Reducing Alkalinity & pH In Aquaponics Top Up Water
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- Опубликовано: 6 фев 2025
- Reducing pH & Alkalinity of Aquaponic Top Up Water
G'Day Folks.Due to over 900L / 238 gal of "town water" entering our aquaponic system a while back I need to drop the pH from 7.7 to below 7 as some of the plants (like the Gingers) appear to be suffering.
Normally there is no need to treat small amounts of top up water but thought I'd use my stuff up to help explain pH and alkalinity to those that may be interested. It may also come in handy for those looking at reducing the pH of their aquaponic system before adding fish.
Hope you enjoy this aquaponic update & your gardens are booming. Cheers all. 🐟 🌱🍅
Rob
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In the interest of turning lemons into lemonade… Have you considered taking this opportunity to try raising a species of fish which you've never tried before?
Ev Hervey Probably not in this system Ev. I'm going halves with my parents to get some Jades but the other system may have a mix of fish. Cheers mate.
Rob Bob you should look at one of the youtube videos here on Viktor Schauberger's work Search his name and documentaries should pop up, one is from 2008. It has some very interesting applications to Aquaponics and farming you would likely find very helpful. VERY useful. Cheers.
Also, take a look at another video here under a search of MrTeslonians "Trompe Hammer", very useful as well.
Thanks STWT.
Cheers & have a top one.
Got some stuff from him a week or two ago.
He did not just sent the stuffs speediously, but also gave a ton of information during and after the sale.
He is really a great person to support.
Am glad the info helped mate. 👍
How's the system going?
Thanks for all the great advice.
I'm on a aquaponics project, possibly up and running for spring.
The inspiration I receive from you is priceless.
Glad the clips have helped & hope the build goes smoothly.
Cheers CC. 👍
Great job Rob. From Texas the other Australia, and have had a tough time to with the alkaline and acidity. Good job on showing slowly how to measure and fix the problem. Good job mate.
Cheers RTStx1 👍
Thanks Rob. We have very hard water and my son added a bunch while I was out of town. Lost a few fish and checked ph. Got over 8 and had to work to bring it down. Your video helped tremendously!!
Thanks for all you do!!
I'm glad it helped you out Jim. 👍
Cheers mate & happy growing.
Good day to you Rob !! 👍👍😁😁 Thanks for sharing your Aquaponic stories and gardening adventures with us all today 😁😁👍👍
No problem 50SOG.
By far the most informative video I've seen yet, it's given me a great outlook on why my plants may not be taking up nutrients as well as I'd want them to and why I shouldn't be topping up straight out the tap, I'll be installing myself a top up tank in the near future to try level out my PH a bit. cheers 👍
I thoroughly enjoyed watching my second Rob Bob video. You may appreciate (?) that I learned of you by way of David the Good's aquaponics video. The first video I watched on your channel was the rebuttal. I was impressed by the calm, considerate way you answered his concerns. David the Good has since made it up to you, and I appreciate that as well. I like his channel too. A hobbyist like me can learn from all you guys and gals that are on RUclips. I can see now that I will learn a great deal from you as I begin my venture into hydro. Doubt I will get much past the simple Kratky method, but I do find aquaponics quite fascinating. Thank you.
Hope the Kratky set up works out well for you mate. Have wanted to have a crack at a simple one myself here.
Cheers Joe. & have a top one.
Glad you're getting your system back on track and hopefully your plants will recover. Good stuff as always Rob. Looking forward to the new fish when you get them.
Thanks Northern Star. Hoping to have some fish in there in a few weeks.
Cheers.
Fantastic video! I learned a great deal about pH! Thanks for sharing! Cheers!
No Problem. 🙂
Another super informative video Rob Bob👍✌️
Cheers Pete. 👍
I suggest that you keep a standby tank isolated with right levels so when you have any catastrophic situation or you need to add large amounts of water you can move fishes to it.
If I had the space & tank I would. I used to have one that was the right size when the system was smaller but since the first rebuild I haven't had the space. I am using the second tank at the moment for this purpose but that will need to be used elsewhere soon.
Cheers.
That meter needs to be calibrated. The check mark near "pH" disappears after 30days since last calibrated. Also have the Probe hydrated with the KCI solution for 24hrs before calibration. Doing so would give faster results.
Hey George. The meter may not of been calibrated in a while but I check it against the 4 & 7 I keep in the cabinet regularly. They were checked less than a week ago and they were on the money. Thanks for the reminder to calibrate the meter though & shall do that later today.
Rob Bob's Backyard Farm & Aquaponics sure no problem. Seeing you use one of them I bought one too.
Thanks for this Rob. I was interested to hear that you don't typically need to intervene to lower the pH. I have a new system sitting at about 7.7 and the plants are growing well, but I am concerned that the higher pH levels might make the persistently higher ammonia reading of 0.75-1 ppm more dangerous. Nitrite levels are low and that doesn't make sense to me.
How are the ammonia levels sitting now Matt
Sorry I missed your comment too.
No problems Rob. Ph has dropped a bit to 7.4 but Ph still sitting at 0.5 - 1.0 with no nitrite. Is nitrite more readily converted to nitrate than ammonia to nitrite? Fish seem healthy but at water temp of 9.5 degrees the trout aren't eating much. easy to overfeed. Love the vids and loving my aquaponics system!
Our well water hardness is very high. A KH of 14 🥴
Trying to maintain ph below 8.2 is very difficult. Perhaps rain water harvesting may be my better option to top off water...?
I can see where that would be an issue. Have you tried to drop it using acid at all?
Sorry it took so long to respond mate.
gday Rob Bob really enjoy watching your clips just a little question came home today and all of my fish are swimming on their sides not good they are still alive but not good would they still be ok to eat do you think cheers
I'm no expert but if it was due to an issue with pH, temperature fluctuations or chlorine overload I'd still eat them.
Any idea what caused it?
please rob i live in south africa . i realy need to do this to support my family when things get worse and what i like about wicking system is it is porteble can you please help me with your detailed version of it . if we need to run we can take the food with . thanks for the info and god bless you will help many of us that cant aford to run .
Hi KC.
I have a playlist that goes through all the wicking bed clips I have if that helps any.
ruclips.net/p/PLBcWprMIwYYgCL4xDq6qcTQqDfW2tSdxF
Hope things settle down over there & folks wake up to themselves.
Stay safe.
Excellent Video
Thanks Raji.
Thanks for the Aquaponics Anonymous shout out. Cheers
Matt Olsson Just realised I didn't add the link to the group. Shall do so when I fire up the computer. 👍
Cheers mate
Hi rob, we want to use natural resources to change ph, is there anything we could use that won't hurt the plants and fish. I've been told you can use freshly squeeze lemon juice to lower ph and drift wood to raise it. What's your thoughts on this? I guess if you use lemon juice the fish are flavoured already lol
🤣 Would be good if that was the case.
Citrus juice is antibacterial so will harm the bacteria so I'd stay away from that David. Driftwood is supposed to also lower the pH but I haven't tried that method myself.
Limestone will help raise the pH but time & acids are the only ways I know of lowering the pH effectively. Hope that helps some mate.
Thanku
Thanks Rob Bob--your video is very informative. Is it safe to add the phosphoric acid while you have fish in the tank?
I wouldn't Sarah. I think treating the top up water is the way to go.
If you don't need to top up the system that much I'd suggest you remove some from the system (leaving enough for the system to keep running of course), treat that in a holding tank & re introduce it once you have it at the level you require.
KEEP IN MIND, that large swings in pH can kill your fish so only nudge it down a few small increments at a time.
Hope that helps,
Rob.
Hi Rob, Can we possibly use Vinegar to lower the pH? I prefer to use some natural stuff. The tap water reads around 7.8. I would like to bring it down to ~ 6.5
I wouldn't use vinegar as it's fairly weak. Hydrochloric & phosphoric acids are fish safe to use AT THE RIGHT LEVELS.
Hydrochloric (HCL) contains hydrogen & chloride and phosphoric (H3PO4) contains hydrogen, phosphorus & oxygen, all of which are safe for fish & plants as elements by themselves.
I wouldn't worry about lowering the pH in top-up water as the nitrification process will chew up the alkalinity in it fairly quickly reducing the pH.
As an example, I add 200L of 8.1 pH water into my 1600L system with a pH of 6.6 & will only get a 0.2-0.3 bump at the most from it.
Hope that helps some.
The Australian Science Guy?? One would think that it would be easy getting the system back to normal, but ain't always so. Going for the perch again or your version of catfish?
😄 Was told I can't say "pH" correctly yesterday in a comment elsewhere so I think I'll need some coaching first Harry. 😉😄
I'm going with the Jade Perch again. Hope to be working out the logistics of re working the system as it stands & once I know what I want to do with it I'll be ordering some swimmers. 👍
Hope all's well with you & yours Harry.
Cheers.
Hi,I have a small aquaponic system ,TDS is 524ppm and Ph is 7.6,but the plant growth up slow ,what problem?
TDS isn't an accurate measurement for aquaponics as a lot of the nutrients are in forms that the meter won't read.
Plant growth may be slowed by the high pH. If it's only a small system with a few fish it may be an issue of over planting & the feed given to the fish not being enough to sustain the plants in the bed.
Hope that helps some.
Hey Rob! Do you know some effective natural ways to reduce alkalinity in the water?
Not really. Citric acid kills bacteria as does vinegar.
Hello Rob, can i use cola in lowering my systems ph?
I wouldn't. Use phosphoric or hydrochloric acid to adjust the top up water & use that.
NEVER add acids directly into a system with fish in it is my rule. 😉
Hi Rob, the link to the calculator isn't working, are there other sites you would recommend?
Thanks for the heads up mate. 👍
Have found the new link & added it.
extension.unh.edu/agric/AGGHFL/alk_calc.cfm
Cheers & have a top one.
Just found out why my fish are not eating and plants not happy, my water is so Alkaline it is off the scale 🤦♀️ I should have checked it earlier
I've tried using ph down, but it isn't working whatsoever. Even when I filter the water beforehand
You must have some very carbonate rich water Anna. 😕 Have you found a solution yet?
How do you buff up your ph???
I use calcium hydroxide which is also known as pickling lime by some. I've used garden lime in the past (calcium carbonate and dolomite) but like the accuracy that the hydroxide gives me.
You can also use potassium bicarbonate & hydroxides as well. Never at the same time as when you're adding calcium as you will cause a nutrient lockout.
Hope that helps some.
Cheers.
Rob Bob Backyard Drinking Game: Take a shot every time Rob Bob says "Ph". Enjoy the floor, mate!
😂😅🍻🍻
Thanks for sharing Rob. I sure hope your tank gets sorted now. All that math would give me a headache! Hahahaha jk Hope your family is all doing well. ~Lisa
Thanks Lisa. I updated you on the Turmeric clip just before but will paste it here too. 😉
Have almost got on top of the pH issues & am starting to nut out how I want to change the system so it runs more efficiently. Is going to take a while to get it all sorted but I'll really enjoy the build.
Cheers my friend.
Hey mate. I think im having the same problem when i added water to the new system iv built ph was 7.2 now that its been degased and curculated its climbed to 8.2 now sitting steady there.
Would this treatment be harmful to the bacteria doing it to the system instead a top up tank ? Iv just done a fishless cycle in 13 days but ph still wont come down.
My question is- from your experience am i better just letting the nitrification process lower my ph or dosing it ?
Hey Matt. I think you're better off just letting the system do it's thing & maybe dosing the top up for now. Last thing you want to do is shock the colonies that have already established themselves.
How long until you get some fish in there ?
8.1 from tap water. By chance are you in the western sydney area?
SE QLD. 👍
Rob Bob's Backyard Farm & Aquaponics
Ph out of my tap is that high.
Going to trial a few barrels with coco-peat or drift wood and see if i can get some top - up with lower ph.. other than that, any suggestions. Cheers
Hi Rob,
Will it still be safe to add potassium hydroxide, if I have 8ppm of ammonia? not sure why but my ammonia has been constantly high and will not come down. Current Ph is at 5.8
Will need a lot more information than that sorry Max.
How large is the system?
How old is the system?
Are there fish in there or are you just cycling? If there are fish in there STOP FEEDING NOW.
If you do have fish in there the low pH is probably helping to keep the fish alive as the ammonia is probably ammonium at that level.
What's your top up water pH?
Without knowing those & a few other parameters my best suggestion would be to dump ½ the water & use the top up water (as long as it's around the pH 7 mark) to help reduce the ammonia levels & help raise the pH.
Sorry I can't be of more help.
Rob Bob's Backyard Farm & Aquaponics
Thanks for the input. It’s a small system and been running 2 month. With approx 25 jade perch. Have tried dumping 1/2 of the water last week and ammonia remain high. Yes, agreed that the low ph help at the moment with ammonium. Could it be also due to the low ph the ammonia aren’t being breakdown?
Hi Max.
Sorry I didn't get back to you straight away. Have you seen a reduction in the ammonia levels & has the pH fallen any more?
If you live in a cooler climate that may also be slowing down the development of the bacterial colonies.
Thanks Rob, I added corals to bring up the PH and yes eventually ammonia drop to .25ppm.
oops, you said 0.3 and I dropped mine 2.0. hope the goldfish are ok.
Hello
I started cycling my system the first of January of this year. I added fish about 5 weeks ago. Everything was find and the system was operating as it should until two days ago. I noticed ammonia was at 1.77 which led me to test for pH and nitrate. I found pH was setting at 6.4 and nitrate was 40. I realized that I am having nitrofication difficiency because the nitrate leve was always at 100+. I don't know exactly why the bactira stopped working but I have suggestion. My suggestion for this problem is that the pH dropped from 8 to 6.4 in a matter of 5 weeks. This fast change Did not give bacteria enough time to adapt to such low pH. Could that be true? How to go about it? If I am wrong what would the problem be?
Thank you in advance�
That could be one reason Ziad. Is hard to pin something like that down without knowing a lot more about the system & how you're running it.
Rob Bob's Backyard Farm & Aquaponics
I have a sump tank ground level distributing water to both fish tanks ( 2 tanks each 1000 L)and 2 grow bed each 3m×1m×0.3m. grow beds are Flood and drain. each grow bed drain into 2 DWC beds each 3m×1m×0.3m. I have total of 7000l. I'm using hydroton as grow media. I have no filtration other then grow media. my SSA IS 4425 m^2 . I have roughly about 7 kg of tilapia that I feed twice a day about 200 grams total.
How to reduce pH in aquaponics?plz rply
I run through how I did it in this clip. 👍
Cheers.
😂 ablablablabla... very technical term there 😜
😂😅😝
hi
Howdy.
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Cheers 🙂
hi,
Howdy. 👍
Thanks for the great video. I learned some very valuable information on Aquaponics PH. I have a hydro system going in my basement that fluctuates between about 5.9 and 6.4. I was wondering how you keep the ph so high with fish and plants liking it that high for both. You can see my latest video of my set up at: ruclips.net/video/qH9kFA2M7fM/видео.html
Have found that daily doses of the calcium hydroxide works well at keeping the pH within certain ranges SFF. With our system, I like to keep the pH between 6.4 & 6.8 for the fish we grow here in Australia.
Cheers mate.