I'm reposting this here for completeness. Also, I netted up some of the Bass, the 1 inch fingerling's are now 3-4 inches and growing nicely! I'm very happy with them. The Bluegill are all over the map size wise. I'm thinking of adding a few rainbow trout now that the weather has cooled off and the tank temps have come down. Also, the days are getting shorter, I'm looking into lights to keep the crops growing through the winter.
Here is my post from another thread regarding plan deficiencies.
In my system, I have to regularly add calcium, iron, Potassium and Magnesium.
Here are my log notes on what symptoms go with which deficiencies: ( have experienced and corrected all of these)
1) New leaves brown - Potassium
2) Young Leaves yellow (between the veins) with green veins - Generally Iron or Magnesium.
3) Older Leaves yellowing between - Generally Magnesium or Iron.
4) Growing tips, or new growth stunted and shrunken, or old leaves dry up - Nitrogen
5) fruit doesn't set, or small fruits shrivel and drop - Calcium or Iron
6) Tomatoes - blossom end rot - Calcium
7) Cucumbers - leaves scorched, browning around the edges - Potassium
Fruiting plants have the greatest deficiency tendencies. Green leafy plants seem to survive on lower levels.
Easy source of:
1) Magnesium - Epsom Salts/Magnesium Sulfate (grocery store) -
2) Potassium - Potash (garden store)
3) Chelated Iron - (garden store)
4) Calcium Nitrate - (mine came from greenhouse supplier 19% calc, 15% nitrate)
Calcium and Potassium can bind each other, so add these on different weeks.
I have found that my Nitrate level stays below 5 ppm and that while my fish are smaller, they don't produce enough nitrate, so In my aprox. 1000 liter fish tank - 1000 liter grow beds/raft system, I add 1 tablespoon of calcium nitrate every other or every third day. If I don't, all the small cucumbers on my 2 massive plants, shrivel and die.
I add 1 tablespoon of chelated Iron every other week. 1 tablespoon of Potassium and Magnesium every other week, unless I see plant problems.
My system is 6 months old and fruit shriveling of the cucs is the only problem I really see (calcium and iron). Everything else is doing well. We pick 18-24 large Roma tomatoes a week, about 1 head of lettuce daily, and 3-4 massive cucumbers weekly. Which is just right for our family.
Also, keeping your PH down (6.4-6.8) makes a big difference on what the plants can take up.
Of the additives, calcium, iron, magnesium are not generally toxic to fish in higher levels. Potassium can be, so it's the one I'm more careful with. My next purchase is a complete test kit so I can monitor the actual levels of all these nutrients. Right now I can monitor Nitrate and PH of course, and total dissolved solids. but none of the others.
Someday I'll get my input water tested and see what comes in with it. All I know right now is that it's PH 8.0+, my problem is keeping PH down, I use phosphoric acid. As the system has matured, it takes less to keep it down. Most systems have the opposite problem, that it always drops to low.