What is pH and how do we measure the pH?

pH gives an indication of the solution whether its acidic or alkaline in nature. The pH scale ranges from 0 to 14. Solution having pH value < 7 is acidic and pH value > 7 is alkaline.

pH is a vital parameter for the plant growth and can be measured by either using the easily available pH paper strips or by using the pH meter. For best results in Aquaponics system keep the pH between 6.5 -7.0.

Always look for the pH Meter with automatic temperature compensation (ATC) as pH value is dependent on temperature.

 

How to choose the pump for my systems?

Pump size should be such that you can easily recirculate the entire fish tank volume once every hour ie if you have 1000 L tank your pump should have 1500 L/hr capacity*.

The pump selection criteria\’s are a) Discharge (l/hr or m³/hr) – the amount of water that can be pumped at zero head  b) Head – Height to which water needs to be pumped c) Power Consumption (W). The 1500 L/hr is selected because the pump that I used only provides 1100 L/hr of discharge at 10 feet height (Head) and consumes 100 W.

We personally prefer to put bigger pumps as it gives you flexibility to expand your systems later on.

 

Why I need Air Pumps for?

Aquaponics is based on fish culture so you need to provide oxygen to living organism and thus air pumps are required. Plant root also need oxygen else they will rot therefore we need to provide the aeration to the growing beds as well.

For smaller systems, creating a waterfall effect in the return line to fish tank will provide good source of aeration. For bigger systems, air stones are used to provide the aeration.

 

What is DO? Why its important?

DO stands for the Dissolved Oxygen in the system. Just as we need air to breathe, aquatic organisms need dissolved oxygen to respire.

DO concentrations can be reported as milligrams per liter or parts per million (1 milligram per liter is equal to 1 part per million). The DO levels around 6 ppm is considered to be excellent.

DO is temperature sensitive, therefore during summer the solubility of oxygen decreases with rise in water temperature thus more aeration is needed in summers as compared to summers.