So I've been biding my time, about 8 or 9 fish in the tank, each about 9 or 10" long and looking nearly teatime ready, and some celery, sorrel and brassicas there soaking up some nitrates. Just not enough.I'd put in some chard and spinach seed in the autumn that germinated a little but didn't thrive. I've had a few chilli plants that have pegged out one by one. Tuccurique Yellow, Urfa Biber, SB MOA, TFM, Foodarama, Limon, CGN21566, Rocoto Mini, Rio Huallaga, ...



And then I got a phone call from the Mrs a couple of weeks ago. The pump had stopped working. That's not something the system can survive for very long. All the organisms involved are vital but the nitrifying bacteria that live in the growbeds are probably the key species. In this weather they depend on the ammonia in the water and the temperature to survive. With the pump not working those bacteria would probably be dead before the fish poisoned themselves. I had a spare pump and talked her through swapping them over so that saved the day. However I haven't got as far as getting the pump replaced (under warranty). I went to the fish at the end of this afternoon and the spare has failed. Not good.
Fortunately I have a Maxijet1000 from slyboy's generosity when emigrating and this may save my day. It's a much lower output though and to cut a long cock up story short, I may have cooled the fish tank too much to make the pump cope. There's a distinct possibility that it will all be over by morning and the fish will be floaters. Cumulatively pretty pissed off with the pumps and myself for not acting sooner.
