by Joanne Bell, Grow Lab Manager, The Aquaponic Source
We had an unfortunate invasion of planktonic algae (floating microscopic plants) in one of our grow lab systems. Unlike other forms of algae that cling to surfaces, this type is free-floating in the water. In lakes and ponds, some planktonic algae is considered beneficial. But too much can […]
If you’ve visited our grow lab anytime since last spring, you would have noticed that we have been doing a lot of experimenting with growing in fabric bags. Our hypothesis was that they would be great for the following purposes:
One of the main benefits of moving into our facility last year was that we finally have a grow lab. Back when we were working out of the basement we would experiment with plants and products in our backyard greenhouse system. The problem was that there was only one fish tank and all the water […]
Last May I wrote a post titled “pH and Water Hardness in Your Aquaponics System”. In that post, I explored the relationship between pH movement, alkalinity and KH or carbonate hardness. Since then, there has been some swirling controversy about the use of […]
I’ll let you in on a secret. When we first started The Aquaponic Source website in the spring of 2010, I had very little interest in carrying grow lights. Yes, I knew grow lights were critical to indoor growing. Yes, our customers were going […]
by Tim Day
When I first got started in aquaponics, I went straight to youtube. Then Google. Then a couple of dodgy sales pitch sites. Then back to google and youtube. Eventually I found my way to Amazon and got a hold of […]
To say this past week has been a tough one for the communities where I live (Boulder, CO) and work (Longmont, CO) would be an extreme understatement. Record rainfalls causing major floods have forced us all to focus strictly on life’s basics. Is our […]
The good news – fish waste broken down by bacteria is a surprisingly complete plant fertilizer. However, aquaponic systems are routinely deficient in a few nutrients – primarily potassium, calcium, and iron. We routinely address the potassium and calcium deficiencies by buffering (raising) our system’s pH with compounds based on those elements. But what should […]
Most of us aquapons know that the health of all the creatures in our systems (fish, plants, worms, and bacteria) depends on proper pH. We also know that we are targeting pH in the 6.8 to 7.0 range but that we don’t have to worry about adjusting it until it goes down to 6.4 or […]
