Aquaponics issues. Making the correct diagnosis is essential for a good recovery.😉

More information about my sources down below. I had some issues with my aquaponics system. Stop of growth. Leafs starting to become yellow with dark green veins. And fruit that was already ripe but that didn't taste good at all. And on top of that I was suffering from a bruised ego. While the start of the season was the best start that I had so far with my system, with healthy looking green leafs, and tons of fruit on each single strawberry plant. But I know that I had done something different this year, only I did not see it coming that it would have such a big impact on my system.

We did not have such a harsh winter in terms of low temperatures, but we did have a very fluctuating start of the season in terms of temperature. With night frosts right up to the beginning of May, and some unusual warm and sunny days, which made some plants start to sprout early. But they struggled or even died because of the late night frosts.

At that stage my strawberry plants from last season were still carrying some leafs from the previous year. It wasn't looking pretty so early in the spring I decided to clean that up a bit by removing all the dead leafs and twigs. As I was doing that I came up with an idea. I had bought some poppy flower seeds that came with some clay and some coconut fibers. And I decided to add some of that clay, and it was only a little, to my grow bed from my aquaponics system where I have planted my strawberry plants.

So what happened is, the whole system, including my pond responded really well to that clay, which was unexpected. But I had no experience with it, and I had no idea that it was the clay that was causing the exceptional good start of the season, or that it would have such a big positive impact on my system at all, and I had no idea how long it would last if it were indeed the clay and thus the minerals that were causing the good growth. And I have no idea what was in the clay powder either.

The thing is, that was all the clay that I had. And the only way to find out and to learn something from the whole experience is to let things happen. So in the meanwhile the fruits are starting to grow and ripen. And all the plants in my pond are starting to flower in record numbers for my system as well, and all that plant growth must have depleted the system from the minerals in no time at all. And about a month up to 6 weeks later all the sudden the strawberry plants start to turn yellow with grein veins in the middle. And the other plants in my system stopped growing as well.

So, I had a very strong clue about what might have caused the issue, but I was not 100% sure yet. And that is why I started searching for information about nutrient related issues in aquaponics systems. Now, when you go searching for Aquaponics related content you automatically will find Rob Bob's Aquaponics channel. He is a true treasure for the entire aquaponics community and I don't even think that he needs any introduction at all. He is one of my main sources of information.

(I highly value all my sources as equally important. And if you are a good source of information but not mentioned you should not take it personally either. There are many good sources of information, I just don't know them all.)

To make a long story short, here is a Link to Rob Bob's channel about the subject nutrient deficiency, but there are more on his channel.

- Nutrient Supplements for Aquaponics Systems | Test Results    • Nutrient Supplements for Aquaponics S...

In this case I was looking for more in dept scientific information about what is happening chemically when we are talking about a nutrient deficiency. And which minerals and elements can solve it, but also why. And I ended up with a channel that is called ZipGrow. The videos that I am talking about are at least 9 years old. But that channel discussed the subject several times over the course of almost a decade. And they have a ton of information about how to diagnose, and how to solve issues with an aquaponics system, and they are very detailed about all the chemical processes. I will give you two examples, but there are many more.

- How to Manage Plant Nutrients in Aquaponics    • How to Manage Plant Nutrients in Aqua...

- Plant Nutrients: What happens to them in your System?    • Plant Nutrients: What happens to them...

I solved my issues with some epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) from the drugstore. Some chelated iron or iron chelate which I ordered online. And with some cheap pond mineral clay powder. Maybe that the expensive versions of pond clay minerals are better, I don't know. I have no experience with different brand names. All that I know is that some of the pond clay mineral brands are very expensive. And that I was not willing, or at least not yet, to spend that amount of money for some clay powder.

I think that all the different products contributed to the recovery from the system. And if you watch the videos that I recommended up above you will know exactly why.