Hi thinking about buying a greenhouse of some sort to house my new aquaponics system that i'm going to buy ,but having some experience with aquariums and sunlight i was thinking is there a problem with algae.
Hi thinking about buying a greenhouse of some sort to house my new aquaponics system that i'm going to buy ,but having some experience with aquariums and sunlight i was thinking is there a problem with algae.
Hi Gazza,
There will be a problem with algae at a certain stage during the establishment of your system......but it passes.
I have less of a algae problem because my tank is in my shed.
Gary
Hi Gazza, I have a algae problem during summer. I believe it is a must to have your fish tank completely protected from direct sunlight. Further to that do not allow your grow beds to flood above the top of the gravel.
These two steps will go a long way toward dealing with possible algae outbreaks.
Correct me if i am wrong, But i would have assumed that an algae break out was caused by too much nutrients in the water (in other words, a product of not enough grow beds per fish volume)??? (then again, to assume anything is to make an ass of u and me.... (sorry))
Having said that, I suppose the plants in the grow beds need a certain amount of background nutrient level in the water as they don't consume it all as soon as it forms.
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Algae outbreaks are very likely to happen in an aquaponics system, because as you rightly pointed out there is always some nutrient in the water.
In an perfectly balanced system, I guess all the nutrient would be being consumed by the plants as soon as it is converted by the bacteria and the nitrates would be at zero... in theory anyway. But in actual practice I find that the nitrate levels vary a bit from day to day. There is always a small amount of nutrient in the water.
If the water is exposed to direct sunlight, algae is inevitable.
A bit of nutrient in the water does not matter much anyway. The fish are tolerant of some nitrates in the water.
The one that can cause problems quickly is Ammonia
The algae that comes out of the filters. Any use for that gunk. I was pouring the cleaning water from the filters into the pot plants nearby. Or if I dry it out can it be reintroduced. Thought I read something about dead algae stopping new algae.
Hi,
Chuck it in the compost bin.
Gary
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My fish (Koi, Tilapia, Borneo Suckers) spend much of their time sucking up the algae on the bottom and sides of the pond and tank. I've also found that floating a few pieces of water hyacinth seems to keep the algae down. I have an outdoor pond without fish at present. It used to house just three suckers and they vaccuumed the bottom and sides nicely. Without fish or water hyacinth, the water turns green within a few days.
I also agree with Murray, both my pond and 1000 litre tank are out of direct sunlight. Where I do find some green stuff is inside the outlet pipes. When I tap these, algae drops out into the water and the Koi love to come and eat it.
My pool is clearing, was just wondering if keeping some stored for the next bloom. That is if its true that dead algae release something that inhibits new algae. If not the compost or dirt garden can have it. The bacteria would be good for the garden.
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