Week 137 Update - Low energy use, no pH changes, supplements, extra filtration, or bell syphon.

This was originally meant to be a small temporary test of iAVs before we built a greenhouse......plans were delayed as we are all quite busy so this system ran on 9 goldfish for the first 2 years!!!! This also explains why it does not have adequate pest or weather protection - overall, we are glad that we made those mistakes because we are continuously learning and gaining knowledge from experience.
Ironically, we wanted the tank to be clean before we put in our new fish a few weeks ago so we drained it and cleaned it but we accidentally messed up the neat and tight folds the liner had previously. The reason for this is because of consistent rainfall since November last year and we underestimated how much water was below the ground - we are on a slope. So, when we drained the tank the epdm liner started to get pushed upwards because of the water coming in from underneath - we did not want to have the hole collapse so we promptly refilled the tank and in haste, the liner was not folded back into place securely. This is a very valuable lesson for anyone using a liner.
I should also mention that the liner we used was one that we already had, in hindsight we should have bought a new one that was the right size and would not have needed so many folds.
We had a suspicion when we noticed a faint smell, not a fishy smell but we knew something wasn't right so we started testing the ammonia levels twice a day, and when they also rose, we did some system observations and found out what the issue is. We cleaned out the folds, that made a lot of mess so we used a spare pump to pump out the debris and run it through a bucket of sand. We then washed that sand and poured the dirty water into the grow beds.
The rats have been kept under control by baits. I hate using bait, for various reasons, but the others on our farm insist it needs to be done. We agreed also that it will only be a temporary measure until we start to find a better system of pest management for the entire farm, not just the iAVs.
This week the rats figured out that the tomatoes taste better and they have had a feast. It was sad to see so many tomatoes gone.
The fish are doing well although we thought it would be best to reduce feeding until we are certain the ammonia will not rise. As it turns out we are facing very cold weather and the fish have hardly eaten in 2 days as the outside temperature was 9 degrees celcius. Our jade perch can not survive temperatures lower than 13 degrees celcius so we put in a 50 watt heater and will leave it in for the months of June and July.
pH has been stable for 2 years, it never needs adjusting but we monitor the ph levels anyway.
No supplements. Some of the older leaves show signs of deficiency but all the new growth is healthy. It also should be noted that there is over 200 plants in this system. We have a tendency to go overboard with planting, seeding and striking cuttings.
Best place to learn more, ask questions, provide feedback or share your system is at the website iavs.info/