hi guys, i have been doing some reading as my friend and i are currently doing a newbie -ish outdoor grow and unfortunately this year we haven't been very organised and don't really know what we are doing, just kind of making it up as we go along

i've been doing some reading on compost as i feel this is important and want to get it good as possible for next year. i've been reading on this site, going from one link to another and i came across some old posts and i came across a reference to someone using water from their fishtank as a fertiliser in place of biobizz. this sounded interesting to me as i have a fishtank and i am frequently doing water changes and chucking the old water away. i'm not saying i would use it, it would probably not be practical anyway as i would have to transport it to the growsite somehow but i found it interesting and would like to know more. presumably it's the nitrate in the water (produced by the filter bacteria in the tank) that is beneficial to the plants? but my tap water also contains high levels of nitrate anyway so if it was just the nitrate that is beneficial tap and tank water wouldn't be much different.

can anyone shed some light on this? anyone using fish tank water?

Google 'Aquaponics', you'll find lots about recirculating plant/fish environments

From Wackypedia - Aquaponics (IPA: /ˈækwəˈpɒnɪks/) is the symbiotic cultivation of plants and aquatic animals in a recirculating environment.

Aquatic animal effluent (for example fish waste) accumulates in water as a by-product of keeping them in a closed system or tank (for example a recirculating aquaculture system). The effluent-rich water becomes high in plant nutrients but this is correspondingly toxic to the aquatic animal.

Plants are grown in a way (for example a hydroponic system) that enables them to utilize the nutrient-rich water. The plants take up the nutrients, reducing or eliminating the water's toxicity for the aquatic animal.

The water, now clean, is returned to the aquatic animal environment and the cycle continues. Aquaponic systems do not discharge or exchange water. The systems rely on the natural relationship between the aquatic animals and the plants to maintain the environment. Water is only added to replace water loss from absorption by the plants, evaporation into the air, or the removal of biomass from the system.

Aquaponic systems vary in size from small indoor units to large commercial units. They can use fresh or salt water depending on the type of aquatic animal and vegetation.

That is very very interesting, i will have to google it and learn i never heard of this before its really organic, i wonder if it will be able to sustain cannabis though with the high level of nitrogen needed in veg and the higher potassium needed in flowering and how many fishes per plant hmmm very interesting

I use fish tank water, and i top up the fish tank using harvested rain.

my tap waters no good, and the reverse osmosis machine is at least a 2 minute walk away

i still use grow,bloom, fish, guano and mollases.

ef

I think fish tank water, after decomposition by bacteria, is considerably higher in N than P and K. This makes it good for vegetative growth but not so good for flowering. So you may have to feed the fish something high in P and K during flowering, or just supplement the fish water with a feed or tea high in P and K.

Here's the relevant bit regarding nutes during flowering. You've got to add additional stuff if most of the plants are in flower. Presumably to increase the PPM aswel as for a higher ratio of P and K.



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