I did it all over again, I would definitely change some things, such as:

1. Don't use a chemical, pet-store styled dechlorinator. I avoided using it early on, but since I had fish, I used it as an emergency measure in association with a water change. The fishes' lives were in danger due to a massive ammonia spike. At least at my water district, they don't use chlorides. This means that I can simply leave a bucket of tap water exposed to the sunlight for 24 hours and the water will naturally dechlorinate.
2. Buy a growlight as soon as your tank cycles and turn it on as soon as you seed. This is imperative in order to have significant growth in an indoor tank.
3. Locate the aquarium in a room with less outdoor light. I thought that I could get away with not having a growlight because two of the walls were mostly windows. I was wrong. Additionally, having the aquarium in such a well-lit room accelerated algae problems in the tank.
4. Purchase an aerator after you cycle your tank and as soon as you stock your fish. The oxygen is important for the fish, particularly when the algae are competing for it.

The Numbers

I'm going to discontinue this segment as the tank has been stable for at least one month. When there are problems, I will bring it back.

Going Forward

I have a few new projects going on, such as being a potential landlord, and completing a bathroom renovation on my own home. However, I'm not concluding the blog. I'll write whenever I use its plants for recipes and for new developments. It won't be a near daily update as it once was, but it hasn't been for a time.

As always, thanks for reading.

Still going and improving

Howdy, folks!  It's been awhile but the blog is still going; as are the fish and plants. I'll have pictures later, but I wanted to provide an update before I forgot.

Analysis and Actions

1. The fish are doing well. They still have their appetites. The water continues to be reasonably clear. I haven't checked the numbers in about a week, but they looked pretty good. I did not record those figures in the blog though.
2. The plants are now doing amazingly well. The grow light has done wonders for the plants' development. I'd show pictures, but the tank is upstairs.
3. The cutting from the Lemon Balm plant, stuck into the growbed, successfully propagated. It also has grown from about 1-½ inches to 5 inches! The other cuttings from the spearmint has also done well. The basil and cilantro are are also growing well. Since I don't have a shelf or other mechanism to suspend the aerator above the tank, I'm using a makeshift platform to place it. Unfortunately, it is obscuring half of the growbed. I have some ideas to make it happen without a shelf. Of course, I'll report on the progress.
4. Additionally, the cutting that was put into the glass of water has also developed roots. I placed it into the the soil which exists on top of the water barrel outside. So far, so good.
5. The aerator, which I configured to run when the siphon pump is off, is working fine. I imagine that it's also contributing to the health of the fish and inhibiting the development of algae. I also partially shield the front of the tank from daylight (and the grow light), which helps too.
6. I added some naturally dechlorinated water to the tank to replenish what had been evaporated.

That's it from the aquaponics tank of the Ikea Room. When I can, I'll post pictures with more updates. Thanks for reading.

🐠 I can see clearly now... 🐟

Observation & Action

1. Water is much clearer after the 10% water change and other changes yesterday. The ammonia is back to zero, and the pH is between 6.5 and 7.0.
2. The one sprout is getting taller since the growlight went in. Half of the bed is covered with the shelf required for the aerator, but it'll open up as soon as come up with a solution. It has to be at least 12" above the water line.
3. I seeded some sweet basil and cilantro/coriander. We'll see how it turns out with the additional equipment and tank changes.

The Numbers

Date	GH General Hardness	KH Carbonate Hardness	pH	NO2 Nitrites	NO3 Nitrates	NH3/NH4 Ammonia	Temp °C
16-Jun	120	40	7.0	0	80	0.00	24°

Tank rehab

Observation & Action

1. I was still not satisfied with algae level in the tank. Additionally, there was an ammonia spike to 0.5 ppm (the threshold for what the fish can handle), so I performed a number of changes to the tank.
1. Wipe down submersible pump, its hose, and tank heater.
2. Scrub the inner walls of the tank to remove any algae film upon them.
3. Manually removed any string-type algae (I still have to look up the proper term).
4. Performed a 10% water change using the naturally dechlorinated water I keep in bucket.
5. Added 40 drops of pH UP to the tank. A water change will typically bring down the pH, which I don't want.
2. The growlight and the aerator came two days ago. I now see a new plant sprouting. I have to find my extra timer, but I've been leaving it on from 8 AM to midnight. I'll have to research the optimal time and set it accordingly.
3. The aerator seems to be doing well, but I'm unsure of its effect. It's sorely needed while the algae problem exists. I don't want the algae to rob oxygen from the fish. I wonder if there is a timer that functions as an A/B; where power alternates between device A (aerator) and device B (siphon pump)? Perhaps separate timers setup accordingly would suffice and give me more control.
4. The fish, as usual, have a voracious appetite. I've been giving in to feeding them too much as the algae is a big problem again.

Analysis

The ammonia spike was significant. It may be due to a lack of plants to filter the water. This is why I performed a water change. I'll also be buying some more seeds to see if I can enact some positive progress. Something has to give. As it is, I'll be performing more ammonia checks until I can confirm the problem has been handled.

The Numbers

Date	GH General Hardness	KH Carbonate Hardness	pH	NO2 Nitrites	NO3 Nitrates	NH3/NH4 Ammonia	Temp °C
15-Jun	180	40	6.5	0	160	0.50	24°

Same ole same ole

Observations

1. Fish seem to always be hungry. I feed them some, they go away, but when I return a few hours later, they act like I hadn't fed them. They're like dogs with Prader-Willie.
2. I hadn't been shielding the tank from the light since I put up the shade in the far-left corner. It hasn't cleared up the algae, but it hasn't gotten worse either.
3. The plants are not doing well. The tips of the leaves are browning, and the new seedlings, while initially holding promise, didn't make it.
4. Based on the last point, I broke down and ordered some LED grow lights to help with the plants while preventing the proliferation of algae in the tank. Since the world is not going to end by not having it immediately, I opted for the take-your-time shipping for a Amazon digital credit.
5. I also ordered an aerator to insure the algae don't rob all of the oxygen from the fish. It's status is the same as point #4.
6. Nitrates have exploded. Nitrites are zero, as are ammonia. The system needs more plants to use the nitrates. I'm betting that the growlight is going to help with that.

The Numbers

Date	GH General Hardness	KH Carbonate Hardness	pH	NO2 Nitrites	NO3 Nitrates	NH3/NH4 Ammonia	Temp °C
11-Jun	180	40	6.5	0	160	0.00	23°

Thoughts

I'm really disappointed that my crop is not doing better. I've had a lot of false starts.  While the tank is reasonably stable, I've been unable to successfully grow a crop from scratch. Hopefully, these new additions will help. If anyone has any ideas that would help, please comment. Thanks.

The Consequences of Shading

Observations and Actions

1. Water is noticeably clearer but still has a greenish tint. The algae problem must be clearing up. I've been keeping the front of the tank covered with my whiteboard during the day. I also created a roman shade for only one of the windows, which also helped with he sun as well as decrease the heat in the room. I also have been limiting the feeding to 1-2 times per day; not just when the goldfish are clamoring for a meal.
2. My water readings are changing again. For the first time in awhile, the pH has gone below 6.5. The water hardness has gone up but the carbonate hardness has gone down. There are zero nitrites, but an increased level of nitrates. Are the plants not making use of the nitrates? The water temperature continues to be steady.
3. The snail died. I'm guessing that it may have had to do with the change in pH.
4. I topped off the tank with some naturally dechlorinated tap water (I left it uncovered, in a bucket, for a couple of days). I then added 40 drops of pH UP to the tank to get the numbers up. I should have added less for less of a shock. I know that the goldfish will handle it, but I'm not sure about the catfish. Both appear to be very healthy and active.
5. The plants are not doing well. This could be due to the pH changes. The fostered plants have brown spots on the leaves and appear to be wilting. Their health was floundering before I put up the window shade, but the decreased sunlight is a factor. The fostered plants have actually pointed to the left; towards the light of the closest, eastern-facing window. I am going to have to purchase a grow light but I don't want to spend the money.

Analysis

Regarding the algae v. plant light conundrum, I'm going to have to either move the tank or buy a grow light. While the sunlight is great for the plants, it's not direct. The room shading, which helps limit the algae growth and makes the room more comfortable in the summer, limits the plants' growth. I need to bite the proverbial, financial bullet and buy a grow light. If you have any recommendations, please provide a comment in the page or send me a tweet (@the1verse).

The pH dropped to 6.0. I'm very concerned about this since I really didn't do anything to the water. I'll have to read more about why this happened, but my observations tell me that the shading is the only external change. I don't recall anything else being done.

The Numbers

Date	GH General Hardness	KH Carbonate Hardness	pH	NO2 Nitrites	NO3 Nitrates	NH3/NH4 Ammonia	Temp °C
6-Jun	180	40	6.0	0	160	0.00	24°