# Seachem for aquaponics?



## olgamc (Jan 2, 2016)

Hey, has anyone used seachem products in an aquaponic system? This is a desktop system, so I am not going to eat the fish. (mmmm, guppies :BIGtongue. I am wondering if prime, comprehensive, and iron would be safe for the veggies?


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## thepianoguy (Feb 6, 2016)

veggies>? aquarium or land?

i use every seachem product(if i can...lol) u can definitely trust those guys!

if u keep shrimps or frogs avoid copper.


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## olgamc (Jan 2, 2016)

thepianoguy said:


> veggies>? aquarium or land?
> 
> i use every seachem product(if i can...lol) u can definitely trust those guys!
> 
> if u keep shrimps or frogs avoid copper.


Aquaponic = aquarium at the bottom, planter with clay pebbles or gravel (no soil) at the top. Fish water gets pumped through the grow bed. Plants clean the water. Clean water drips back into the tank.

I know seachem products are excellent for regular fish tanks, but are they food safe? They are not fda approved, but lots of products aren't but are still good products.


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## torileeann11 (Dec 17, 2015)

I have _heard_ that Prime is not safe to use in systems where the produce will be consumed.

I have a back to roots water garden that I does with Prime, Excel and Comp. The plants on top and inside are doing really well, but I do not eat the plants off the top. _Edit: or the inside plants xD mmmm... anubias..._

LittleStar might know a little bit more on this topic.


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## olgamc (Jan 2, 2016)

Hey torileeann11, yes mine is like back to roots but home-made. I was hoping to get some herbs or maybe a lettuce out of it. I was told that I might actually not need a fertilizer at all, but still I want to be prepared. Incidentally, what do you have in the tank other than anubias? And do you have a substrate in the tank?

Ahh, yeah, LittleStar is a pro at organic type stuff. I'll ask her.


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## torileeann11 (Dec 17, 2015)

olgamc said:


> Hey torileeann11, yes mine is like back to roots but home-made. I was hoping to get some herbs or maybe a lettuce out of it. I was told that I might actually not need a fertilizer at all, but still I want to be prepared. Incidentally, what do you have in the tank other than anubias? And do you have a substrate in the tank?
> 
> Ahh, yeah, LittleStar is a pro at organic type stuff. I'll ask her.


Right now it is just Anubias. There is no where to put a light over the tank plants, so that's all I had to throw in there. 

When you pick your top plants, make sure you read about each one. I tried some herbs, but most of their roots couldn't tolerate the moisture and rotted. I ended up just planting the wheatgrass, which I have to trim every 3-6 days. I am going to be breaking my system down and trashing it. The brand name one is just too much of a pain to maintain and keep the fish healthy. So I'm not going to give it to anyone, it's a death trap for fish in the hands of an inexperienced keeper.

Edit: I added a bag of additional river rock substrate in addition to what they gave me. I also added SeaChem Matrix to the grow tray.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Aquaponics is teh combination of hydroponics (growing plants on water not soil with chermical additives to get nitrogen/ferts), and aquaculture (growing fish for human consumption). Using the fish's waste to feed the plants, the plants in turn reduce nitrates in the water for the fish.
Aquarium hobbyists use it with no intent of eating their pet fish but as a great way tog et organic foods and a nitrate reduce. Most commonly used on tanks with non plant friendly fish that generate a lot of nitrates. African cichlid community tanks, goldfish, oscars, and plecos are common nitrate providers used for these in home setups.
Main difference between aquaponics and ripariums is in aquaponics the plants are kept separate from fish so they cannot eat/damage roots, thought in the home aquarium there are sum exceptions.. just not commercially. Ripariums typically sue non edible plants with roots directly in the tank, but again there are exceptions like where people use planters boxes and pump tank water through those.

I did aquaponics for a bit. Had a 55g using the canister filter as a pump, water fell back int eh tank after going through a NFT system suspended over the tank growing lettuce and some herbs.
I contacted Seachem directly and asked them about the use of Prime as well as their fertilizer for use in tank water that grow human consumed plants. They responded recommending agaisnt using their product for anything intended for eventual human consumption simply because they did not do testing for such things.
I used Prime and various ferts (flourish, iron(lots of iron), potassium, and phosphorus. Plants grew great with the nitrates provided by my pleco. Lettuce was tender and flavorful, the herbs we rarely sued but got huge. Had no ill effect from the food produced being consumed at the table. It was only set up for a few months before I had to rehome the pleco-his massive pop was constantly clogging the canister filter x.x
Anyways Was not a super long term thing but saw no ill effect from using Seachem products. The company won't endorse them as they've not been tested o be safe for human consumption.


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## olgamc (Jan 2, 2016)

Ooh, don't trash it! You might be able to modify it and make it work, then post about it so other people can use your experience! You'll save a lot more fish lives that way. I heard of fish dying in these things, but I don't know why. I am incorporating an aerator into mine, which I know back to roots one doesn't have. I also ordered a submersible led that I am hoping to suction cup to the grow bed, so it will illuminate the tank.

I am going with parsley, green onions and lettuce to start with, they all do well in moist environment. Also it's a flood and drain system, so there will be plenty of air around the roots.


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## thepianoguy (Feb 6, 2016)

hmm...learned something today!


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## olgamc (Jan 2, 2016)

Hey Aqua Aurora, thanks for that! Good to know! I guess I am worried about long term, but considering that my grow bed is the size of a shoe box and we are 6 people, the amount of bad stuff we could potentially be exposed to is miniscule. If the idea works, I can always get better stuff, right? By the way, does seaweed extract and chelated iron work in a fish tank instead of seachem? For aquatic plants that is.

Ok, so here is a funny one, but I asked the same question on an aquaponic forum and they suggested pee. Yep, pee. I am not sure about this, feels really weird to me, but what do you think?


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Urine seems like a troll response.. I've seen some lude people suggest urinating in a tank to cycle it before. Would not take seriously. 
For dechlorinating water a lot of aquaponic people use air pumps/stones and prep water 24+ hours in advance, running air stone or pump through to off gas chlorine. But this does not get rid of chloarmine. I'd looked into using citric acid for chlorine but not sure that it deals with chloramine. Honestly I'd not worry about using Seachem.
Some people bypass the whole issue by using collected rain water but that takes some work/setup (can't just collect from gutter/root runoff).

There is a lot of info on aquaponics, and youtube videos, I'd spend several hours/days researching if you want to find a cheap alternative dechlorinator.


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## olgamc (Jan 2, 2016)

Aqua Aurora, the pee was suggested by a moderator on backyardaquaponics forum! There are quite a number of sites out there advocating for it, they call it peeponics. I really doubt I will go that route though. Imagine having company for dinner and they are all admiring your lettuce. What's your secret? they say. Um...ahem...

Why can't you collect roof run-off if you boil it? Just curious. We have a rain barrel set up, and the thought had crossed my mind.


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## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

olgamc said:


> Aqua Aurora, the pee was suggested by a moderator on backyardaquaponics forum! There are quite a number of sites out there advocating for it, they call it peeponics. I really doubt I will go that route though. Imagine having company for dinner and they are all admiring your lettuce. What's your secret? they say. Um...ahem...
> 
> Why can't you collect roof run-off if you boil it? Just curious. We have a rain barrel set up, and the thought had crossed my mind.


I'd not run into peeponics when I'd researched .. how odd...
As for the runoff. I'd read that roof shingles (typically asphalt) has small particles that can come down with the water that are harmful for the fish..like inhaling fiber glass insulation particles shredding your lungs and such.. but its asphalt particles.
If you have ceramic shingles you're good to go (safe) if you know you don't get acid rain from pollution in your area.


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## olgamc (Jan 2, 2016)

Hmm, interesting. I'll look into roof shingles and pollution, thanks for the info! I have to get used to fact that if it's ok for a regular vegetable garden it might not work for an aquaponic because of the fish, and if it's ok for fish it may not work for vegetables. So many things to balance!


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