What levels are good?

[Jackalope]

OK, so I finally got a API Master Test kit on eBay to test the water. Out of 30 goldfish that I have bought, I have 2 left . Here's what I have measured today:

PH - 8.0
Ammonia - 8.0
Nitrate - 0.0 ppm
Nitrite - 5.0 ppm
Water Temp - 63 F. (if that makes any difference)

My questions are these:

1. What are the good/recommended levels that I should be striving for on the different tests?

2. I want it to be as Organic as possible, so what do I use to raise and lower the levels:
a)PH - too alkaline
b)PH - too acidic
c) Ammonia - too high (Can it be too low?)
d)Nitrates - too high (Can it be too low?)
e)Nitrites - too high (Can it be too low?)

3. Once I start growing produce, am I going to have to have separate systems for (a) lettuce/greens/herbs and (b) Tomatoes since they each require different nutrients/PH levels, etc.? i.e. It is my understanding that lettuce and greens grow great with aquaponics using fish waste, but tomatoes require different levels of ammonia, acids, PH, etc. so the fish wouldn't provide all of that (?). Please understand that I am just asking, not making dogmatic statements here -- I'm trying to learn .

NOTE: I haven't finished putting the grow beds together, and I still need to buy some grow-lites - One thing at a time..... I figure I need to learn to raise the goldfish without killing them all off before I start growing the lettuce and tomatoes . After a year or two, I hope to expand enough to start raising trout rather than goldfish, since I would like to stick with cold-water fish to avoid the cost of heating the water. (I'm in Montana, USA, so our winters get very severe - 43 F below zero a few weeks back) right now we're basking in the 32 F above zero 'heat wave' lol

[Murray]

Hi Jack,

pH of 8 is a bit high
You can get it down slowly by adding lemon juice.

There are other compounds that others have used, I am sure they will chip in and tell you how they did it.

Trouble is that at pH 7 or higher the ammonia is particularly toxic to fish, that is why you will need to move it down gently.

pH tends to drift down slowly in a mature aquaponics system over time, so be gentle with the adjustments. Make them over several days.

It is my understanding that lettuce and greens grow great with aquaponics using fish waste, but tomatoes require different levels of ammonia, acids, PH, etc. so the fish wouldn't provide all of that (?)

I grow Tomatoes very well in my systems although I have to admit that I get better results for the tomatoes in the oldest system that is now 3 years old. So there has been time to build up a load of organic nutrients in the grow beds.

The lettuce go better in the newest system that is only about 5 months old.

PH up is easy enough . Add Hydrated Lime from time to time to provide calcium and to raise pH... etc.
You will find that Iron needs to be added to the system from time to time.

[Jason Palenske]

I agree with Murray about the PH being a little high, goldies prefer 7. One thing that is often overlooked however is the health of the goldfish themselves. I went through about 30 myself before I got healthy ones that flourished. If your getting feeders they are generally tThis is almost a positive sign they aren't going to make it. When you look at goldfish you want prominent fins, good color and a full looking belly. If you look in my thread you can see pictures of a sickly and a healthy one that may help. Good luck, goldfish aren't as unkillable as people make them out to be.

[aussieap]

Gday Jack. The ammonia killed your fish. Change out 50% of your water now. What sort of pumping/biofilter setup do you have?
Google ammonia toxicity to fish and have a good read. Don't buy any more until you have ur growbeds done and an established bacteria colony in there. They will establish naturally, but with u being in winter it may take a couple of months.

[Ravnis]

+1 for what aussieheap said.
Your system is showing signs that it is starting to cycle.
ammonia 8
nitrite 5.

The water change will help your remaining fish and help your system cycle faster by reducing the ammonia levels. Not sure how big a tank you have but 30 gold fish is a lot to start off with in a new system. I used 20 in my 900 gallon system till i made sure it was cycled. If you are using gravel in your growbeds you may find that you have to fight your ph as a lot of gravel sold here seems to have a lot of calcium. I stuggle to keep the ph between 7.6-8.0 in mine due to the gravel even after adding lots of acid( I use white vinegar).

[Adareaqua]

Agghhh HELP
I did a water test this morning and my Nitrite level is 40 ppm..
Everywhere i read suggests do a 30% water change. Damn I knew I should have got to that sump tank..
Anything else i can do?
Should I panic or just throw another handfullof salt into the tank?
Any suggestions greatfuly received
Nean:

[Ravnis]

make sure it is nitrite your testing and not nitrate. My nitrite test only goes up to 5 but there may be others that read higher. A nitrate test of 40 is a good indicator that your system is working on cycling, but I can't tell you it is cycled till ammonia and nitrite are both reading zero.

[Adareaqua]

Sorry Ravnis
It is Nitrate at 40ppm (Is that good then?)
Amonia and nitrite are both at 0
PH is 6.6
I thought it was strange that the fish were happy to feed this am

[Ravnis]

No need to apologize, It's a lot to digest at one time. If your ammonia and nitrite are staying at 0 and nitrates are climbing, your ready to start planting. You will soon be ready to start eating too . I would advise monitoring for a few more days then you can add fish slowly. Remember it takes a day or so when new fish or added for the bacteria to grow and catch up. WHen I added 32 1cm carp and 20 1cm gold fish to my system it took 2 days to restablilize. Course the temps were 10-12 c so this slowed it down.

Btw, I have a ph of 8 with goldfish from a new gravel bed and have seen no sign of stress in the short term. Long term verdict is still out. I just add a little vinegar each day to help bring it back down. If you add fish slowly after you make sure your system is cycled the ph should not be a problem unless you overload your biofilter. Btw adding acid will stun your biofilter temporarily and cause an ammonia rise if you add too much too quick.

[Crusty]

Agghhh HELP
I did a water test this morning and my Nitrite level is 40 ppm..
Everywhere i read suggests do a 30% water change. Damn I knew I should have got to that sump tank..
Anything else i can do?
Should I panic or just throw another handfullof salt into the tank?
Any suggestions greatfuly received
Nean:

Just to add this for future reference. That Nitrite reading is very unusual. Always when not sure the test is correct, test it again, respond don't react it. But just for reference before dumping water, you need 30 times salt to 1 part nitrite to neutralize the nitrite with the chloride content in salt (eg, your reading of 40ppm will require the addition of 1200ppm salt added). Keep in mind the salt should not reach levels higher than 2ppT (2grams per liter or 2000EC). This should only be used in emergency and will not remove the nitrite but will reduce/remove its toxicity to the cultured fish. This means it will continue to read on tests and feed your bio. The fish and the bio will not have any issue with the salt content, though I can not speak for your plants, so a bypass may be required for your grow bed set up. And remember salt has an accumulative effect.